WHEN Adelaide chief executive Tim Silvers was lobbying the AFL in the off-season to host the marquee opening game for Gather Round, he knew what others weren't ready to believe about the Crows.
Three years of gradual growth under coach Matthew Nicks had led to an eight-win season in 2022, but sceptics remained critical of the list build and where the club was heading as it approached the 25th anniversary of its most recent premiership.
GATHER ROUND All you need to know for the Festival of Footy
But what Silvers knew – and what is now clear after the opening month of the season, and back-to-back wins against Port Adelaide and Fremantle – is that Adelaide is a club perched and ready to take off.
Thursday night's blockbuster clash against Carlton shapes as the night for this group to announce itself and take that difficult next leap as the competition relocates to South Australia for round five and settles its focus on Gather Round's first match.
It's a marquee slot that the Crows had to fight for, with rival Port Adelaide generally favoured to have a stronger season and presenting a more competitive option in the crucial opening slot that would set the tone for Gather Round.
But the Crows, who have been starved of standalone marquee slots during their rebuild, made a compelling pitch to the AFL that focused both on the club's drawing power and their belief they were an up-and-coming team that, driven by their exciting talent, would be in an improved position in 2023.
It was their time to lead and they deserved the opportunity.
"There was talk that we weren't ready, but we think we're building for success in the future and we're ready to challenge the best," Silvers told AFL.com.au ahead of Gather Round.
EIGHT THINGS WE LEARNED Crows' forwards could be the League's best
"We just need to do it more consistently and we need the opportunity to prove it on a national stage, so we're really excited by what we're building.
"In 2015, 2016 and 2017, we were well known for getting those matches, especially the Thursday night matches when Adelaide Oval had just reopened.
"So we're trying to position ourselves to get some of those marquee games, and because of our position on the ladder and a few other items, we've struggled to attract that.
"But I think the outside world is starting to believe in the Adelaide Crows and we're really confident internally that we're ready to take the next step."
AFL.com.au spent the week with Adelaide leading into round four and found a club that is confident in the direction it is heading under Nicks and the building blocks it has put in place since a ruthless rebuild at the end of 2019.
The Crows farewelled 19 players with a combined 1823 games' experience over the first two seasons of the rebuild and took their pain at the bottom of the ladder, losing the first 13 games of Nicks' first season in 2020 and finishing 18th (three wins), 15th (seven) and 14th (eight) in the coach's first three years.
Silvers arrived at the start of 2021 after 17 years at Hawthorn, where he had most recently been chief operating officer, and came with a reputation as a passionate, driven and authentic leader.
But he had spent very little time in South Australia, and the intensity of a two-team town and the extent of the rivalry with Port Adelaide came as something of a shock.
He learnt early on after some direct feedback from Power fans while he was wearing a club tie that you're on one side of the fence or the other in SA, and there's no love lost between the two camps.
A key part of his role has been charting the next five years, which includes the targets of a new facility for the entire club, with their West Lakes headquarters now in the bottom quartile for the competition.
But the headline of the club's strategic plan, which was released last month, is an AFL premiership by 2027.
"People might think that is ambitious, but we've been in this rebuild for over three years now and we want to have sustained success in our program. We see that as a realistic target," he said.
Senior assistant Scott Burns has been part of the Crows' rebuild since the end of Nicks' first season in 2020, bringing experience from Hawthorn, Collingwood and West Coast.
It is the Eagles, where he spent 2009-2013, that he sees the most similarities with after John Worsfold's team rebuilt aggressively over three seasons before jumping from 16th to fourth in 2011.
But while the Eagles were able to spread out their key retirements, the Crows were far more aggressive early on.
"A lot of people say Nicksy has been rebuilding now for four years; well, he hasn't. The first two years the house was gutted," Burns said.
"We didn't patch up, we pulled down and ripped it apart, and the concrete slab only went down two years ago. From there we've been rebuilding and everything is on track at this point.
"We're really confident with the footings we've got underneath – the young talent, some old heads, and a desire and passion to compete."
There is a reliability now about how Adelaide competes under the passionate and hard-working Nicks, who gets his day underway as early as 6am at West Lakes.
The coach, who is becoming more likely to see through the next phase of the Crows' build beyond his existing contract that runs until the end of 2024, started with an early focus on a defensive foundation but has gradually built out new elements of the Crows' game style.
MATCH REPORT Electric Crows fly high to down Dockers
"What the supporters and the general public see, that's always a reflection of the coach and when you talk about the Adelaide Football Club at the moment, you are confident we will bring the effort and the contest in most games," Burns said.
"That's Nicksy as a player and the Bloods culture from Sydney and what he's grown up with as a player.
"There's no doubt the way your players perform is a reflection on the coach, so effort, contest, loyalty, team over individual - they're the things Nicksy will push."
One of the things that struck new captain Jordan Dawson when he joined the Crows from Sydney at the end of 2021 was how tight the group was, with strong relationships forming among the many young players who have joined from interstate.
A perfect example is the strong friendship second-year players Jake Soligo and Josh Rachele have formed, with the pair living with fellow Victorian youngster Luke Nankervis.
"In terms of relationships, that's where I've seen them getting really strong and Nicksy has tried to promote that as much as possible to make sure we have functions, we get together," Burns said.
"When you're at these interstate clubs you become tight as players and form really strong relationships because there's more than half of you that aren't from here.
"So they're a really tight crew and that was a positive of COVID. They became close, if not best mates, and that can really drive footy clubs because you want each other to succeed, you stick up for each other, and there's a real team bond that I think was helped during that time."
Soligo is a key member of the Crows' young core, arriving via pick No.36 in the 2021 AFL Draft, making his debut alongside Rachele in round one last season and finishing 10th in the best and fairest after 16 games.
He highlights Rachele and young midfielder Sam Berry as two of the leaders of the young brigade, which has also been well represented so far this season by forward Luke Pedlar and draftee Max Michalanney, among others.
'TIME TO WIN' Crows ready to fly as mindset shifts
"We're all clicking together, which is great, and it's good to be around," Soligo said.
"We have a development group where we all speak up. That's the group we want to get through as our core going up as we get older.
"We all talk up in that and will start to drive the club, I reckon, in the next couple of years.
"I think being such a young group, we all need to step up and drive the older players to where the club needs to be and if we can keep doing that, it's going to make the club a better place."
THE FOG HAS LIFTED Nicks tips big year for emerging Crow
A key moment in the Crows' list build arrived late in 2021 when the club offered three first-round picks in exchange for North Melbourne's pick No.1, with the massive offer a sign of their interest in Jason Horne-Francis.
The club was rebuffed and ultimately secured Rachele with their eventual first-round selection that year (pick No.6), having also used a 2022 first-round pick tied to Melbourne to secure Dawson.
The Crows' own pick in the 2022 Draft was eventually used in a trade with Gold Coast for Izak Rankine, who has been a star for the Crows, elevating the forward line with 11 goals across his four games in 2023.
Adelaide felt compelled at the time to show an interest in a special local talent, but it is hard to imagine them having a better result than they have with those three first-round selections.
"It's no secret that we track all South Australian talent once they're drafted and when they're kids in our own backyard, and we've been able to secure our two big targets over the last two years," Silvers said.
"Izak Rankine was potentially the most talented kid in the country. I know he was pick No.3, but he has talent to burn and had an interest in coming home.
"I'm excited as the CEO, not only for what he can do on the field but also for what he can do commercially for the club. He puts bums on seats and is an excitement machine.
"He's the ultimate package in terms of that, but we also need to be a little bit grounded. He's just played his 50th game and he needs to bring that talent consistently and be a consistent AFL footballer."
As part of an initiative to bring the club's various teams and departments closer together, Rankine recently spoke with staff to tell his story. Coaches at Adelaide will also regularly address staff with briefings on team selection and upcoming matches.
Silvers said the club creates opportunities for its administrative staff to attend football meetings and its goal when it moves to a new facility by 2026 was to continue bringing players, coaches and staff closer together.
"Because of COVID, for many years we were segregated here and the administration staff couldn't get access to the footy department," Silvers said.
"The sporting industry is a wonderful place and you've got similar values, so for them to be a little bit closer to the program and get to know the personalities helps with retention and job satisfaction and it just makes it a better place to work."
Adelaide's new facility will include a home ground for its successful AFLW team, with a site nominated at Thebarton Oval and a heads of agreement in place with the City of West Torrens.
Silvers said the club was consulting with residents to finalise its master plan, with the club's goal to be "a good neighbour but also deliver an elite training and admin facility so we can be a destination club and attract the best players, staff and coaches".
With the $6 million of debt that was acquired through commercial lenders rather than the AFL through COVID now paid off, and staffing levels back to within 10 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, the Crows are on track off the field.
In Silvers' words: "We're in a really good position to be able to take this club places".
It is on-field now where the Crows face their next challenge, with Burns capturing the mood at West Lakes ahead of Thursday night and the position the club now finds itself in after a promising start to the season.
"If you forget about football for a minute and just look at Joe Blow in the public, there comes a time in his life at 21, 22, 23, where it's time to stand up on your own two feet," Burns said.
MORE THAN A GAME Go beyond the boundary at Adelaide Oval
"This is it and if you want to survive and be successful, don't blend in with the crowd and by the time you get to 30, nothing has happened.
"We want to win now and aim high, and we're not scared of setting our goals high, because we know the quality of the individuals we have here and the talent we have here, and we've put the work in.
"Some people might say it's before your time; well, nothing is before your time if you get there."
If you can’t attend Gather Round anymore, can you return your ticket?
If your circumstances have changed, and you can’t get to Gather Round, you can return your ticket via the Ticketek App so other footy fans and members can attend the game. If you purchased a ticket, you’ll get a refund. More details here.
