Port Adelaide premiership player Kane Cornes has urged the Adelaide Crows to hold on to experienced players such as Daniel Talia in order to guide the youth through their current rebuild.
The Crows severed ties with experienced forward Tom Lynch on Tuesday, meaning other older players such as the 29-year-old Talia are left vulnerable as the club commits to its rebuilding phase.
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Cornes spoke on SEN SA Breakfast on how the Crows can learn from other rebuilding clubs in mixing experience with youth to bounce back up the ladder.
"You couldn’t make a case on the back of Tom Lynch that Talia gets offered a contract, you couldn’t," Cornes said.
"You’ve got Jordon Butts, you’ve got Nick Murray, you’ve got Fischer McAsey, so for all the reasons (Adelaide CEO) Tim Silvers said about Tom Lynch, there’s no way Talia plays there next year.
"There’s examples right in front of us of how you go about a successful rebuild and I think Fremantle are on that track.
"All your priorities into the draft, get as many top 10 picks as you can, but support them with Nathan Fyfe, David Mundy who’s 36, support it with Michael Walters, you can’t all go young.
"Sydney, how quickly have they rebuilt? That’s because you’ve got Josh Kennedy and Luke Parker and you’ve got Lance Franklin and the other experience around them.
"Going all or nothing, I don’t think works.
"If I’m doing it, keep the great people and great leaders and players who can play a role next year and help mentor.
"That’s why Daniel Talia should get a spot. He’s in their best 22 still."
Crows football boss Adam Kelly spoke on FiveAA radio on the 29-year old's current situation at West Lakes.
"We haven't got absolute certainty on that at the moment," Kelly said alluding to Talia's contract talks.
"We'd expect that we'll be in a position to make some confirmation on his future in the coming weeks."
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The 196cm key defender has not taken the field in 2021, last playing for the Crows in Round 18, 2020 due to a troublesome knee injury that has caused setbacks for him since going under the knife last September.
Talia has been ruled out for the rest of the 2021 season, and is out-of-contract at season's end.