Two-time Adelaide premiership skipper Mark Bickley has given his thoughts on five out-of-contract Crows.
Each of these players is without deals in 2025 and Bickley said what he expects the club to do with them in terms of re-signing, moving them on or giving them the back half of the season to prove themselves.
Bickley was asked specifically about Brayden Cook, Brodie Smith, Elliott Himmelberg, James Borlase and Lachie Gollant as those are the players whose futures are most in question.
Chris Burgess, Hugh Bond, Ned McHenry, Patrick Parnell, Sam Berry, Taylor Walker and Will Hamill are also without deals for 2025, but the majority of those names appear certain to stay on.
Check out his responses below.
Brayden Cook
“I think we’ve seen enough of Brayden Cook in the last month and you understand there’s enough upside that he will be there next year,” Bickley said.
Brodie Smith
“I think his contract was triggered (for 2025). But at the same time, I’ll use Luke Brown as an example.
“He had a year to go of his contract but wasn’t playing at the highest level.
“So, they decided they’d come to some agreement and Luke finished up and retired.
“But I’m pretty sure that that trigger has been hit, that’s been reported anyway.
“But I think for Brodie, it’s a big decision for him. Does he want to recommit? Does he think in his own mind, ‘You know what, I can get back.’?
“Like Taylor Walker had a bad year, but then came out and was All-Australian Next year.”
Elliott Himmelberg
“Elliott’s been around for seven or eight years.
“In the last month and a half when Riley Thilthorpe went down that provided him with an opportunity.
“He looked okay, but there was talk that he wanted to go to Giants and try greener pastures.
“He is probably looking at Riley Thilthorpe and saying, ‘Riley’s 21 and he’s in front of me and he plays the same position’.
“I think that Elliott would be exploring his options.”
James Borlase
“James Borlase is out of contract at the end of the year.
“He interesting because when Nick Murray comes back, you’ve got him, Jordan Butts and Mark Keane amongst others.
“So, he hasn’t really been able to consolidate or lock away that and be a first-choice defender.
“Then he’s been played in all other spots, so there’s still a lot of doubt about what his future looks like.”
Lachie Gollant
“He’s out of contract and has spasmodically played games.
“I reckon the most games in a row he would have played is probably three or four.
“You really want to find out about Lachie I would think.
“If there’s an opportunity in the back half of this year to play four or five games and just see if given a bit of a run at it, does he have AFL quality? Can he produce what we’ve seen at SANFL level?”