Stagnant pair at heart of Crows’ contention woes

The Adelaide Crows have fallen short in September once more, and both Gerard Whateley and Adam Simpson hold the belief that their list lacked significant progression in 2026.

After bundling out in straight sets in 2025, the Crows slipped from minor premiers to a sixth-place finish, claiming their first finals win since 2017 after downing the Dogs in an Elimination Final.

And although the drought was finally broken, their follow-up semi final proved too difficult, holding 144 points from the Brisbane Lions in a damning Semi Final loss at the Gabba.

While the club has backed in under-fire coach Matthew Nicks for the 2027 season, the question has been asked as to whether their list has the tools required to contend against the best.

With Brisbane’s Zac Bailey recommitting to the Lions after weighing up a lucrative offer from the Crows, the club have been forced to look within to discover their next set of stars ahead of a crucial year next season.

However, it’s the lack of internal growth this season that has worried Simpson and Whateley.

The former West Coast premiership coach named one highly-regarded Crow that failed to take that step this year, while also identifying the stars that couldn’t perform to their best on Saturday night.

“Josh Rachele – he’s not ready,” Simpson told SEN’s Whateley.

“He still looks like a boy. Izak Rankine, you can understand. You’re going to have a down day. They tried to do a few things with him to free up others.

“Jordan Dawson has been heroic all year, but they need to be playing at their absolute best to beat Brisbane, and for whatever reason, they weren’t at their best.

“Is this just another one of their stepping stones? I think that’s what they believe.

“Straight sets last year, win a final last year, lose to the potential three-peat team and one of the better teams of this era. ‘We will have our turn next year or the year after…’

“It’s a fork in the road. It can go that way, or it can go the other way. You’re sixth next year, then you’re eighth, then someone leaves and suddenly you’re going back to the draft. You’ve had a go, and it didn’t work.

“Next year is huge. Last year they had a really good fixture, finished top of the ladder. They’ve won more games than anyone over the last two years, but they haven’t got anything to show for it.”

Gerard Whateley believes one talented Crow’s lack of true growth reflects the club’s stagnancy over the season.

“If I was to pick one player to be emblematic of what hasn’t progressed, it would be Jake Soligo,” he said.

“They drafted Soligo and they gave him the super contract, because he was going to be A+. He has anchored in C. Is he going to be the player that they (hoped)?

“Credit to them, they knew the player they needed; it was Zac Bailey, and then he tore them apart! They miss him, and it looked for the last two months that they were going to get him.

“They are going to have to get most of their growth from within now, but are they going to get it?”

Simpson countered: “There’s always going to be another Zac Bailey out there. They’ll be going after someone next year. They’ll have a swing.

“It’s not like they don’t get their players all the time. Three or four of their best players are from other clubs.

“But there are some of those players who… it’s probably time, and next year is a big moment for some of those.

“Dan Curtin, is he going to be an inside mid, is he going to be a bull? His apprenticeship was spent on the outside.

“He’s been on the wing, a bit of half back, a bit of half forward now. Is he going to do all of pre-season on ball?

“Their ruckwork… the ruck situation wasn’t the Brodie Grundy that we saw last week against Sam Draper.

“There’s a bit of work to do with their list, but I’m always reluctant to talk about the players or the list because you don’t really know. Who is on the cusp, who is ready to pop, who has had an injury interrupted year.

“I think that’s for others to judge, but the collective doesn’t feel complete just yet.”