Adelaide’s shortlist for their prized No.1 AFL draft pick is down to four but Crows recruiting manager Hamish Ogilvie insists they won’t be swayed by the lure of securing a local prospect.
West Adelaide tall Riley Thilthorpe is right in the mix for the top pick, with Western Bulldogs academy prospect Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, West Australian key forward Logan McDonald and powerful Victorian Elijah Hollands believed to be the other three.
Ogilvie stressed the Crows weren’t fazed by the prospect of a “go-home” factor of a non-South Australian and would take “the best player” – regardless of where they hailed from.
“Clearly if it’s close at times, we’ve said before and we’ve shown that we’ll go the local,” he said.
“But look, there’s a lot of data and a lot of information – we’ll put them in our talent order.
“Yes, we consider South Australian, but some of the other boys have got family in South Australia, they’ve got mates that they’ve grown up with and played different sports with that are local – so there’s a whole heap of factors that come in.
“Some guys are just ready for the adventure – it doesn’t matter where they come from, maybe their situations been difficult or bad or they need a change or they want to go somewhere else or they’re really up for the adventure.
“… we consider the local, we always have. But we can’t be just pinned down to that.”
The Crows hierarchy were due to meet on Friday to discuss their draft plans.
Ugle-Hagan is rated by many as the best player in the draft but the Bulldogs are certain to match any bid on the exciting forward.
Ogilvie reiterated coach Matthew Nicks’ previous comments that Adelaide were prepared to bid pick No.1 on Ugle-Hagan.
“We’ll just treat the players on their merits as if they were all in the open draft,” he said.
“I mean, there’s other boys that are (academy) and father-son players as the draft goes on so we treat them all on their merits.
“I think history shows that we’ve been prepared to bid on players we like.”
The Crows have a terrific draft hand, with picks nine, 22, 23 and 40 also at their disposal though they all likely be slid down the order by academy and father-son bids.
While Adelaide are unlikely to entertain any offers for pick No.1, Ogilvie hinted they could be prepared to package and shuffle their other selections on draft night and would take a “best-available” approach to their picks.