ADELAIDE won't impose a deadline on Jake Lever's decision about whether he wants to remain a Crow as the club deals with the fallout from Saturday's Grand Final loss to Richmond, says CEO Andrew Fagan.
Lever – and Charlie Cameron – have been mooted as likely departures from West Lakes, with the young defender keen to return home to Victoria.
The out-of-contract 21-year-old is reportedly set to declare Melbourne as his preferred home for next season, while Cameron has been linked to the Brisbane Lions.
Fagan said there would be no pressure put on Lever in particular to state his intentions, with list decisions to be put on the backburner as they coped with being runners-up to the Tigers after winning the minor premiership.
"I think that decisions will always get made in the cold, hard light of day and they won't be made on emotion around Grand Final day," Fagan said after the 48-point loss.
"It will play itself out over the next few weeks, we don't have a deadline on [Lever's] decision.
"The focus has been very much on him playing footy and on today, so those things will take care of themselves over the next little bit."
Cameron is contracted for another 12 months, but is believed to be keen to return to his home state of Queensland.
Big call looms for Crows stars
Fagan said he believed the Crows wouldn't look to make "significant change" to their list in the upcoming trade and free agency window.
"It's a bit hard to say now. We've re-signed the vast majority of our playing group," he said.
"We'll work through trade period to see what it throws up.
"It's rarely straight-forward, it's always a little complex and there's always a few curveballs that come your way, or you might send another way.
"We feel really comfortable that the list we've got is really, really strong. It's still very young and really talented, they're well led by 'Pykey'.
"I don't expect significant change, but like all clubs we'll see if we can get through trade period and finish with a list that's a little bit stronger than it is today."
As for the loss itself, Fagan said the Crows simply "didn't pick the best day to have a bad day".
But, like has been the case in the past, he believes the disappointment and hurt will only make them stronger.
"It's all still pretty raw and we'll take some time to reflect on it, and then we'll do what 17 clubs do – work on how to get better and chase the guys who won it," he said.
"This is just another one of those curveballs that we weren't good enough today, and it won't break us.
"Every club has its story and challenges it's had to face and overcome, and we've certainly got ours.
"What that has meant is that we're a resilient group and we always feel comfortable that whatever is thrown our way we can deal with it.
"It will probably do the same as the other things have done, which is bring us closer together and set us on the path for improvement, which is the same off-season 17 (other) clubs will have where we work our arses off to get ourselves back here in a year's time."
Want more Grand Final coverage?
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• Match report: Terrific Tigers end 37-year wait
• Norm Smith: Dusty completes historic treble
• The moment: When Dusty fired up the Tiger train
• Every Crow rated from the Grand Final
• Every Tiger rated from the Grand Final
