Adelaide list manager Jarryd Roughead is not mucking around in his first off-season at the Crows.
The former Hawthorn champion goal-kicker took over the role halfway through the 2026 season, and after Adelaide missed out on Brisbane star Zac Bailey (who signed a long-term extension at the Lions), Roughead said the Crows would be tame in the trade period.
That comment raised a few eyebrows among pundits and Adelaide fans as the club looks to improve and become a premiership contender in 2027.
However, Roughead said he would not be pressured into hunting trades by outside noise.
"I've got to do what's best for the Adelaide footy club, not the supporter base," Roughead said on Monday.
"So understanding that there's no need to trade for the sake of trading or making deals for the sake of making deals.
"With Tasmania coming in, we've got to have a line of sight there and understand that there's gonna be some interesting things happen over the next couple of years, so we'll be prepared for all of those."
Adelaide is expected to target South Australian-born stars St Kilda's Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera and Hawthorn's Will Day next year as both players reach the last season of their current contracts.
Roughead said he hadn't reached out to either party about making a deal one year early.
Instead, Adelaide is banking on the internal development of Sid Draper (Pick 4 in the 2024 National Draft) and Dan Curtin (Pick 8 in the 2023 National Draft) as midfielders.
"I think what we'll see is that some of the growth (will come from) within. We unfortunately didn't see Sid Draper this year, but he's obviously a Pick 4 and one that we want to see do really, really well," he said.
"The emergence of Dan Curtin in the middle as well, in the later part of the year, I think Adelaide fans should be excited for the midfield."
Roughead said Draper's absence from the senior team in 2026 was due to injuries and the club wanting to develop him in the SANFL.
