Crows top eight bound again zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Hondo]

Hondo. If your mob is top four and they can't beat the Eagles, that doesn't leave many matches left over does it.

Strut 1. Sledge away all you like but the song remains the same.

regards,

REB

REB, you'll need a better spoon if you want to stir the pot over here. Calling us boring will put US to sleep. I guess you are an expert on teams that promise the earth but can't get it done when it matters but isn't there something more football-based you can get us on? The the only person in this thread 'strutting' (ie, making bold predictions about end-of-season placings) is you.

[Macca19]

He has a very ordinary list
That list should be finishing about 10th every year
This amazing coach gets every inch of ability out of his team

Cant agree with that at all. In my opinion, thats so far from the truth its not funny. The Crows have at least a top 6 list.

In terms of "on paper", I would only rate West Coast, Sydney, Freo and maybe St Kilda as having a better list.

[sydney-dog]

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.

[Wedgie]

Major thing I noticed from the parts I watched yesterday was how comprehensively Craig out coached Williams.
The game plans looked 5 years apart even though the personnel were a fairly even match up IMHO.

[sydney-dog]

Macca19

agree that the club has a top 6 list, but we also need to remember, how many players that played yesterday were selections from the rookie list or selections outside pick 30 in the draft, from memory

Rookie listed selections - Bock, Mattner, Griffen, Rutten

Picks outside top 30, Knights, Vince, Perrie, Hudson, Doughty

my point, when Craigy took over the job, many considered our list to be ordinary, with very few high draft selections, the club needed to focus strongly on developing what they had, and the club has done a wonderful job.

my final point, how do we rate the strengths of each clubs list, by quality, quantity or both, yes, I would agree, Eagles, Freo, Sydney and St Kilda, potentially have better top 10 players than the Crows, but of those clubs only the Eagles and Freo have the eveness and depth of the crows, Sydney have played at full strength for two seasons now, I am not convinced that their list runs deep, on the Saints, In my opinion, their list from player 15 to 35, isn't as strong as the crows, this is why the Saints have in recent times struggled to cover injuries

[Macca19]

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.

It can work if the Power midfielders deliever the ball correctly. The Crows defence is suspect on the lead. Its been shown a few times in the last 12 months that if you can deliver the ball correctly to a leading forward then the Crows struggle. When you kick it long and turn it into a wrestle, the Crows win it every time.

Port lack two of those midfielders who can deliver the ball no more than head height to a leading forward. We just continuously kicked it over Ebert and Tredreas head yesterday whereas the Crows generally delievered the ball on a platter to their forwards.

[am Bays]

It can work if the Power midfielders deliever the ball correctly. The Crows defence is suspect on the lead. Its been shown a few times in the last 12 months that if you can deliver the ball correctly to a leading forward then the Crows struggle. When you kick it long and turn it into a wrestle, the Crows win it every time.

Port lack two of those midfielders who can deliver the ball no more than head height to a leading forward. We just continuously kicked it over Ebert and Tredreas head yesterday whereas the Crows generally delievered the ball on a platter to their forwards.

I'd agree with that, in fact I'll go on record and say every AFL defence is suspect to to a forward leading to an accurate kick from the midfield.

[sydney-dog]

"The Crows defence is suspect on the lead"

Mate, I would go further and Say all Club's defence is suspect on a lead, given the new ruling on the hands in the back, you show me a defender that can stop a lace out pass to a forward leading in to space, the answer to that is no one.

What does it require, 1. pressure on the ball carrier delivering in to the forward 50, 2. players working hard 2 ways to block up space 3. a back 6 whick is prepared to show courage and leave your man to help team mate and create a 2 on 1 contest.

The crows have been outstanding in these three areas over the past 2 seasons and this is why our defence has been ranked #1 in 2005 and #2 in 2006

[Hondo]

It can work if the Power midfielders deliever the ball correctly. The Crows defence is suspect on the lead. Its been shown a few times in the last 12 months that if you can deliver the ball correctly to a leading forward then the Crows struggle. When you kick it long and turn it into a wrestle, the Crows win it every time.

Port lack two of those midfielders who can deliver the ball no more than head height to a leading forward. We just continuously kicked it over Ebert and Tredreas head yesterday whereas the Crows generally delievered the ball on a platter to their forwards.

I'd agree with that, in fact I'll go on record and say every AFL defence is suspect to to a forward leading to an accurate kick from the midfield.

Tassie, you took the words right out of my mouth

Defensive pressure is necessary in all parts of the ground and for 2 weeks now the Crows have applied strong pressure all over the ground which, in turn, has helped prevent clean delivery by the opposition in to their forward line.

[Rik E Boy]

Hondo. If your mob is top four and they can't beat the Eagles, that doesn't leave many matches left over does it.

Strut 1. Sledge away all you like but the song remains the same.

regards,

REB

REB, you'll need a better spoon if you want to stir the pot over here. Calling us boring will put US to sleep. I guess you are an expert on teams that promise the earth but can't get it done when it matters but isn't there something more football-based you can get us on? The the only person in this thread 'strutting' (ie, making bold predictions about end-of-season placings) is you.

Pfft. You think WAY too highly of yourself. I said all this shit last year and was proven correct. Go to sleep then I don't GAF.

regards,

REB

[Hondo]

Pfft. You think WAY too highly of yourself. I said all this shit last year and was proven correct. Go to sleep then I don't GAF.

regards,

REB

Where's the "spitting the dummy" emoticon? You say I think too highly of myself? Get stuffed. I am not the one who started this thread having a go at the Crows:

- you called the Crows game plan "boring"
- you call our coach a "professor" (ie not a real 'football' coach)
- you say Crows can't and won't "do the job in September"
- you call Neil Craig's strategies an "experiment"

And you wrote this 'sour grapes' post after we won just to put a dampener on things. You did predict a final 8 finish in fairness. I don't know where the Crows will end up in 2007, but come out and post like that and I'll attack it every time.

PS Good win today for the Cats ..... they look like they will amongst it in September.

[Macca19]

Macca19

agree that the club has a top 6 list, but we also need to remember, how many players that played yesterday were selections from the rookie list or selections outside pick 30 in the draft, from memory

Rookie listed selections - Bock, Mattner, Griffen, Rutten

Picks outside top 30, Knights, Vince, Perrie, Hudson, Doughty

my point, when Craigy took over the job, many considered our list to be ordinary, with very few high draft selections, the club needed to focus strongly on developing what they had, and the club has done a wonderful job.

my final point, how do we rate the strengths of each clubs list, by quality, quantity or both, yes, I would agree, Eagles, Freo, Sydney and St Kilda, potentially have better top 10 players than the Crows, but of those clubs only the Eagles and Freo have the eveness and depth of the crows, Sydney have played at full strength for two seasons now, I am not convinced that their list runs deep, on the Saints, In my opinion, their list from player 15 to 35, isn't as strong as the crows, this is why the Saints have in recent times struggled to cover injuries

Id agree with most of that. Id say that it doesnt matter where a player gets drafted. If he develops into an AFL regular then it doesnt matter if he was picked at pick 20 or the last pick of the rookie draft. It means that the Crows recruitment team are good judges of talent with later picks.

I agree that quantity of quality is the main judge of how good a list is. For example, Ports top 10 players are quite good, amongst the better in the league. AFter that it significantly drops off though. I agree that the Saints dont have a lot of depth, whilst Sydneys hasnt been tested. Freo seems to have depth, but they just seem to be mentally weak as a club.

Still my point stands, the Crows arent a side that should be finishing tenth each year. They are much much better than that.

[sturt1]

.... but after watching their last two games it will be situation normal for Neil Craig's men.

Shut down middle ranked sides
Flog bottom ranked sides
Pinch the occasional game against top sides
Make the top four or top eight maybe this year
Fail to make the Grand Final as their game plan doesn't do the job in September again

All the while boring the shit out of everybody just as they have in the last three years. Crows still a good side but more tricks needed before the professor's experiment can ever be judged a success.

I'll take 'boring' if it means a top 4 finish. If the Crows are boring then Sydney should be prescribed for insomniacs. Again, they would probably take that label home with them to put alongside the 2005 Premiership cup.

REB, you know that the Crows did more than "pinch" the "occasional" win against the top sides last year. Apart from West Coast I admit ....

Had to laugh today, I heard Stephen Williams on 5AA say that the Crows showed up the Bulldogs LW for not having a ..... wait for it ...... "Plan B"!

Hondo. If your mob is top four and they can't beat the Eagles, that doesn't leave many matches left over does it.

Strut 1. Sledge away all you like but the song remains the same.

regards,

REB

rucci boy you are the one singing the same song. Hows it going at the advertiser? Cant wait for your farticle tomorrow.

[sydney-dog]

I am looking forward to reading Bone-Head McDermott's next article

after rnd 1 Bone quickly jumped off the crows and jumped on Port, going as far as stating the Power had a stronger chance of winning the flag than the crows did

[NFC]

It can work if the Power midfielders deliever the ball correctly. The Crows defence is suspect on the lead. Its been shown a few times in the last 12 months that if you can deliver the ball correctly to a leading forward then the Crows struggle. When you kick it long and turn it into a wrestle, the Crows win it every time.

Port lack two of those midfielders who can deliver the ball no more than head height to a leading forward. We just continuously kicked it over Ebert and Tredreas head yesterday whereas the Crows generally delievered the ball on a platter to their forwards.

Ebert had very good delivery if you ask me, it was just that he dropped about 10 marks.

[Sojourner]

Major thing I noticed from the parts I watched yesterday was how comprehensively Craig out coached Williams.
The game plans looked 5 years apart even though the personnel were a fairly even match up IMHO.

I noticed that the Crows were running out changes pretty early in the first quarter and it seemed as though Mark Williams and the coaching team seemed to be on the back foot right from the start. Had Port have kicked alot straighter they may well have been able to keep pace.

Listening to the call it was mentioned that Williams had said prior to the game that Treadrea would only play a maximum of 70% of the game and for his game time his stats didnt seem to be anything like what a player of his calibre would normally command. No doubt the selection commitee have their reasons for picking a player that could not be there for the whole game, yet with the injuries that they sustained, they struggled with the interchange bench and I think that this may well have put them behind the 8 ball of the Crows who to their credit are able to keep a very very high level of intensity for the full four quarters.

It would be interesting to hear the reasons why Treadrea was chosen over a less experienced yet fitter player and if doing the reverse would have made any difference?

Many people for a long time have commented on the times that Mark Williams would appear to be outcoached, many Crows supporters I know are keen to see him re-appointed to the Power for that reason. The thing is though who would be a better coach for the team than Williams? Roos is one who might fit the bill, yet one of the reasons he is so successfull is that he is 100% for the Sydney jumper. Despite what Port could offer I cant see Roos even being remotley interested in the job.

[Rik E Boy]

Pfft. You think WAY too highly of yourself. I said all this shit last year and was proven correct. Go to sleep then I don't GAF.

regards,

REB

Where's the "spitting the dummy" emoticon? You say I think too highly of myself? Get stuffed. I am not the one who started this thread having a go at the Crows:

- you called the Crows game plan "boring"
- you call our coach a "professor" (ie not a real 'football' coach)
- you say Crows can't and won't "do the job in September"
- you call Neil Craig's strategies an "experiment"

And you wrote this 'sour grapes' post after we won just to put a dampener on things. You did predict a final 8 finish in fairness. I don't know where the Crows will end up in 2007, but come out and post like that and I'll attack it every time.

PS Good win today for the Cats ..... they look like they will amongst it in September.

Gidday Hondo,

That's probably the closest thing to the 'spit the dummy' I reckon but not a bad idea, maybe we could get Wedgie to install one, we could call it a REB

Get stuffed. Fair enough well deserved but I didn't really mean to have a crack at you. This whole thread should have read '12 months on and nothing's changed' or something like that.

This thread had nothing to do with sour grapes. I tipped the Crows so not too upset there. I hate Port Adelaide so again no real reason for sour grapes. As for you objecting to 'The Professor' well a lot of people in the football world say that, just a tongue in check reference and as you know professors have experiments. In my post last year I said that the experiment (just a play on words you understand) was not a success in September. Hang on, where's my 'spit the dummy' emoticon.

No Crow fan is ever going to get bored by Victories, you don't need to be a professor to work that out, but I don't follow your club and can't stand watching your lot play and I'm not the only one who says so either.

As for the Cats, well, we haven't beaten anyone yet but quietly optimistic so far.

Cheers,

REB

[Rik E Boy]

rucci boy you are the one singing the same song. Hows it going at the advertiser? Cant wait for your farticle tomorrow.

Same tune, same song. It aint rocket surgery. What's changed exactly?

regards,

REB

[Hondo]

Gidday Hondo,

That's probably the closest thing to the 'spit the dummy' I reckon but not a bad idea, maybe we could get Wedgie to install one, we could call it a REB

Get stuffed. Fair enough well deserved but I didn't really mean to have a crack at you. This whole thread should have read '12 months on and nothing's changed' or something like that.

This thread had nothing to do with sour grapes. I tipped the Crows so not too upset there. I hate Port Adelaide so again no real reason for sour grapes. As for you objecting to 'The Professor' well a lot of people in the football world say that, just a tongue in check reference and as you know professors have experiments. In my post last year I said that the experiment (just a play on words you understand) was not a success in September. Hang on, where's my 'spit the dummy' emoticon.

No Crow fan is ever going to get bored by Victories, you don't need to be a professor to work that out, but I don't follow your club and can't stand watching your lot play and I'm not the only one who says so either.

As for the Cats, well, we haven't beaten anyone yet but quietly optimistic so far.

Cheers,

REB

Telling you to "get stuffed" is not my proudest moment on the site. My apologies.

[JK]

NEIL CRAIG = BEST COACH IN THE AFL

He has a very ordinary list
That list should be finishing about 10th every year
This amazing coach gets every inch of ability out of his team

As REB and MAL keep saying there is nothing left by prelim final day
This mob cant lift a notch in finals, they are already playing like that in the minor round

IMHO, correct to a degree MAL, in that he gets the optimimum performance from a group that imho is much lesser talented as individuals ... Still agree with the not having a plan B and the predictability of Plan A theories.

Will be interesting to see how he goes once a few of his younger prodigies come through ... By all accounts he is very good with the young kids and developing them.

From the word go I've always likened him to a John Northy type ... Can rebuild a list and rejuvenate performance whilst only ever being able to get them "thereabouts", think he lacks the flair (at this stage) to take them that extra, final step.

Having followed his progress at Norwood I thought he was a good appointment for the Crows at the time (and still is), but have always thought that the time would come they would need someone different to take them all the way.