by sydney-dog » Sun Apr 15, 2007 11:23 am
My observations from yesterday’s game
1. Some comments have been made in regards to the quality of Port's defence, lets remember, this is the same defense that shutdown Fremantle's attack at Subi, most importantly, the main issue with Port's defence yesterday was they got the match ups wrong. Thurstan on Welsh was a very poor coaching decision, Welsh fast lead is the key to his game, Thurstan just does not have the athletic ability to match Welsh on a lead, and Pettigrew would have been the better choice.
Secondly, I also think we need to pay more credit to Adelaide's ball movement, they are starting to hit leading targets more consistently and when the Crows did kick long to a contest, it's quick and deep movement allowing a 50 / 50 contest which places a lot of pressure on the Power defenders
2. Adelaide's forward structure, we are all aware that the crows do not have a "Power Forward", but the current set up with Bock, Perrie, Steven, Welsh and Burton, does provide options and different strengths, my opinion, this structure is harder for opposition sides to defend against, this week the Bock, Perrie, Steven and Welsh combination kicked 10.6 (16 scoring shots), the previous week against the WB, the Bock, Perrie, Steven and Welsh combination kicked 13.3 (16 scoring shots), 23.9 return in two games in not a bad return.
3. Young Guns. Most pleasing part of yesterday's win was the form of the younger players, there has never been too much fan fare or hype towards the younger crop of Adelaide's playing group, compared to the Power, but I what I am starting to see now is the emergence of Adelaide's investment and the right team balance between experience and youth. In Particularly, Van Berlo and Knights are now important players in Adelaide’s midfield rotations, Kinights (24 touches) and Van Berlo (18 touches), do complement each other with their different styles, the move of Douglas to the back 6 will be fantastic for his development, my mail is Macca has appointed himself as Douglas's mentor and both players are benefiting from that relationship, finally Vince, this kid has a touch of class and footy smarts, he just needs game time and games under his belt.
4. Port Power, I am not sure if the Tredrea and Ebert combination can work, Ebert to this point has definitely played his best footy as a forward when Tredrea is not in the side, I also believe Port need to be more flexible with Ebert and throw him in the midfield to get his hands on the footy and to give the side extra depth in their midfield rotations.
Some talk of Power wasting early opportunities, we need to remember a lot of their early shots were outside 50, outside the scoring corridor and from snap shots, let’s also consider Welsh, Vince, Perrie and Bock all missed probably the easiest opportunities of the game
5. In summary, so happy how the club has responded from round 1, extremely happy how the club continues not to use injuries as an excuse for the level the club is capable of performing. Moving forward, the team structure will only improve, Roo, Kenny, Johncock and Maric will provide Craigy more options and flexibility and with the continue improvement of Knights, Douglas, Van Berlo and Vince, there will be plenty of pressure for spots which should result in consistently high performances.