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AAP
AAP
Sport
Steve Larkin

'Love to keep them': Crows coach on in-demand trio

Adelaide's Jordon Butts is considering offers from rival clubs, including the Western Bulldogs. (Julian Smith/AAP PHOTOS)

Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks wants to keep a trio of key defenders at his club as rivals circle.

But he concedes the Crows face a challenge, with Jordon Butts James Borlase and Nick Murray all in the sights of opposition clubs.

Butts and Borlase are out of contract at season's end, while Murray is contracted until the end of 2028.

Borlase
James Borlase is among key Crows defenders in the sights of rival clubs. (Matt Turner/AAP PHOTOS)

Butts, who has recently been overlooked for AFL selection, is considering a five-year contract offer from the Western Bulldogs.

The Crows are believed to have tabled a four-year deal at significantly less money than the Dogs' offer.

The Bulldogs, North Melbourne and Essendon are also monitoring Borlase, who is in the midst of a breakout season and has a two-year extension offer from Adelaide.

And North have reportedly expressed interest in trying to lure Murray, despite him being under contract.

Nicks
Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks wants to keep three key defenders at his club. (James Ross/AAP PHOTOS)

"Obviously there's interest. I mean, all the guys can play," Nicks told reporters on Thursday.

"And the challenge we have is fitting them all into the same team on the weekend.

"We'd love to keep all of our key defenders.

"They've been here now for four or five years, most of them, and it's a strength of ours is having that next guy ready to step up.

"That's the challenge we're going to deal with."

Victorian-born Butts, 26, is an unrestricted free agent, as is 24-year-old Borlase.

"We'll just continue to work through that with those guys," Nicks said.

Nicks also could lose coaching director Murray Davis, who is among the remaining four candidates for Essendon's vacant head coaching job.

Davis
Matthew Nicks is singing the praises of Murray Davis (right) as a potential head coach. (Matt Turner/AAP PHOTOS)

Davis joined the Crows from Brisbane at the end of the 2024 season and will soon have further interviews with the Bombers, who Adelaide play on Sunday.

"He's an outstanding coach," Nicks said of Davis.

"It's great to see Murray put his name in and I'm sure they'll be extremely impressed with the way he operates and the potential he's got when it comes to head coaching."

If appointed by the Bombers, the Crows would discuss whether to retain Davis for the remainder of the season.

"There's part of me that hopes we get that opportunity to discuss it because it's a really positive story for Murray," Nicks said.

"But there's another part of me that doesn't want to see him go."

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