Will Matt Crouch stick it out at the Crows or is there “11th-hour” trade interest looming?
Plus the prized Lion who could hold the key to Brisbane’s draft point squeeze.
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THE CLUBS WHO SHOULD CONSIDER CROUCH
Matt Crouch finished the 2022 season in the SANFL after falling out of favour under coach Matthew Nicks but remains contracted at the Crows until the end of 2023.
While there’s reports Adelaide have already informed Crouch there won’t be a new deal past that date, former teammate Bryce Gibbs says three clubs should look at giving the midfielder an opportunity.
Gibbs believes GWS – who are preparing lose both Jacob Hopper and Tim Taranto this trade period, North Melbourne and even Collingwood should get on the front foot for 27-year-old Crouch.
“I think Matt Crouch has still got some really good footy ahead of him, and I hope he does find a new side,” Gibbs said on SEN SA.
“GWS, they’re about to lose Jacob Hopper, Tim Taranto and potentially Tanner Bruhn as well. Matt Crouch is not fast, he’s not a high kicking player, he’s not a high metres-gained player, we know that,” he said.
“If you embrace that and you make him play to his strengths which is inside midfielder, handball, clearance-type player … if you put Matt Crouch in there getting the ball out to Josh Kelly, Lachie Whitfield, Stephen Coniglio who all have genuine leg speed, I think that’s just a great fit for the Giants, he’ll fill that hole and you can get him cheap as chips.”
Gibbs said given the age of the North midfield, Crouch could slot into a role there too.
“If Matt can be the in and under type player who can be feeding the ball out to these (young) guys, getting it out to the outside, I think he can have a huge impact at that side,” he said.
“He’s been in the Crows’ leadership group over the last few years so he can bring leadership qualities to this young group and I think he can absolutely be an upgrade on someone like a Hugh Greenwood, who plays that similar type of role at North Melbourne at the moment.”
Gibbs said given Collingwood were interested in Hawk Tom Mitchell, there was an opportunity for Crouch if that deal fell through.
“He’s exactly a like for like, and like I said, they could get him cheaper than what they could get Tom Mitchell for.”
Crouch managed just 11 games in 2022 – and none after Round 17 in a tough season for the midfielder.
SEN SA’s Kym Dillon on Monday said there wasn’t “a lot of confidence” that Crouch could get to a new club for 2023, but predicted some “11th hour” interest could appear.
“A number of powerbrokers within the Adelaide Football Club genuinely want him to stay. This is at odds with how he’s been treated … they want him to battle it out,” he said.
COULD BRISBANE LOSE RAYNER IN OFF-SEASON CHAOS?
The Lions are set for a massive end-of-season, with two father-son picks in Will Ashcroft and Jaspa Fletcher looming, while Bulldog Josh Dunkley wants to get to the club.
Dan McStay has already informed Brisbane he wants to go home to Victoria and play for Collingwood, and all this is being done while coach Chris Fagan deals with his own legal battles as he takes personal time away from the club in the wake of the Hawthorn racism scandal.
Former Crows coach Brenton Sanderson believes a player like Cam Rayner, the 2017 number one draft pick, could get caught up in all the trade chaos – given Brisbane need draft points to match a potential rival bid for Ashcroft.
“This is the fourth oldest team – they’ve been in the top five in the last four years – they are right in that (premiership) window,” Sanderson said.
“What they need is speed in the midfield and they’ve actual got it coming in the draft with Will Ashcroft and Jaspa Fletcher.
“That’s the add to Lachie Neale, Dayne Zorko, Jarryd Lyons, Hugh McCluggage, Jarrod Berry … This is a stacked midfield if you add (Josh) Dunkley to that … Dunkley’s not super quick but he gets across the ground pretty well.
“Will Ashcroft comes straight in (to the best 22). It’s going to be a hot midfield next year.
“Could Brisbane offer up someone like Cam Rayner?
“If you need points, and you’ve got a stacked midfield, he doesn’t go in the midfield much Cam Rayner.
“He’s a sensational young player but hasn’t quite got the tank to go through the midfield.
“He’s only played half forward really. He pinch hits in there for Brisbane.
“A former first pick in the draft, Cam Rayner, could we see him in Melbourne? He’s a Melbourne boy, get him home.”
Rayner has played 87 games for the Lions, after missing the entire 2021 season with an ACL injury.
The Lions currently have picks 15, 33, 44 (via Port Adelaide), 69, 87 in the Draft, with a compensation pick for McStay looming.
Sanderson says he can see pick 15 going to the Dogs for Dunkley, but that would leave them short of points if they wanted to match a bid on Ashcroft as the number one draft pick.
Dunkley is reportedly signing a six-year deal worth $750,000 a season with the Lions.
WHY AXED EAGLE COULD BE ‘REAL VALUE’
Just days after being axed by West Coast, a former teammate has pushed for a club to give defender Jackson Nelson a second chance.
Nelson was delisted by the Eagles after 102 games, but dragged the club through controversy in 2022 when he was pictured out clubbing while the club was battling through an injury and Covid crisis. Nelson would go on to test positive to Covid after the nightclub fiasco.
But former teammate Brad Sheppard says he believes Nelson could provide some “real value” to another club if given an opportunity.
“I think he needs a breath of fresh air, a different environment,” Sheppard said on SEN WA.
“Obviously he wasn’t playing in his preferred position, I think he’s a very good small lockdown defender and he’s got enormous aerobic capacity.
“If he does get picked up again I think he’s got some real value so I’m hoping he can get a second chance, it’ll be interesting to see what happens in the next couple of weeks.”
Nelson was one of the three players cut by West Coast last week, including Hugh Dixon and Tom Joyce.
