Lachie Neale looms as an intriguing recruiting prospect for the Adelaide Football Club.

While the Crows have made his Brisbane Lions dual premiership teammate Zac Bailey their number one recruiting target at the end of the season, dual Brownlow Medallist Neale could be a handy Plan B.

Adelaide’s biggest list concern remains its midfield, which lacks blue-chip players.

Captain Jordan Dawson is a bona fide on-ball star who is a dual All-Australian but there is no other midfield jet the club can yet bank on.

Electrifying small forwards Josh Rachele and Izak Rankine have shown plenty of midfield potential but they are still learning their centre square craft.

Powerfully-built 21-year-old Dan Curtin has superstar potential but he remains a work in progress, having played only 33 games and had a delayed start to the season following knee surgery.

Showdown 59 medallist Sam Berry has made giant strides this season but is a workmanlike on-baller, rather than a creative game-breaker.

Defender Wayne Milera has the brilliance to make an impact in the middle but the Crows would be reluctant to move him from half-back, where the elite playmaker is on track to make his first All-Australian team this year.

While injuries have impacted Adelaide’s start to the season and left it sitting 11th after eight rounds with a 4-4 win-loss record, the club is in the premiership window.

It finished minor premier last season and has topped up its list in the past four years by recruiting classy and experienced players from rivals, including Dawson (from Sydney), Rankine (Gold Coast), James Peatling and Isaac Cumming (Greater Western Sydney), Alex Neal-Bullen (Melbourne) and Callum Ah Chee (Brisbane).

The Crows’ lack of midfield class and depth was brutally exposed in last year’s finals when they were knocked out in straight sets at home by Collingwood and Hawthorn.

They tried to address their on-ball issues by making a big play for then Melbourne star Christian Petracca before losing the race for his services to the Suns, where the 2021 Norm Smith Medallist has returned to his brilliant best.

Adelaide is understood to have also shown some interest in Petracca’s out-of-favour Demons premiership teammate Clayton Oliver in last year’s trade period, but it didn’t go hard at him and he signed with GWS, where he has resurrected his career.

Failing to address a clear midfield need in the off-season has certainly hurt the Crows this year.

They rank a woeful 16th in clearance differential (-4.6 a game) and 14th in points from clearances (30).

Adelaide simply doesn’t have the on-ball class and depth to match it with the best teams, which is why it struggles so mightily against them.

Brisbane star mid-forward Bailey is, quite rightly, the Crows’ recruiting priority.

He is a jet who breaks games open with his class and ability to hit the scoreboard.

A former Norwood SANFL player, the 26-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season and is hot property, with clubs queuing up for his services.

The restricted free agent is reportedly fielding offers of up to $10 million over seven years, with Adelaide, fellow South Australian club Port Adelaide and cashed-up Victorian outfit Essendon understood to be his main suitors.

Bailey, who is chasing a premiership three-peat with Brisbane this season, has an offer from the Lions – believed to be for six years – but isn’t in a hurry to re-sign as he weighs up his future, although the club is hopeful he will stay.

After his standout four-goal, 21-disposal performance against the Bombers on Saturday, Bailey told the AFL website that he wants to remain at Brisbane but is also weighing up being closer to family in Adelaide.

“Of course I want to stay, I love this club, but when it comes to contract years, there are a lot of factors you have to weigh up,’’ he said.

“I’m at that stage at the moment, just weighing things up.’’

Lions coach Chris Fagan said his club would “hate to lose Zac’’.

“He’s a fantastic player, he started his career with us, he’s developed with us and we like to think he can play his whole career with us,’’ Fagan said.

“But people are motivated by different things, and sometimes the offers are too good to refuse. We’ll just see what happens.”

Bailey was born in Darwin but moved to Adelaide at 15 for boarding school at Prince Alfred College and to play SANFL juniors for Norwood.

Astutely selected by Brisbane at pick 15 at the 2017 national draft, he would solve a lot of the Crows’ on-ball issues, having become more of an inside midfielder this campaign.

But if Bailey opts for less cash to chase more success with Brisbane, the Crows should strongly consider making a move for his more heralded teammate, Neale, a South Australian who is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

A Brownlow Medallist with the Lions in 2020 and 2023, Neale is in the twilight of his stellar career but shows no signs of slowing down.

He turns 33 on May 24 but is still playing high level football, with his key statistical numbers this season even better than last year, suggesting he could have several years of good football left in him.

He is averaging 30.6 disposals (up from 26.8 in 2025), 7.1 clearances (up from 6.2) and 6.5 score involvements (up from 5.5).

Like Bailey, it is understood that Neale’s preference is to stay with the Lions, but they only have so much money to go around in their salary cap.

He also has some well-documented family issues that could lead to him seeking a move to either a Western Australian club – his wife, Jules, who he has separated from, has moved to Perth with their two children – or home to South Australia, where his parents live (at Robe).

Neale, a Glenelg SANFL country product who grew up in the South-East, had a season-high 42 disposals against the Crows at the Gabba in Round 7 and is the ultimate football professional who, apart from his natural ballwinning and distributing skills, offers great on-field leadership.

Beyond Bailey and Neale, another Croweater, out-of-favour Carlton veteran George Hewett, 30, could be a handy depth acquisition, having won the Blues’ best and fairest award last year.

But he is not the difference-maker Adelaide so desperately needs.

NUMBERS GAME

19

Tackles laid by Showdown 59 medallist Sam Berry for Adelaide against Port Adelaide – one shy of the VFL-AFL record of 20 held by Crows teammate Rory Laird against Collingwood in Round 18, 2022.

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Sturt’s SANFL winning streak against West Adelaide, which was snapped when the Bloods upset the reigning premier by four points at Richmond Oval on Sunday.

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

“It’s 100 per cent what I dreamt about. Seeing it soar through and having big Danny Curtin lift me up like a baby, it was pretty amazing.’’ – Crows Showdown 59 hero Brayden Cook on his matchwinning goal against Port Adelaide with 10 seconds left.

“We are really disappointed for our people and supporters because it would have been a nice win, but there was a lot to take out of that game for a lot of our players, especially our young guys.’’ – Port Adelaide coach Josh Carr on his side’s one-point Showdown 59 loss.