Crows vs Geelong

[Thiele]

Saturday Night

here are the squads for both sides

Geelong (from)
1. Mitch Brown
3. Jimmy Bartel
4. Andrew Mackie
5. Travis Varcoe
7. Harry Taylor
9. James Kelly
10. Kane Tenace
11. Joel Corey
12. Trent West
13. Tom Lonergan
14. Joel Selwood
15. Ryan Gamble
17. Shannon Byrnes
18. Nathan Djerrkura
22. Scott Simpson
24. Mark Blake
27. Mathew Stokes
28. David Johnson
29. Gary Ablett
30. Matthew Scarlett
31. Dan McKenna
33. Max Rooke
34. Simon Hogan
35. Paul Chapman
36. Brodie Moles
37. Jeremy Laidler
41. Shane Mumford
44. Corey Enright
45. Cameron Ling

Adelaide (from)
1. Nick Gill
2. Brad Moran
3. Brent Reilly
5. Scott Thompson
6. Jonathon Griffin
9. Tyson Edwards
10. Jarrhan Jacky
11. Michael Doughty
12. Robert Shirley
13. Taylor Walker
14. David Mackay
15. Rory Sloane*
17. Bernie Vince
18. Graham Johncock
20. Ivan Maric
21. Chris Knights
22. Andy Otten
23. Andrew McLeod
27. Scott Stevens
28. Aaron Kite
29. James Sellar
32. Patrick Dangerfield
33. Jared Petrenko
34. Myke Cook*
36. Simon Goodwin
37. Trent Hentschel
41. Brodie Martin
43. Chris Schmidt*
44. Nathan Bock

* Cook (listed as No. , Sloane (31) and Schmidt (46) will wear alternative numbers for this week only

[BestHumanEver]

Whats with the different numbers

[Dutchy]

Crows should be able to win this quite easily

[Rik E Boy]

The Cats love the Dome and should defeat the Cows. That's a reasonably strong squad we have assembled for this match. I would have liked to see Tom Gilles, not that happy with the selection of David Johnson who although a goer is limited.

regards,

REB

[CK]

...also notable for Kelli Underwood becoming the first female to call an AFL match on Australian TV. Very best of luck to her. Hopefully she becomes more recognised for the quality of her calling rather than her gender.

[Westsider]

How nasal is her voice?!?!? Can't they adjust the tone of her mic? She'd be ok otherwise!
Every word with an S makes my speakers shade. ssssssssssstttthhh

[Rotter]

Crows should be able to win this quite easily

Under what rationale have you made this prediction?

[magpie in the 80's]

Geelong1.17.8 (119)
Adelaide 2.9.12 (84).

[FD88]

In a word: frustrating. I want to get the negatives out of the way quickly because tbh I don't find myself all that concerned by them:

- The skills were erratic, poorly directed handballs and overuse turned what should be comfortable transitions up the ground into pressure situations. More or less everyone on the ground was guilty of this, so I'm open to the possibility that as a group this will be tightened up as the season draws closer.

- We didn't attempt to hit up forward targets on the lead as often as you'd like, there was still a lot of the bomb-and-hope. Without Tippett the chances of a mark are slim, and without much of a crumbing presence defenders are able to set up for the rebound quickly when it goes to ground. Having said that, I thought the pressure we applied when Geelong tried to clear was better than it has been.

- The ruck work was beyond disappointing in my view, moreso from Griffin than Maric. Geelong may be accomplished in a lot of areas but we should've had it over them here. Too many easy clearances chances for the cats as a result. Hopefully a once-off.

Now, just on a few of the players:

- Hentschel got through in one piece and showed a few good signs. That's some of the best news we could ask for at a time when our forward line needs all it can get.

- Myke Cook. That brilliant attempt at a dribbler from the boundary, the extreme pace and classy change of direction through the midfield to fool a pack of Geelong players, this kid has got it. Yes he needs some polish, but it won't take long.

- Jacky is looking more and more comfortable which is a great sign. The more confidence he gains, the more he's going to come out of his shell and put some of that flair on display.

- Taylor ****ing Walker. I said to a mate during the week that I had a feeling Tex would hurt himself in this match and bam, for a while there it looked like the footy gods had seen Hentschel return and decided we needed another kick in the face to keep us from entertaining the idea of having multiple talented players in our forward line. Thank goodness it's not serious because seeing how well he coped with Scarlett in that brief period on the ground, we've every reason to continue being excited.

- Goodwin looks in sensational nick. Nothing better than having your captain up and about at the start of what is a crucial season if we are to be going places in 2010 and beyond.

Now positives on the game itself:

We weren't that far behind Geelong in terms of the general run of play tonight. Both teams were sloppy around the ground. The point of difference was use of the ball inside 50. We lost by six goals because when Geelong went forward, they converted. When we went forward, we'd find ways to lose possession in situations where you'd expect at least a shot on goal to be the end result. And of course throw in the usual shank from 20 metres out (Maric).

All in all the match didn't bring anything unexpected in terms of where I reckon we're at. Lets see how things develop in the next few weeks.

[jointman]

rather play taylor than knights and reilly.......to soft......need to harden up

[NFC]

I thought Knights was our best, followed by Stevens and Vince. Knights disposal was questionable at times, nothing new there, but his ball winning ability as well as his brilliant tackling was what set him apart from the rest.

Scott Stevens might be one of the lesser known players in the league but there's no doubting his importance to this team. As a defender he gets the job done week in, week out and as a forward he continues to show that he can kick 2 or 3 goals and take some strong marks. He played well in both positions tonight and showed his flexibility.

I agree FD88, Cook is something special. His disposal was ordinary but just about everything else looked superb. What stands out is his insane pace; he is perhaps the quickest player on our list. That run through the middle in the last term was enough to bring a smile to my face. His tackling and vertical leap, combined with his legitimate X-Factor, ensures that he is going to be a great player in this league, mark it down, I am that confident.

Griffin continues to underwhelm. I think Adelaide fans really hype up his potential far too much because I just see an ordinary ruckman trying to even stay on an AFL list. While not as athletically gifted, Maric is a far better player.

Otten did some good things but there's something about his game I don't like. Jacky showed major improvement, Petrenko looked good at both ends and with less nerves could have finished with 2 goals. Reilly looked strong and confident and Walker was looking exciting, pity his night ended early.

Kite's got a long, long way to go and expect him to spend the year in the SANFL. He still needs to add a good 10kg as I fear he'll seriously injure his shoulder going up against such hard and mature bodies. He's got a bright future but more seasoning in the SANFL will do him good.

As for the actual team performance, just far too many simple errors and Geelong kills you on the rebound. They make you pay for any error as their movement is so quick and crisp. We've got a lot to work on before Round 1.

[FD88]

Also Vince will give the Club Champion award a shake this year. Just putting that out there.

[bobster]

i think a few things that showed in this game, was yet again we find it hard to capitalize. we also had a fair few unforced errors that resulted in geelong goals that could have been improved on... insaying that with a bit more game time for the youngsters and inparticually walker and hentschul i think our forward line could look a fair bit better. then u add kurt tippet with a season under his belt and porplyzia we are startin to look like a team that can kick a winning score...

[FD88]

i think a few things that showed in this game, was yet again we find it hard to capitalize. we also had a fair few unforced errors that resulted in geelong goals that could have been improved on... insaying that with a bit more game time for the youngsters and inparticually walker and hentschul i think our forward line could look a fair bit better. then u add kurt tippet with a season under his belt and porplyzia we are startin to look like a team that can kick a winning score...

Agreed. Walker, Tippett, Hentschel, Porplyzia, throw in someone like Jacky, Petrenko or Cook in a rotation and talent-wise that'd be as good as we have had for a long while. Burton to come back later in the season would provide quite the boost as well.

Also I see the media has been falling over itself to declare us miles behind Geelong and yes, they are clearly the better outfit but I thought we won a bit of the ball and had our patches where we could've made it closer. We weren't disgraced. I was just reading that they had 18 of their grand final 22 on the field last night with Johnson, Mooney, Harley and someone else I've forgotten missing. That's as good as a group as the crows will see this year (don't care what anyone says, Hawthorn is not the best side in the comp). The thing about Geelong is as a unit it punishes you for every mistake which can see the scoreboard blow out quickly, much as we were doing to sides in 2006. Just got to persist with the current batch of kids and we should have a side capable of going places before long.

As an aside, everyone's bagging Kelli Underwood's effort last night but she was getting all the player names right and seemed to know a bit about each side unlike her moronic pals in the box. Give her a break.

[JK]

Griffin continues to underwhelm. I think Adelaide fans really hype up his potential far too much because I just see an ordinary ruckman trying to even stay on an AFL list. While not as athletically gifted, Maric is a far better player.

I didn't see last nights game, but Im one of those who believe Griffen has all the attributes to be an excellent player.

When up and running he has good hands, an excellent kick, a good tank, plenty of height and moves well.

Whether he can translate that into onfield performance or it remains as just "potential", only time will reveal I guess.

[Felch]

Griffin continues to underwhelm. I think Adelaide fans really hype up his potential far too much because I just see an ordinary ruckman trying to even stay on an AFL list. While not as athletically gifted, Maric is a far better player.

I didn't see last nights game, but Im one of those who believe Griffen has all the attributes to be an excellent player.

When up and running he has good hands, an excellent kick, a good tank, plenty of height and moves well.

Whether he can translate that into onfield performance or it remains as just "potential", only time will reveal I guess.

I agree with NFC's comment entirely. Griffen just doesnt seem to have enough agro in him. If you could transplant Maric's guts and determination into Griffin's body, you would have the perfect ruckman.

My prediction, Griffen gone fron the list within 2 years.