Adelaide board member and legendary administrator Neil Balme says Melbourne star Christian Petracca would help bolster the club's midfield depth.
Balme acknowledged that the Crows' on-ball brigade weren't up to the pressure of September football, and despite their impressive rise from 15th to the minor premiership, they still need more pieces to add to the puzzle.
"He would be a very good chef for us," Balme quipped at the 'Walk for Epilepsy' treadmill challenge event, where teams of players, legends and community supporters will clock kilometres to raise funds and awareness for the Epilepsy Foundation's Walk for Epilepsy campaign.
"There's so many things going on with that sort of stuff, but I think if anyone's not interested in Christian Petracca, if he wants to come to your club, you'd be crazy.
"If you saw what the Crows did over the year, they made some terrific steps.
"But when we got to finals time, and the pressure was really on, we probably did lack a little bit of depth in the midfield. I think Petracca has played there before (he said jokingly)."
Petracca is contracted for another four years, but is another example of players seeking new homes despite their current deal.
Balme alluded to how the landscape of player movement has changed over the years, with restrictions easing to allow stars to find new homes more often.
"Footy's in a challenging position," he said.
"In the good old days, if you had a contract, you had to play your contract out. Whereas the Players Association, the AFL, made it easier for players to move a bit, which, again, it probably needed, because it was too much club-directed.
"But you wonder sometimes how it works, and the poor old Club's in a bad position too, because if all of a sudden one of your best players, the most influential players, are saying, I don't really want to play here, then it's very deep.
"Well, what do you do with that? Can you convince them? Normally? We think we probably could, but it's not an ideal position to be. So I think it's a challenge both ways, and I don't blame Melbourne either. I mean, they've spent a lot of time building him, helping him build into a really significant player, and they've offered him a significant contract to do that, and now he's perhaps thinking moving, but I think, I think everyone knows how it works.
"I don't think, I don't think a player like him would be nasty to his club if it didn't work, I got little doubt that he would be very committed to what they do. These folks know you can't be in a program without buying in."
