FOR THE first - and probably only - time in this year's finals series, the media spotlight has descended on Adelaide.

Respected journalist Mike Sheahan ruined the Crows' plans to announce Geelong assistant Brenton Sanderson as their new senior coach on Tuesday, breaking the story on the Herald Sun website on Monday night.

The leak forced the club to confirm Sanderson's appointment in a media release, and gave local newspaper the Advertiser enough time to run front- and back-page spreads on the man who had seemingly come from the clouds to beat red-hot favourite Scott Burns to the Adelaide coaching gig.

The headline, a reference to the 1991 Metallica song Enter the Sandman.

The news might have been 18 hours old, but it's not every day the biggest sporting team in town appoints a new coach, and the South Australian football media - hankering for any semblance of news in an otherwise sleepy September - happily converged on West Lakes on Tuesday morning to learn more about the Crows' newest recruit.

Reporters and camera operators were ushered into the theatre.

Had this been an in-season announcement it would have been filled with players, but instead only a smattering of staff members and coaches, surely waiting to hear if they would be part of the new boss' plans, watched as Sanderson entered the room dressed in a club-issue suit and tie.

Deputy chairman Nigel Smart kicked off proceedings, offering the apologies of chairman Rob Chapman, who missed the unveiling of the club's sixth senior coach because of an airline strike.
 
Smart termed the appointment of the former Adelaide, Collingwood and Geelong player as a 'homecoming' - a bit of a stretch given the SA export played more games against the Crows than he did for them (six).

But he was a member of the inaugural squad in 1991, and therefore assumes the mantle as the first Adelaide player to coach the club.

Inevitably, questions about his depature from West Lakes 18 years ago are raised.

Inaugural Crows coach Graham Cornes, keen to bring former Port Magpies utility Brett Chalmers back to SA, willingly traded Sanderson to Collingwood.

Adelaide also netted pick No.44 in the 1993 NAB AFL Draft, which it used to select Eugene Warrior, as part of the deal.

Chalmers and Warrior played a combined total of 50 matches for the Crows, while Sanderson went on to play 199 games and win a best and fairest award with his third club Geelong.

Cornes laughs about the situation now, also revealing he would never have agreed to the trade that saw Adelaide land champion Andrew McLeod from Fremantle in exchange for Chris Groom in 1994.

Fortunately for McLeod and the Crows, Cornes was let go by the club a year earlier.

Sanderson says he doesn't hold any grudges against his old coach and club, insisting the adversity he faced during his career had made him a better player - and (hopefully) coach.

The former defender, who left West Lakes as a softly-spoken 19-year-old, is articulate and responds to questions with conviction, vowing to make the Crows a more physical and 'ruthless' team and raising the hopes of supporters by declaring the club can rebound quickly on its worst-ever season.

At the end of his first press conference as coach, he poses for the cameras and introduces himself more informally at the club café.

The coffee and sandwiches alone should buy him some leniency from the inescapable Adelaide media … at least for a while.

He's passed his first test.

Now, for the big one.

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL