Crows vs Hawks

[Blue Boy]

Has Mummbles made that change yet ??? - it is the next day now !!!

[sydney-dog]

Blue Boy

in the heat of battle I was critical of Craigy not making the change, now the emotion has settled, I am not sure anyone else in the Adelaide line up could of done the job

Truck too slow, Kenny too slow, Stevens not strong enough, Bock maybe however he was not moving freely enough

[Blue Boy]

Blue Boy

in the heat of battle I was critical of Craigy not making the change, now the emotion has settled, I am not sure anyone else in the Adelaide line up could of done the job

Truck too slow, Kenny too slow, Stevens not strong enough, Bock maybe however he was not moving freely enough

Stevens would be the man - he has done beaten Reiwoldt a couple of times and has been in very good form.

Not blamin Massie as a few weeks ago we played them on a wet track and that favoured our player. We had a dry track yesterday and the coach let him get go on his own merry way.

Mummbles seems to be very stubborn with his match ups and where he wants/requires players to play - this needs to change for next year now !!!

I would have much more understanding towards him if he just admitted he got it wrong !!!

[Sojourner]

I have argued with Sojourner before about this S-D

Sojourner is a Gary Aryes fan still upset about what happened in 2004 if that helps put things in perspective - conistent Neil Craig basher (with some mates) who likes to use low days for the AFC to remind us all how terrible a coach Craig is. Very, very quiet on the good days of course .....

Neil Craig still never missed a finals series when senior AFL coach for a full season. 3 points may as well be 3,000 points in a final unfortunately.

Hondo,

Neil Craig was a huge part of the Crows Grand Final successes in 1997 & 1998. His fitness coaching regimes were at that stage unmatched by any other club in Australia and delievered Malcolm Blight players that were of superior fitness. He is a very, very good coach in the department of sports science.

On the issue of Gary Ayres, you are right to say that I was upset at his sacking, I dont feel however that I am a "Neil Craig Basher" as such. Although I did say at the time out of anger that I felt that Craig was someone who the playing group directed rather than the other way around and clearly that was wrong and something that I will apologise for having said.

My issue is with the Club rather than the current coach and my feeling that the club permitted members of the playing group to walk all over Ayres and backed the playing group over Ayres which I feel was the wrong thing to do. I didnt support the appointment of Craig to the club for that reason, yet the same could have been said for any coach appointed at the time.

Neil Craig has proven beyond any doubt that his coaching makes the Crows competitive in the home and away season. His efforts in getting the club into the finals when it looked shot were awesome to say the least.

What I mentioned in my above post was that the Crows have to make a decision on where the club is going to go to from here. No doubt the lines will be full on 5AA next week of people wanting to comment on how Neil Craig coaches in finals and likely with the implication being that he struggles in this area as well as plenty of analysis of that in the media. That is why I suggested that if the Adelaide Football Club really are 100% commited to Neil Craig that they come out this week and extend his contract. Which serves a purpose of the club dealing concisivley with the issue.

As far as the issue of Craigs tactician type coaching skills goes, I dont have an opinion as such. I would leave that for someone like Neil Curley who brought it up after last seasons finals to answer that question. Yet if it was true that there were issues in that area, the AFC should be looking into that and what they can do to get the best outcome for the club.

Kevin Sheedy doesnt have as good a result as Neil Craig in the past few seasons that is true, yet neither has his list of players been as good either. Under Sheedy Essendon finished 15th in 2006, this season he took them to 12th - equal with 10th on premiership points. Although that is not making the finals that is not such a bad improvment considering the resources that he has and the competitive nature of the competition.

If there is a possibility that Sheedy could do better with the Crows than Craig, the AFC should be looking into it and making the best decision for the club not the individuals in the club,

[mal]

Considering the aging list and lack of young quality I think CRAIG
did a very good job propping up this team
He gets the best out of his players in the minor round
By the time finals come up other clubs match AC for intensity

Its not his fault

[brent]

time for my two cents!

first with a positive: i have been critical of massie in past seasons, but i reckon he played with a huge heart yesterday and has done so all year. beaten hands down by BBBF but who in the league wouldn't have been, he's a friggin weapon

i know heart alone does not maketh the football player but imo the crows should keep him

i've said it before and i'll say it again, thommo butchers the football especially at critical points, and no i'm not talking about an isolated incident it was all year. my posts are out there somewhere. the more possessions he gets the worse it is.

and thank god after about 10 years on the list perrie is surely gone next year, it is an indictment on the club that he has been our #1 chf for so long, but these things happen when the club refuses to play youngsters and draft suitably

last but not least, farewell roo, its been an absolute pleasure. in time he deserves to be rated up there with the champions of this state, not just the club.

ok i'm done

[Westsider]

Thommo needs to play like Judd did... get the ball and then handball off to the nearest teammate... but with the way he play I doubt he could even do that.

Would have to be the most over rated person in the team...aside from neil cwaig. Might be able to get 30 possessions a game... but how many actually hit the target? Maybe he wants to go back to victoria. Trade him, perrie and mcgregor for bryce gibbs and andrew carrazzo

[Hondo]

Sojourner

Fair enough explanation there .... play on!

[Hondo]

Neil Craig has completely bluffed the members and fellow fans of the footy club including the board members

Yes, the last 3 years finals campaigns never really happened - Craigy just convinced everyone that they did

Well spotted

At least there's no OTT generalisations coming from non-Crows supporters in the wake of yesterday's 3 point loss which is a relief

[Aerie]

The bottom line is that Craig's record in finals is appalling and that is how he will be judged and until he at least gets Adelaide to a Grand Final he will be under pressure from the public and media. I didn't see much of the match yesterday, but putting Massie on Franklin on a fine day is ridiculous. Having Massie on Riewoldt at the Dome a month or so ago cost the Crows that game as well. The thing is, Massie is an excellent player and has been playing well, but not in the role of stopping a big guy.

Craig had Rutten, Stevens and Bock to use on Franklin, Roughhead and Boyle. He even had McGregor who could have been used for periods of the game in the backline if the Hawthorn trio were giving any of our guys the run around. Massie would have been perfect for Dixon. I don't know what Craig was thinking in the first place and then to not change during the game is substandard coaching.

[sydney-dog]

Sojourner

hang on, Sheed's did not have as good as a list

Point 1. Sheeds goal to goal line has Mal Michael, Fletcher, Lucas and Llyod down the spine, any club would love this experienced spine, if the crows had Llyod at FF and Lucas at CHF we would be unstoppable

Point 2. Sheeds has been at the club for 27 years, he is bloody responsible for pulling that list together, he is the man who decided to recycle players like Camporale, Cole and McPhee, he is also responsible for ignoring midfielders in the draftand loading up on talls such as Ryder, Laycock and Bradley who have not delivered, finally and most importantly, he is bloody responsible for retaining his under performing favourites such as Hefferman, M Johnson and J Johnson

Point 3 . Youngsters under Sheeds have not developed, Laycock, Bradley, Ryder, Johns, Lovett and Lovett-Murray to this stage are nothing more than camio players

Mate, stop trying to be Sheeds and pull the wool over everyone's eyes, Sheeds has hand picked this list, failed to develop the youth at the club and has failed to move on his under performing favourites, he would not even of got close to Craigy';s performances with that crows list

[sydney-dog]

Aerie

why should Craigy be no different then any other coach, do we consider all coaches under performing until they reach a GF

Last year the Pies were smashed by the WB in the finals, if West Coast beat Collingwood next week, do we say Malthouse has under performed with Collingwood

Only one team can win each year, if Adelaide had the best list in the comp and we continued to fail then yes I would be concerned.

2005, we should of made the GF, however we were beaten by a better football team, West Coast were a far superior side than Adelaide

2006, last years preperation was a disaster, injuries to Hart, Roo, Hentchel and Biglands did not make the crows job easy, we were finally beaten by the Premiers and the best side in the league

2007, I was confident that we could get over the Hawks, however we were beaten by a team with an absolute super star, it was not due to our preperation or Craigy's coaching, sure Craigy could of put Steven's on Buddy but the resdult would of been the same, when Buddy is on his is really on.

Few weeks ago I watched him kick 9 goals on Fletcher, once again Sheedy could not opt for Michael or Lucas, due to a lack of leg speed and it would not of made a difference, no defender in the comp would of stopped Buddy yesterday

The majority of Buddy's shots were on angles outside 50 and he slotted them and this is why he is already a superstar, historically players like Riewoldt have missed those big goal opportunities, Buddy nailed everyone and that was the difeerence in the end

Well played Buddy, not much more the crows could do

[Hondo]

Whats the consensus on Laidley now after today?

2 finals as head coach - combined losing record of around 180 points!

To me, too harsh to make a similar call on him as the those made on Craigy - but using some people's criteria Laidley is 10,000 times worse than 'appalling' (remember, Crows have won 2 finals in 05 and 06).

[sydney-dog]

Blue Boy

you keep milking the Mumbles comment re Franklin but you still have not nominated who you would of put on Buddy

[stan]

Blue Boy

you keep milking the Mumbles comment re Franklin but you still have not nominated who you would of put on Buddy

I dont think they really had anyone for him.

[Westsider]

Have they re-signed laidley yet? Because if they haven't and they lose next week id say he's gone

[stan]

Have they re-signed laidley yet? Because if they haven't and they lose next week id say he's gone

I dont think so,

[Booney]

Rutten appeared half fit some weeks ago against Geelong.Playing against Brown and Darcy in recent weeks made sure he didnt have to run far from the goalsquare,perfect for him.He would not have been the answer for Franklin.

The problem was,when Adelaide played Brisbane,Rutten could get the 'third man' into the contest when Stevens dropped of his opponent.Adelaide could not afford this luxury yesterday as Roughhead and Boyle kept Bock and Stevens busy.I dont think the Crows had too many options to be honest.Stevens was next likely but was keeping Boyle out of the game so you would not move him away to try and cover Franklin,Murphys law would dictate Boyle gets into the game then.
Gill? No.Bock? No.

Im lost,and so are the Crows.

[stan]

Rutten appeared half fit some weeks ago against Geelong.Playing against Brown and Darcy in recent weeks made sure he didnt have to run far from the goalsquare,perfect for him.He would not have been the answer for Franklin.

The problem was,when Adelaide played Brisbane,Rutten could get the 'third man' into the contest when Stevens dropped of his opponent.Adelaide could not afford this luxury yesterday as Roughhead and Boyle kept Bock and Stevens busy.I dont think the Crows had too many options to be honest.Stevens was next likely but was keeping Boyle out of the game so you would not move him away to try and cover Franklin,Murphys law would dictate Boyle gets into the game then.
Gill? No.Bock? No.

Im lost,and so are the Crows.

Like I said I dont think they had an answer.

[mal]

Have they re-signed laidley yet? Because if they haven't and they lose next week id say he's gone

I hope not
The wooden spoon favourites pre season won 14 games