Round 6: Port Adelaide vs Adelaide; SHOWDOWN

[RoosterMarty]

Yeah Port kicked 5 goals last week, so maybe this week they can kick 6.

[GWW]

I think the Crows will win by 21-30.

[hearts on fire]

Yeah Port kicked 5 goals last week, so maybe this week they can kick 6.

How many goals did Crows kick last week?

[Thiele]

Yeah Port kicked 5 goals last week, so maybe this week they can kick 6.

How many goals did Crows kick last week?

7

[hearts on fire]

Yeah Port kicked 5 goals last week, so maybe this week they can kick 6.

How many goals did Crows kick last week?

7

maybe this week they can kick 8.

[hearts on fire]

Good game of footy, great to see the Power get up.

Much improved Ebert, still alot of improvement needed though.

Also good to see Pearce, Chad Cornes, Motlop and Tredrea all in some good form.

Bad luck to the Crows, i thought Johncock played pretty well down back for them.

[FD88]

It's reflective of where we're at. A competitive performance but a lot of work ahead. Our ball movement from kick-ins as well as delivery to our forwards are the biggest issues at present; solve those and the rest will fall into place.

Just give it time people.

[Rik E Boy]

Good game of footy, great to see the Power get up.

Much improved Ebert, still alot of improvement needed though.

Also good to see Pearce, Chad Cornes, Motlop and Tredrea all in some good form.

Bad luck to the Crows, i thought Johncock played pretty well down back for them.

I think you left out Rodan and Thomas. As for Motlop, he remains a cherry picker of the highest order.

regards,

REB

[Wedgie]

Good crowd for 2 nothing sides, do the camera's purposely try to find the ugliest people in the crowd or is it a fair reflection of a Port home game these days?

[Rik E Boy]

Good crowd for 2 nothing sides, do the camera's purposely try to find the ugliest people in the crowd or is it a fair reflection of a Port home game these days?

Maybe they are showing "the lookers" mate.

regards,

REB

[FD88]

Oh and...our physical presence at centre bounces and other stoppages = woeful tonight. At times it looked to be positioning, at others perhaps younger bodies, but more than anything it was that physicality. The kids are showing flashes of brilliance while our senior players - and I'm naming names - Mcleod, Goodwin, have not been setting appropriate examples of what's required in terms of commitment at the highest level.

The side being built possesses enormous, enormous talent and could be absolutely anything in a couple of years but I hope Craigy and co. are clear on what needs to be addressed as this phase continues.

[GWW]

I was pleasantly surprised by Port tonight, didn't expect them to win, but apart from the first 5 minutes they were very good. I think one major difference between this game and the recent Showdowns the Crows have won was the lesser impact that the Crows big 3 in McLeod, Edwards, and Goodwin had. Tredrea playing well certainly helped as well.

[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?

[Rik E Boy]

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?

See 'Australian Cricket:1984-88'

regards,

REB

[FD88]

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.

[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.

[FD88]

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.

[Interceptor]

Yeah agree with those comments FD88.

The veterans in Goodwin, Macleod and Edwards are on the wane.
Goodwin is still racking up possessions, but mainly as a link man deep in defence.
Macleod barely looks interested at times -there is the occasional cameo like the Freo game though.
Edwards is still serviceable, but I don't think the opposition would be too worried about him.

So it's going to be a tough year with a developing team that will click some weeks and fall short in others (eg last night).

[Interceptor]

Some pretty frank admissions from Neil Craig:

Port loss Crows ‘worst of season’


By Katrina Gill 12:07 AM Sun 03 May, 2009
ADELAIDE coach Neil Craig has described his side’s 26-point loss to Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium on Saturday night as its “worst performance” of the season.

The Power dominated nearly every aspect of the game including a lop-sided clearance count (42-22) and the prized hard-ball gets (56-33).

Craig admitted Adelaide had been total outplayed by its cross-town rival.

“We were really poor at the stoppages. I haven’t seen the stats yet, but the number of scores they (Port Adelaide) had from stoppages would’ve been a lot,” Craig said after the game.

“We’re slow at the moment in terms of moving the ball and we’ve got a lot of work to do. Some of our aerial work at both ends of the ground, which is contested ball in my view, was really poor – sub standard [in the] AFL.

“I think the scoreboard flattered us in the end.”

The Crows, who managed just eight goals until three-quarter-time, kicked four majors in the final term in a rallying effort which was more face-saving than threatening.

Adelaide finished with the same number of inside50ms as the free-scoring Port, but was punished for inefficient delivery to its forwards.

Port Adelaide won the centre square clearances 16-7 and Craig said he would need to have a good look at the inner workings of his midfield.

“The thing that concerned us in the centre square, in particular, was their (Port Adelaide’s) capacity to walk out of there without any pressure on them,” he said.

“You can win a centre square [clearance] and the ball can just be booted forward, but I thought the way they came out of there was far too easy.”

The loss sees Adelaide slip out of the eight and go into round seven with a win-loss record of 3-3.

Showdowns are credited with creating a ‘finals-like’ atmosphere and Craig said Saturday night’s performance was a good indication of how far his side is from playing in September.

“The reality there is that we’re capable of playing some really good football, but our capacity to complete it and stay with the task for long periods of time is a long way off the mark,” Craig said.

“There’s only one way to overcome that and that’s to keep the heat on yourself and keep demanding a standard that we know we can play at, but for nowhere near long enough.”

Adelaide reported no injuries from the loss and will now take on the Western Bulldogs at AAMI Stadium next Sunday.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/76114/default.aspx

[redden whites]

I'm genuinely excited about where this club is heading,

So am I ..striaght into a Geelong,Carlton and Hawthorn brick wall