FOR all the talk of Adelaide moving up the NAB AFL Draft order in an effort to secure one of the many quality South Australian prospects, the Crows walked away with no local kids.
However, it wasn't for lack of trying.
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Adelaide went to Gold Coast with several offers for either picks No.2 or 3, but couldn't negotiate a trade that would see the Crows land either Jack Lukosius or Izak Rankine.
With its crosstown rivals Port Adelaide landing the third of the South Australian trio in Connor Rozee just a few picks later, it left Adelaide to look elsewhere for talent.
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"We did (try to trade up) over two or three weeks," recruiting manager Hamish Ogilvie said.
"But if you're Gold Coast and you've got the picks to get those two boys and you love them as much as we do, why would you give them away?
"We understand where Gold Coast sat, and they got two beauties. But we're really pleased with the two boys we got. We had Chayce Jones (pick No.9) and Ned McHenry (16) pegged a long way out, so we were really pleased to be able to execute that on Thursday night."
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With the trio of Lukosius, Rankine and Rozee off the board by the time Adelaide's first selection rolled around, the Crows turned their attentions to Jones and McHenry.
According to Ogilvie, it was a blow, but not overly unexpected.
"They got picked before us and you can't pick them all," he said.
"It's a national competition. We just couldn't quite get high enough to get those three top-line boys. We had a good crack at it, but we were really pleased with what we've got.
"You've got to pick from everywhere. While South Australia did really well in the national championships and got a lot of boys drafted – it's a real tribute to (SANFL talent manager) Brenton Phillips and the team – it's just the way the cards fell more than anything else.
"We had those boys on our list, but they got knocked off before us. The boys we've been able to get, we rated really highly and we're pleased to have them."
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Adelaide was also among the teams forcing rival sides to match bids on Next Generation Academy and father-son prospects. First, they made North Melbourne use pick No.8 on Tarryn Thomas, before forcing Collingwood to use pick No.29 on Will Kelly.
But the club rounded out what it believed was a satisfying draft by using pick No.30 on versatile defender Will Hamill, before recruiting midfielder Lachlan Scholl with pick No.64.
