Round 6: Port Adelaide vs Adelaide; SHOWDOWN

[NO-MERCY]

Your right GWW the Crows are very reliant on those three & when they have limited influence the Crows don't win.
What will the Crows be like when they lose those three in 1-2 years time?

In two years time we are the real deal. We're getting very little in the way of damaging footy out of Mcleod or Goodwin right now so, much like when Roo was being carried along in 07, the difference between them being there and not will be negligible. We're paying for it right now.

I'm genuinely excited about where this club is heading, given the quality of the new core we're building.

Goodwin was your best the previous week & Mcleod was up there aswell.

Imo Vince was our best last week. Goodwin's use of the ball especially when we need it most has been questionable in 2009, and unfortunately we can't reasonably expect this to change all that much as he moves closer to retirement. He is not showing us the damaging leg that used to be such a weapon a few years back and your captain shouldn't be producing costly errors at critical stages in matches as he has been. Going along worse than him is Mcleod. Shirking contests, shanking attempts at goal that you'd normally put in the book, Macca looks the closest to saying his goodbyes at this stage.

We are getting the occasional damaging performance but not enough, and look, disagree if you will, but the idea that the majority of the hurt will come when these blokes are gone would only apply if they were playing consistently well all the way through to retirement. As soon as you start getting (and I hate to say this in reference to Macca) non-committed 14 possession nothing games from a Mcleod, the rest of the side is required to pick up the slack to get results. The bulk of the price is being paid -now-.

In 2 years the likes of Dangerfield, Cook, Walker, Petrenko, Otten etc will have 30-50 games under their belts, each. I.e. at the same stage of development as Porps, Vince, Knights and VB are now. If we aren't a significantly harder side to beat then than we are now I'll be surprised.

I look forward to 2 years time.

[Booney]

The worry for Adalaide right now is on two major parts of the game. Rucks and Key forwards.

In Tippett you have both, but he can only be in one spot at any given time and as a Gold Coast boy he will have a nice asking price on his head for his next contract, wherever that may be.

Griffin IMO is not up to leading AFL rucks and neither is Maric, both try and of the two I think Maric is the better option as he plays similar to Ben Hudson who Adelaide now soorly miss.

So where are Adelaide going to find a CHF to direct traffic through and a ruckman to lead the rucks? For those who have seen McKernan in the SANFL, is he up to it, should he be given a chance this year?

I think as good as Adelaide look for the next 2 - 4 years with guys like Porplyzia,van Berlo,Vince,Reilly,Rutten,Petrenko,Dangerfield and Otten (
I dont put Walker in there yet as IMO he has a long long way to go compared to those already listed. ) how are they :

1 : Going to win the ball at stoppages without a ruckman winning the ball
2 : Kick 15 or more goals on regular occasions

Good win by the Power on Saturday night and I was very happy with Chaplin and Carlisle once more, Tredders is moving like he did 5 years agop after 07 and 08 were cut short with knee injuries ( as I said before the op's he has had were more than just a little 'scrape' that keep blokes out for 3 or 4 weeks ) with S.Burgoyne to come back in and blokes like Lower and Carr missing out we have now got a little depth to work with.

As with Adelaide after Brogan and Lade are done in the next couple of years I see our ruck options as very thin.

One final question, does Neil Craig coach to fit his playing group at this point in time ( no CHF to kick to ) and if so is it not his fault that the team has developed this way?

[Hondo]

I think you're right Booney. Our forward line this year was always going to be our weak spot and now with Hentschell & Gill out, Walker & Tippett (when he's up there) are copping the top 2 defenders from the opposition and naturally struggling. Walker, at this stage, needs to be the 3rd forward but at times he's the no 1 go-to guy. So it's a bit unfair to compare him to the other rookies like Otten who aren't having to match up on the other team's best players. He's still a very good prospect and this game time he's getting will be invaluable experience.

I'm not sure how we are even scoring 12 goals TBH.

That's why the club drafted tall in last year's draft and, by all reports, there's a couple of really good prospects there in Phil Davis and Shaun McKernan, to name a couple off the top of my head.

At least one of Hentschell or Gill have to play to relieve some of the heat off Walker.

To answer your question on NC, if he had Geelong's list I think they'd be playing very similarly to how they play under Thompson. In fact, I think you could say that about half the senior coaches at least, probably more.

[Booney]

Sadly I think Hentschell's body wont allow him to get back to AFL standard, as sad loss of a great player, but accidents happen in this game. On Gill I just dont think he is good enough.

[Gingernuts]

The worry for Adalaide right now is on two major parts of the game. Rucks and Key forwards.

In Tippett you have both, but he can only be in one spot at any given time and as a Gold Coast boy he will have a nice asking price on his head for his next contract, wherever that may be.

I actually think that the Crows should be playing both Griffin & Maric in tandem in ruck and leaving Tippett to develop at CHF. His skills around the ground are getting better every week, if we could keep him at CHF with freedom to work up to the wings I think he might provide an avenue to goal (not immediately of course, but with a bit more development).

I thing Griffin & Maric both have the goods and just need more exposure. Having both in the team also gives flexibility up forward (Maric kicked 4 on the weekend at CHF for the Pies) and options on the magnet board if one is having a bad day.

[Rik E Boy]

Sadly I think Hentschell's body wont allow him to get back to AFL standard, as sad loss of a great player, but accidents happen in this game. On Gill I just dont think he is good enough.

A great player? They didn't call him Pothentschell for nothing. Hasn't really had the chance to prove that yet IMO.

regards,

REB