ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA - JULY 20: Adelaide Crows players run onto the ground during the round 7 AFL match between the Adelaide Crows and the St Kilda Saints at Adelaide Oval on July 20, 2020 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images)
It was a long 2020 for the Crows, confirming they need a full rebuild of their list. Adelaide were winless up until Round 15 when they beat Hawthorn, which was followed up with impressive wins over finals hopefuls GWS and Carlton to finish with three wins for the season.
Veteran forward Taylor Walker struggled all season but did manage to become the Crows' all-time leading goal scorer in a rare highlight for Adelaide in 2020.
They blooded a lot of youth which was a key positive, with the likes of Lachlan Sholl, Shane McAdam and Harry Schoenberg were standouts for the wooden spooners as they look to the future.
The Crows, like a lot of young teams, struggled to maintain consistency during games all year. Their inexperience proved costly and you get the feeling that will be the case going forward.
Ins
Jackson Hately (GWS), Riley Thilthorpe (national draft), Luke Pedlar (national draft), Brayden Cook (national draft), Sam Berry (national draft), James Rowe (national draft).
Outs
Rory Atkins (Gold Coast), Bryce Gibbs (retired), Ben Crocker (delisted), Brad Crouch (St Kilda), Jordan Gallucci (delisted), Kyle Hartigan (Hawthorn), Riley Knight (delisted),
Myles Poholke (delisted), Ayce Taylor (delisted), Patrick Wilson (delisted).
A-
Hard to give them anything below an "A", they had one job and that was to invest in youth and they did so and they did it wisely. The Crows managed to draft South Australian talent which is a safe bet and they didn't have to sacrifice talent to do so.
Losing Brad Crouch was obviously less than ideal, but it seemed as if he was always on the way out. They didn't receive the compensation they were hoping for and had the option to match St Kilda's bid and force a trade to maybe gain more compensation.
Adelaide managed to bring in Jackson Hately for nothing via the pre-season draft which is always a win, Hately will slot straight into the midfield for the Crows.
Riley Thilthorpe is the great white hope for Crows fans this year. The number two draft pick has all the tools to succeed at the elite level and will get plenty of opportunity to impress in 2021.
It will be early for the Crows, as they won't play finals and they probably won't win more than half-a-dozen games for the season. But just how dark the year will be can be defined very early. Are they competitive? Are they going to be in games? Or will they be the easy-beats as seen in 2020?
Adelaide fans will be looking for something to pin their hopes to, they will want to see some signs of improvement and some direction as to where this club is going under the guidance of Matthew Nicks.
If they can snare a win in the first month it will help release pressure on the Crows early and allow them to focus on development a tad more than clawing for that breakthrough win as they did last year.
B: Luke Brown, Daniel Talia, Tom Doedee
HB: Jake Kelly, Fisher McAsey, Brodie Smith
C: Will Hamill, Rory Sloane, Wayne Milera
HF: Jackson Hately, Darcy Fogarty, Tom Lynch
F: Shane McAdam, Elliot Himmelberg, James Rowe
FOLL: Reilly O’Brien, Matt Crouch, Rory Laird
I/C: Lachie Sholl, Ben Keays, Harry Schoenberg , Taylor Walker
The strength for the Crows is their midfield's ability to win the ball. Matt Crouch and Rory Laird are terrific ball winners and will be key for the Crows season. The problem is more what the Crows do with the ball in hand, being a young side their structure can regularly fall-down and leave their ball use all at sea.
Reilly O'Brien constantly gives his midfield first use but was all too often is led to nothing last season and that may not change too much this year.
Their greatest weakness is their scoring ability. Their forward line is lacking experience besides Walker and they struggle to put up a winning score. They rely heavily on veteran spearhead up forward, but his output has dramatically dropped season on season since 2017, and he may not be longed for the Adelaide forward line in 2021.
18th
It will be a long year for the Crows but not a wasted year. They will get the opportunity to blood plenty of youth and show the fans what is in store for the future.
However, wins will be hard to come by and as a result the Crows will consolidate their first-ever wooden spoon with a second in 2021.