Crows only have 19 players left to look at 'cos Griff has signed with us. HAH!

[Desipura]

ADELAIDE has begun ambitious recruiting mission - Target 20.

Armed with half-a-million dollars in salary cap space, Jonathon Griffin and possibly Chris Knights as trade bait, the aggressive Crows have drawn up a hit-list of 20 players they are interested in luring to West Lakes for next year.

These include homegrown stars Matthew Pavlich of Fremantle and Ryan Griffen of the Western Bulldogs, while fellow Croweaters Shannon Hurn (West Coast), Byron Schammer (Fremantle), Will Minson (Western Bulldogs), Lindsay Thomas (North Melbourne) and Sam Jacobs (Carlton) also are understood to be on their recruiting radar.

Entering a new era without retired champions Simon Goodwin, Andrew McLeod and Tyson Edwards, stars Nathan Bock (Gold Coast) and Brett Burton and unlucky forward Trent Hentschel, Adelaide already has started speaking to the managers of the 20 players it has "some interest in".



If midfielder Knights joins key defender Bock and unsettled ruckman Griffin, who is seeking a trade to a WA club, in leaving the West Lakes club then the Crows could sign as many as three players from rival teams.

"We'll push fairly hard," Crows football operations manager Phil Harper said of Adelaide's new, aggressive approach to trading.

"There's about 20 players who we've got half an interest in, so we'll try to be as active as we possibly can. Anyone who is uncontracted and we're keen on we'll be in contact with their managers to find out if there is some interest in them coming to our club.

"The key part there is that they've got to be either unsettled or wanting to leave their club - or have a reason to leave (such as money).

"We freed up a little bit (of money) when Nathan Bock decided to go to the Gold Coast, so I can assure our supporters that we will do our utmost to get the best squad inside the TPP (Total Player Payments) allowance that we can have."

Harper said recruiting manager Matt Rendell has already contacted the managers of several out-of-contract players the Crows are keen on "to see if they are interested in coming to us."

"There's 20 we need to assess, so we'll look at them and then target some from that list," Harper told radio FIVEaa. "The bottom line is we're looking at players who we think could be available and will improve our list."

Adelaide - which is keen to bolster its midfield and secure another ready-made ruckman to replace Griffin and support Ivan Maric - is not restricting its search to South Australians or uncontracted players.

It could secure the contracted Schammer from Fremantle for Griffin while big men Minson and Jacobs could be available for trade after falling out of the ruck pecking order at their clubs.

Dockers captain Pavlich has left the door ajar for a shock return home by refusing to commit to Fremantle, although it is likely he will play out his career in the west. Gold Coast also is in the hunt for his services.

Griffen remains undecided about his future, with several Victorian clubs, including cashed-up Essendon, throwing big dollars at him. His management has indicated he wants to remain in Victoria.

Harper said negotiations with Knights were "ongoing" with the talented left-footer yet to indicate where he wants to play his football.

[Scraggers]

this sounds like what Brisbane tried to do this year ... Instant Footy Team (just add water).

Like any successful club, thety need to go through a rebuilding phase, unfortunatley for the Crows, this should have happened two years ago when they knew their stars were reaching the end of their tether. They are making the same mistake the Eagles did by trying to replace star footballers with understudys.

And by the way, keep your hands off our Griff and Wilbur

[mighty_west]

Minson is an interesting case, Roughead has been selected a few times now ahead of Will, but you'd hate for something to happen to either Huddo or Roughead next season [touch wood] if we got rid of Will, Cordy is still developing, Prado as well and Everitt looks to be on the outer.

Besides, Will has already stated that he wants nothing of going back to SA and much prefer to keep him over a Jonathon Griffin any day of the week.

[Mantis]

Besides, Will has already stated that he wants nothing of going back to SA and much prefer to keep him over a Jonathon Griffin any day of the week.

But if we were able to add someone to our team with some pace and good footskills would you be interested?

[mighty_west]

But if we were able to add someone to our team with some pace and good footskills would you be interested?

Only if we had a DECENT back up ruckman in case of injury or suspension, we saw what happened at the Hawks when they had to rely on Hodge & Roughead to do some ruckwork!

[Desipura]

But if we were able to add someone to our team with some pace and good footskills would you be interested?

Like Knights?

[Sockeye Salmon]

Like Knights?

I can't see Minson getting us Knights, somehow.

[KT31]

I can't see Minson getting us Knights, somehow.

What about Minson and a fringe player (DFA,Tiller etc) ?

[Throughandthrough]

I can't see Minson getting us Knights, somehow.

the Crows are absolutely desperate for a ruckmen

[mighty_west]

I can't see Minson getting us Knights, somehow.

Not as a direct swap, but, these days most deals revolve around 3 or 4 clubs exchanging draft picks etc etc, Hill & Everitt are a couple of players that could be used as trade bait who could also be used in such deals.

That said, i'm not so much against getting rid of Minson, i'd just hate to not have some kind of decent back up, and a player like Griffin for instance i put in the same category as Mark Blake, dopey big blokes thats do bugger all apart from look big.

[mighty_west]

the Crows are absolutely desperate for a ruckmen

Speaks volumes about Griffins qualities if he's on the table!!

[Sockeye Salmon]

What about Minson and a fringe player (DFA,Tiller etc) ?

It still doesn't work like that. You can add as many duds as you like but it still doesn't equal a good player.

[Mofra]

Ryan Griffen is now out of reach

[The Bulldogs Bite]

If we (effectively) got Knights for Minson, I'd be doing cartwheels for six months until the season starts.

The way the game is headed, two ruckman isn't essential. I'd rather have the trio of Hudson, Roughead and Everitt as opposed to Hudson, Roughead and Minson if it meant we could secure Knights.

We'd probably need to draft a mature aged ruck, but if Adelaide are interested in Minson then I'd be actively speaking with them.

[LostDoggy]

If we (effectively) got Knights for Minson, I'd be doing cartwheels for six months until the season starts.

The way the game is headed, two ruckman isn't essential. I'd rather have the trio of Hudson, Roughead and Everitt as opposed to Hudson, Roughead and Minson if it meant we could secure Knights.

We'd probably need to draft a mature aged ruck, but if Adelaide are interested in Minson then I'd be actively speaking with them.

Everitt is not a ruckman