Adelaide Crows: 2019 fixtures, preview, list changes, every player and odds

Mick Stirling

Adelaide Crows: 2019 fixtures, preview, list changes, every player and odds image
Adelaide’s 2018 was, fans will be hoping, the Crows' annus horribilis.

After heading into the year as premiership favourites things started falling apart even before AFLX kicked off.

A disastrous camp was followed by soft-tissue injury after soft-tissue injury. The losses stacked up, relationships became strained and eventually they limped over the line in 12th position.

MORE: Adelaide Crows' 2018 season review

The club seemed to close ranks after round 23 and has quietly made its way through the trade and draft periods, taking care of business in a very Adelaide-like fashion.

So what shape are the Crows in, who do they face through the season and what is expected of Adelaide in 2019?

List changes

In:

Shane McAdam (mature-age access), Tyson Stengle (Richmond), Chayce Jones (Launceston, pictured), Edward ‘Ned’ McHenry (Geelong Falcons), Will Hamill (Dandenong Stingrays), Lachlan Scholl (Calder Cannons)

Chayce Jones

Rookies:

Kieran Strachan (Port Melbourne/South Bendigo), Paul Hunter (Adelaide), Jordon Butts (Murray Bushrangers)

Out:

Mitch McGovern, Kyle Cheney, Harry Dear, Jackson Edwards, Paul Hunter, Ben Jarman, Matthew Signorello, Sam Gibson, Curtly Hampton

Best Brownlow Medal chance:

Matt Crouch $34, Rory Laird $34, Bryce Gibbs $151

After finishing equal sixth in 2018 despite missing a couple of games with a broken hand, Laird is reasonably attractive at $34. Crouch is a little less likely - he gets lots of the ball but not much attention from the umpires. Gibbs seems good value at $151, but the former Blue doesn't poll as well as you might think, with his best effort of 15 votes in 2009 now a distant memory.

#matt crouch

Players to watch:

Hugh Greenwood, Wayne Milera, Darcy Fogarty, Shane McAdam

The clock is ticking in the Crows’ forward line so they’ll be keen for some young talent to start pushing its way through. It’s hard to fill Eddie Betts’ shoes but McAdam can do some pretty exciting stuff around the goals, while Fogarty showed he could prove a long-term key forward or even a Tom Lynch-type of link man.

Greenwood occasionally threatens to burst games open but hasn’t yet been able to put his best together for a full four quarters, and Milera is looking like a leader in Adelaide’s midfield for the next decade. 

#Hugh Greenwood

A last chance to watch:

Eddie Betts, Andy Otten

Many considered Betts’ 2018 mediocre, but while his numbers were down they weren't far below his usual returns, it's just that the highlight reel wasn’t as flashy. However, he’s 32 now and the magic can’t go on for ever. Eddie’s contracted till the end of 2020, but if he starts struggling he may well pull the plug early.



Otten is an interesting one, a player whose earliest football was his best football, but he still shows glimpses. Otten was runner-up in the 2009 Rising Star award, ahead of Dayne Beams, Stephen Hill, Callan Ward and Patrick Dangerfield, so we know the base is there, but at 29 and out of contract at the end of next season, so if he wants to keep playing he’ll have to refind a bit of his youth.

Adelaide Crows’ 2019 list

No. Name Games Date of birth Height, Weight Position
21 Atkins, Rory 77 12 Jul 1994

186cm   85kg

Midfield
18 Eddie Betts 295 26 Nov 1986 174cm 74kg Forward
16  Brown, Luke  135  22 Sep 1992  181cm 81kg Defender
  Butts, Jordon (R) 0   194cm Utility
2 Crouch, Brad  61  14 Jan 1994  186cm 85kg Midfield
5 Crouch, Matt  90  21 Apr 1995  182cm 80kg Midfield
40 Davis, Ben  19 May 1997  187cm 82kg Forward
39 Doedee, Tom  20  1 Mar 1997  188cm 88kg Defender
26 Douglas, Richard  237  6 Feb 1987  181cm 79kg Midfield
28 Ellis-Yolmen, Cam 29  28 Jan 1993  190cm 97kg Midfield
32 Fogarty, Darcy  10  25 Sep 1999  193cm 94kg  Forward
7 Gallucci, Jordan  17  4 May 1998  182cm 76kg Midfield
6 Gibbs, Bryce  253  15 Mar 1989  188cm 84kg Midfield
11 Greenwood, Hugh  37  6 Mar 1992  191cm 92kg Midfield
  Hamill, Will    185cm 72kg Defender
15 Hartigan, Kyle  82  7 Nov 1991  194cm 98kg Defender
34 Himmelberg, Elliott  4 Jun 1998  198cm 94kg Forward
37 Hunter, Paul (R)  9 Feb 1993  200cm 100kg Ruck
24 Jacobs, Sam  196  10 Apr 1988  202cm 102kg Ruck
4 Jenkins, Josh  136  8 Feb 1989  200cm 108kg Forward
  Jones, Chayce  14 Jan 2000  180cm 77kg  Midfield
42 Keath, Alex  12  20 Jan 1992  197cm 93kg Defender
8 Kelly, Jake  53  21 Jan 1995  190cm 89kg Defender
3 Knight, Riley  39  27 Mar 1995  181cm 80kg Forward
29 Laird, Rory  121  29 Dec 1993  177cm 81kg Defender
27 Lynch, Tom  123  15 Sep 1990  193cm 88kg Forward
14 MacKay, David  202  25 Jul 1988  181cm 77kg Midfield
  Shane McAdam 0     Forward
  McHenry, Edward    178cm 70kg Forward
36 McPherson, Andrew  20 Jun 1999  186cm 79kg Defender
30 Milera, Wayne  43  14 Sep 1997  184cm 81kg Midfield
44 Murphy, Lachlan (R)  11  4 Dec 1998  176cm 76kg Forward
43 O'Brien, Reilly  20 Aug 1995  202cm 101kg Ruck
22 Otten, Andy  106  15 May 1989  192cm 94kg Defender
10 Poholke, Myles  10 Jul 1998  186cm 86kg Midfield
11 Seedsman, Paul  88  22 Jan 1992  189cm 87kg Midfield
  Sholl, Lachlan    186cm 74kg Midfield
9 Sloane, Rory  177  17 Mar 1990  182cm 83kg Midfield
33 Smith, Brodie  145  14 Jan 1992  189cm 90kg Defender
  Stengle, Tyson  19 Oct 1998  172cm 73kg Forward
  Strachan, Kieran (R) 0     Ruck
12 Talia, Daniel  164  2 Oct 1991  197cm 98kg Defender
13 Walker, Taylor  167  25 Apr 1990  193cm 102kg Forward
31 Wilson, Patrick (R)  11 Dec 1994  188cm 89kg  Midfield



Adelaide Crows' 2019 Fixture

Round Date Opponent Venue
1 Saturday March 23 Hawthorn Adelaide Oval
2 Friday March 29  Sydney  SCG
3 Thursday April 4  Geelong Adelaide Oval
4 Saturday April 13  North Melbourne  Marvel Stadium
5 Sunday April 21  Gold Coast Adelaide Oval
6 Saturday April 27  St Kilda 

Marvel Stadium

7 Sunday May 5 Fremantle Adelaide Oval
8 Saturday May 11  Port Adelaide Adelaide Oval
9 Saturday May 18  Brisbane  The Gabba
10 Saturday May 25  West Coast  Adelaide Oval
11 Saturday June 1  Melbourne  TIO Stadium
12 Saturday June 8  GWS Giants Adelaide Oval
13 Thursday June 13  Richmond Adelaide Oval
14 BYE    
15 Friday June 28  Geelong  GMHBA Stadium
16 Saturday July 6 Port Adelaide Adelaide Oval
17 Saturday July 13  Gold Coast Metricon
18 Friday July 19 Essendon Adelaide Oval
19 Saturday July 27  Carlton MCG
20 Saturday August 3  St Kilda Adelaide Oval
21 Sunday August 11  West Coast  Optus Stadium
22 Saturday August 17 Collingwood Adelaide Oval
23 TBA  Western Bulldogs  Mars Stadium


Teams played twice:

Port Adelaide, Gold Coast, St Kilda, West Coast, Geelong

Games played on:

Thursday: 2
Friday: 3
Saturday: 13
Sunday: 3

#Adelaide Crows grand final line up

2019 Preview and premiership odds

The Crows are starting back at ninth in flag favouritism at $16.00, despite their list being ranked the second best by Champion Data after the draft and trade period.

Surely Adelaide will head back at least some way towards being the powerhouse side it was in 2017.

Mitch McGovern is the only top-22 player lost and, to be honest, there’s more than enough talls at either end of the ground to cover for him, at least for the moment.

Taylor Walker, Tom Lynch and Josh Jenkins are all getting to an age where injuries take a little longer to return from and six-day breaks can affect next week’s performance, so while it’s not quite ‘now or never’, there won’t be a whole lot of premiership opportunities for the bigger names on the list.

Add Betts (32), Sam Jacobs (31 by round four) and Bryce Gibbs (30 by the season opener) and there’s a lot of grey hairs starting to sprout among the Crows’ best players.

Adelaide drafted well but those guys will take time, although traded-in mature-age player Shane McAdam could have an immediate impact.

Their pre-season hasn't been without its dramas as scans revealed key defender Darcy Gardiner ruptured the posterior cruciate ligament on his right leg while playing in a practice match midway through January.

“Darcy will be able to remain active while in recovery and we’re hopeful he will have recovered in time for the start of the season," GM of Football David Noble said.

If the Crows are going to challenge next year it’s going to be up to the Class of ’17 to get the job done, and we won’t know if they’ve got over their mental - and soft-tissue - woes until the first ball is bounced in anger.

Mick Stirling