Adelaide is looking forward to moving on after ending their AFL-imposed punishment over the Kurt Tippett affair at the national draft on Thursday night.
For the second year in a row the Crows were forced to trade their way into the second round of the draft as part of sanctions imposed for breaching the salary cap.
The Crows picked up midfield duo Matt Crouch and Riley Knight with picks 23 and 46 on the Gold Coast, a result that list manager David Noble was pleased with.
The 2013 punishment came after the club voluntarily withdrew from the first two rounds at last year’s draft in a bid to lessen their punishment from the AFL.
Noble admitted the two-year period had presented challenges to the club’s recruiting plans but overall he was happy with how the Crows were placed as they re-enter situation normal next year.
“It was an awkward, difficult situation that we had to cope with but I think from what we’ve done in the last couple of years, it’s a tick for us from a club as to what we’ve had to work through,” Noble told AAP.
“We’re pleased with how we’ve come out of it.
“If you look at how we’ve re-contracted our talent in the last couple of years we’ve been pretty bullish about doing it early, maintaining that group through and adding into our coach development, our player development.
“So some other elements have become crucial links into that retention element.”
The other club forced to trade their way into the second round of the draft was Essendon, as the first of two years of sanctions following the supplements scandal.
Bombers list manager Adrian Dodoro said the club’s plans had been thrown somewhat into chaos when the punishments were handed down in August.
He viewed the capture of midfielder Zach Merrett with pick 26 as a win, but Dodoro was hopeful a bit more time to plan will lessen the impact of the punishments going into next year’s draft.
“At least we’ve got 12 months, or more than 12 months to plan, which is a little bit different to this year,” he told AAP.
“We got caught pretty late, so planning had already taken place.
“It’s a long way out but at least you’ve got 12 months to do it, whereas this year we had a few weeks to get our house in order.
“Got out of it okay in the end, good result, don’t forget Paul Chapman’s on board. It’s positive, we’re optimistic we’ll have a good year next year.”