Adelaide's GM of List Management Justin Reid isn't concerned for the Crows midfield in 2026 despite the club's interest in superstar Christian Petracca, who ultimately decided on requesting a trade to Gold Coast after meeting with Adelaide last week.
Petracca met with both Suns and Crows powerbrokers in the hope of a fresh start away from the Demons, but Reid downplayed the pitch Adelaide gave to the midfielder.
"We took the call regarding Christian, but obviously we're pretty realistic on what that looked like," Reid told media on Monday.
"There's various things we're trying to do, and obviously that's trying to get better through the trade period, but the draft as well.
"We're also excited with some of the growth we've got internally so we'll just see how the next week plays out.
"It wasn't a full pitch. If it was a full pitch, you'd know about it, but it wasn't."
While another Demons star looms as a potential target for the West Lakes-based outfit, with Clayton Oliver firmly entrenched in trade speculation, Reid said the Crows are not "desperate" to bolster their midfield in such fashion.
"I think when there is a quality place like Clayton in the marketplace, most clubs out there will have a look at that, so that's something we'll work through in the coming days," Reid said.
"But we won't be desperate. We're pretty calculated delivering what we do.
"We think there's a lot of growth with Dan Curtin, Sid Draper and others that we think can go through the midfield. So, we're still at the start of something we're trying to build. We won't be desperate through this period."
It has been reported that the Demons are willing to pay as much as $700,000 of Oliver's monster yearly salary in order to engineer a trade for the 28-year-old, which could be to the benefit of the Crows.
They also possess the lure of former teammate Alex Neal-Bullen, who rebounded this year in South Australia following a subpar 2024 campaign at the Dees.
