The Adelaide Crows, preparing to enter the 2023 season with one of the youngest playing lists in the competition amid their continued rebuild, are expected to be among the lowliest teams in the league in terms of win-loss ratio.
As senior coach Matthew Nicks ticks over his fourth year at the helm, the Crows' football department has continued to add assets to his youthful squad, the most notable of which being ex-Suns forward Izak Rankine, while also subtracting in the form of Billy Frampton via trade and the retirements of Fischer McAsey and Luke Brown.
Taking into account the aforementioned player movement at West Lakes over the off-season, as well as Jordan Dawson's appointment as the club's new skipper, we present our five burning questions lingering over the Crows' 2023 campaign.
2. What's in store for Josh Rachele in Year 2?
It's fair to say second-year gem Rachele turned heads at West Lakes last year, plying his trade successfully as a small-forward-turned-midfielder during his rookie season and, in doing so, validating Adelaide's selection of the Victorian playmaker with Pick 6 at the 2021 National Draft.
Rachele ranked third among rising-star-eligible players last season in goals per game (1.3) and top-five in score involvements per game (4.5) and marks inside 50 per game (1.1), illuminating the already-damaging impact the youngster makes inside the Crows' forward arc.
While Rachele played generally as a crumbing high-half-forward, the 19-year-old was thrust into the midfield at numerous points throughout the Crows' 2022 campaign and is likely to see his time in the engine room enhanced this upcoming season.
Rachele is on record in January claiming "getting thrown in a few centre bounces, I think that will help", indicating internal discussions have likely been had about making that possibility a reality, particularly amongst one of the weaker midfield groups of the competition.
