Cornes: Do the Crows have enough A-Graders to contend?

Kane Cornes has expressed his concerns about Adelaide’s list going into 2027 following a lack of star acquisitions coming through the door at West Lakes.

After their minor premiership and subsequent straight-sets exit in finals in 2025, the Crows fell just short of their ladder position this year, finishing sixth while progressing to the semi-finals.

As a result, 2027 proves to be a big year for coach Matthew Nicks, who is in the final year of his existing contract, with their list manager Jarryd Roughead stating that they are in a ‘win-now’ mode.

During the Trade Period, the club is set to add veteran Swan Harry Cunningham through the rookie draft, having parted ways with Luke Pedlar and Jordon Butts.

But having not added any ‘A-Graders’ following a failed pursuit of Brisbane’s premiership star Zac Bailey, Cornes is not confident their list has the star power can break a 29-year premiership drought next season.

“And they think that they've got enough A-Graders on their list to get this done,” Cornes said on SEN’s The Summer Run.

“I really think they've only got two A-Graders. I had a conversation with a senior coach a number of years ago on an aeroplane, and he said, you need seven A-Graders to win a premiership. And this was a recent premiership coach.

“If you look at Brisbane, you go, ‘Yeah, they've got seven ’, and you can rattle off the names yourself.

“I think Fremantle would have close to seven. I think Geelong now probably have close to seven. Hawthorn have seven. Adelaide have got two.

“I reckon (Jordan) Dawson and (Izak) Rankine, you could say Thilthorpe at his best, I could listen to the case for Josh Worrell.

“But really it's Rankine and Dawson, you're not gonna win the premiership with two A-Graders, you're just not.

“Now they tried to get a third in Bailey, it didn't happen. I think they finish somewhere between 6 and 10, don't they?”

The Crows have also announced that Chayce Jones, Lachlan Sholl and Tyler Welsh have not been offered contracts for 2027.