Should Adelaide open their war chest for Izak Rankine and pay him $800,000 over five years to come to the club?
Garry Lyon believes the Crows should if they’re comfortable with dedicating that much salary cap space to the livewire forward.
Former Essendon captain Tim Watson laid out his thoughts, going through the stats.
“I was thinking to myself, is he really worth that? He’s a great highlights reel type player, but in terms of productivity, where does he rank alongside every other small forward in the game?” Watson told SEN Breakfast.
“From Champion Data, they say he’s the 10th best overall forward in the competition. He was the number one player in the competition for forward 50 ground balls.
“My eye tells me that he does things that other players are incapable of doing, but does he do enough of them?”
To which Lyon responded: “No he doesn’t because if he did he’d be Gary Ablett like.”
The former Melbourne captain however supports Adelaide’s play for Rankine, saying they have to pay him overs to pry him out of the Gold Coast – who recently believed they had the small forward locked away.
“So he’s not at that level, but he’s at a level where Adelaide are prepared to pay probably $200,000 more than he’s worth to get him back,” he said.
“I’d say he’s worth $600,000, but to get him out you’ve got to pay overs and that’s where Adelaide is at.
“Four weeks ago he was staying, that’s what I’m told, and then they’ve managed to change his mind, but they haven’t given up Gold Coast.
“(Adelaide) is the youngest team in the competition, so they must have some salary cap space, so do it. $800,000 sounds like obscene money, but you’ve got to move the kid back and if you’ve got the youngest list in the comp, get them together and grow them together.”
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