Adelaide's extraordinary early-season form, which has seen them installed as warm flag favourites, has been achieved despite having not one top-10 draft pick in the team.

While Carlton, Melbourne, Greater Western Sydney and Gold Coast boast a dozen or more top-10 picks on their list, the Crows have precisely zero, relying instead on a bunch of mid-ranking draftees to reach the top of the ladder.

Perhaps only Victorian midfielder Brad Crouch, who was taken from the GWS mini-draft as a 17-year-old in exchange for pick No.10, comes close.

They have proved that clubs' obsession with the national draft can be misplaced; that the real key to success is recruiters who can spot footballers as opposed to athletes, a good learning environment, A-grade coaching and a simple but effective game plan.

Key forward Josh Jenkins told ESPN that the Crows had never had a No.1 draft pick in their history -- the highest they've had in the national draft is pick No. 7 -- and therefore had to rely on other parts of their operation to compensate.

"It's probably a combination of several things: recruiting staff who can identify good players who might not be getting much of an opportunity at other clubs, and who end up flourishing here, a good development program, good coaching and a strong culture," Jenkins told ESPN.

(Photo by Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images)

"Of course, our recruiters would prefer to have pick 5, rather than pick 25, but that doesn't mean you can't find good-to-great players later in the draft.

"I'd be silly not to acknowledge that luck has played a part, too. We all knew Eddie Betts was a really good player when he came over from Carlton, but I don't think anyone could ever have predicted that he'd kick over 200 goals in three seasons."

Riewoldt close to 2018 deal

St Kilda stalwart Nick Riewoldt will almost certainly saddle up for season No.18 next year. Buoyed by the Saints' prospects with their talented young playing list, Riewoldt, who turns 35 in October, is keen to bat on.

His knee still causes him all sorts of grief -- and St Kilda fans watching the team warm-up before Saturday's game against Hawthorn would have noticed the absence of the big No. 12 from most of the run-throughs -- and he will have to be rested from the occasional game, but it seems to be all systems go for 2018.

He's kicked 13 goals and picked up 101 possessions in five games this season, above the average stats over his career, and the umpires are looking after him, too: he's picked up seven frees so far in 2017, and is yet to concede one.

The only people likely to be unhappy with his decision are the publishers of his autobiography which he's currently working on and which is likely to be put back 12 months.

Dees, Suns in financial trouble

Melbourne and Gold Coast are without major guernsey sponsors almost two months into the AFL season, which could potentially leave a financial blackhole worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Both clubs have failed to secure sponsorship on the rear of their jerseys, leaving vacant space underneath a player's jumper number. The cash-strapped Suns told ESPN last month it hoped to lock in a suitor in the next few weeks, but are yet to announce a new partner.

(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

The inability to capture crucial sponsorship dollars comes at a critical time for the Suns, which last year operated at a $2.9 million loss.

The poor fiscal return has spurred the AFL to further inject funds into the fledging club's coffers.

The Demons, which didn't return ESPN's calls, netted $720,000 last year -- its third consecutive profit.

AFL Victoria making major strides

AFL Victoria aspires to have all TAC Cup coaches employed full-time, as it looks to strengthen coaching development across the state.

In a bold move to improve coaching standards in footy's heartland, AFL Victoria chief executive Steven Reapers hopes all 12 coaches from the country's top flight junior program will soon become permanent, full-time positions.

Reaper said the proposed restructure would see coaches looking after football development beyond the four walls of their assigned clubs.

Latest news & video - delivered to you SUBSCRIBE

"We'll never have full-time TAC Cup coaches who are just there for the playing list. The ones that are full time have a role to play across coaching accreditation and coaching development for the region as well," Reaper told ESPN.

"If we crystal-balled it and looked into the future, ideally any additional duties a coach might take on, has to be of benefit to the majority of football, not just the TAC Cup program.

"There's certainly a push to try and have more of a presence from a coach education point of view in some of the regions.

"Of about 12 regions, we could argue six or seven of them are full time roles at the moment, but not all of that time is dedicated to the TAC Cup component."

Full-strength or mid-strength?

A storm is brewing between fans and executives at Perth's newest stadium about whether the state-of-the-art facility will serve full-strength beer.

Traditionally, fans have been limited to mid-strength ales to prevent drunken behaviour, while those in big-spending corporate boxes imbibe on a menu of unrestricted beverages.

But the majority of beer-drinking supporters are hoping they can soon raise a glass to the return of full-strength beer.

"You can get full strength beer up in the corporate box, but you can't in the 'pleb' area. So the inference is the plebs can't control themselves but the corporates, where the booze is free, can, which is particularly hard to swallow," AFL Fans Association President Gerry Eeman told ESPN.

In a case of deja brew, it's expected management of Perth Stadium -- a 60,000 capacity facility in Burswood -- will turn the tap off this audacious bid when it hosts its first AFL match next year.

Eeman says up to two-thirds of fans are hoping alcohol restriction at matches will be a bitter memory.

"I think fans by and large are very well behaved. Fans are a reflection of society. There's always going to be one or two that do things they shouldn't do," he said.

(Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

MCG set to trial U.S. innovation

On other catering matters, MCC members could soon have the option of pre-ordering or "in-seat" ordering their food and beverages, a move that has been successfully trialed in the US.

In order to beat the half-time rush, for example, fans might be able to pre-order (and pre-pay) their pie and hot chips from their seats, on their mobile phone, during the second quarter. They'd then just have to scan a barcode at half-time and pick up their order, avoiding a 10-minute wait in the queue.

MCC members have recently been sent a survey asking if this kind of service would improve their "customer experience".

"In-seat food and beverage ordering is becoming popular across a number of international stadiums and we are eager to gauge the MCG customer interest and expectations of such a service," MCC communications manager Shane Brown told ESPN. "We will keep looking at our options and possibly conduct some trials in the near future."