Adelaide Season 2011

[NO-MERCY]

Tough year for both Crows & Port, 11th & 12th.

[Gravel]

The unknown is how effectively will they cover the loss of Goody, McLeod, Bock, Edwards, Burton and Hentschel?

[NO-MERCY]

The unknown is how effectively will they cover the loss of Goody, McLeod, Bock, Edwards, Burton and Hentschel?

More so the FAB 4, the other 2 were finished earlier.

[clanger]

The unknown is how effectively will they cover the loss of Goody, McLeod, Bock, Edwards, Burton and Hentschel?

we will cope better than you think based on our performances in ther second half of the year when we took it right up to collingwood and bulldogs for four quarters and fell just short 3 and 8 points respectively in games we should have won and We also defeated geelong. The second half of the year we had a 6-5 win/loss record and did not lose a game above 20 points after the mid season break which shows we will be highly competitve this year.

in the second half of the year
goodwin and mcleod play only one game round 16 vs geelong.
Edwards,hentschel.burton play no games
bock play five games

that is a total of seven games between them in the second half of the year.
Nathan bock play the most games let we have a good replacement ready to fill centre half back Phil davis.

[Grahaml]

Be good against the top sides for a 1/2 and then blown out of the water, and then when it doesn't count beat them by 5-6 goals - e.g StKilda round 22 2010


have you forgetten we defeated fremantle in round 11 at home with a 2-8 win/loss record compared to fremantle 8-2.

Geelong (12-3) in round 16 when they had a chance to keep collingwood and st kilda at bay at the top of the ladder we defeated them costing geelong top spot.

i would call these very important games during last season for all three sides.

i meant when it doesn't count for the crows. all 3 of those games we were never in the hunt for finals.

Crows were well and truly in the hunt for finals when they beat Geelong. So the win over Fremantle earlier must also have come when the season was alive.

[Grahaml]

Crows and Power will always be a chance of finals simply because of home ground advantage. And the travel distance isn't so great to any other game. West Coast and Fremantle though will always be a chance of falling apart with the huge travel load they have.

But with the players the Crows have, top 6 is a real goal. Have a really good year and top 4 might just be attainable. I just like the look of the forward line. Walker, Tippett and Henderson are all capable of 50 goal seasons IMHO. Add Dangerfield, Knights, Porplyzia and Callinan (3 of those would be up there most of the year you would expect) and suddenly there's some serious versatility and balance up there. The midfield is good enough, Vince and Thompson are obviously the blue chip mids they'll need to play well but McKay, Van Berlo and Douglas are now fairly experienced and reliable players. The defense again should be strong, even without Bock. Rutten is still one of the best full backs around, Stevens is a vital player for us so if those two can combine with Otten and Davis we should have enough talls around there. What might hurt is a lack of run from the back, a role I think Tambling will have to excel in. If we get that run from behind, stay healthy enough then we might go okay.

The Crows are always a chance to miss the finals because the away ground disadvantage. You reckon that midfield is good enough? Good luck with that. A lot of these blokes you are rating have shown potential and in a few cases a bit more but who is going to step up to that McLeod, Goodwin, Edwards level. I don't see 150 goals out of those three forwards you have mentioned either. What will hurt is the lack of run out of the back there are some serious plodders back there.

regards,

REB

There will always be interstate wins for a side going ok. Always a struggling Vic side or two to knock off. But top spot will always be harder to get for sides based outside of Victoria because so many Victorian sides got to play 5 or 6 more games in their own state.

Compared to the top sides I think the midfield will have to play particularly well to win. Certainly possible, as shown in the win over Geelong last season, for one off games against top sides but whether they can sustain it remains to be seen. Certainly good enough against most of the comp anyway. As for stepping up to the level of McLeod et al, they weren't playing so great (and not so much midfield) when the team was going well in 2009. Just need a few of the fringe players to improve a bit and get better years out of the top line mids .

Don't see 150 goals between those guys? Tippett kicked over 50 goals himself in 2009. Walker has 36 goals in 18 games over his career. No reason why those guys given their ages can kick 50 each while Henderson might not be a headline act just yet, with other forward line threats he is just the sort of guy who can bob up for a couple of goals a game.

Run out of defense, I agree will be an issue. Rutten is a plodder but gets himself involved enough. The loss is Bock. His run for a CHB was exceptional, linking with McLeod in particular over the last few years worked well. Not sure Davis can replace that run, so we'll need a couple of guys to step in and take over. Tambling looks the most likely fit, but they'll definitely need more from guys like Otten.

[Rik E Boy]

Don't see 150 goals between those guys? Tippett kicked over 50 goals himself in 2009. Walker has 36 goals in 18 games over his career. No reason why those guys given their ages can kick 50 each while Henderson might not be a headline act just yet, with other forward line threats he is just the sort of guy who can bob up for a couple of goals a game.

That still only adds up to 86 so that means Henderson has to kick 64 goals this year! For Taylor Walker to kick 50 goals he's going to need 120 shots based on last night's evidence. Even Mooney would have gotten a better return than Tay Tay did in front of the sticks last night.

regards,

REB

[Psyber]

5x Port's score wasn't a bad first hit out, but it was a pity about that gift goal due to sloppy defensive work by Rutten et al.....

[Rik E Boy]

5x Port's score wasn't a bad first hit out, but it was a pity about that gift goal due to sloppy defensive work by Rutten et al.....

Plenty of rusty players out there last night sibe. More costly was the Johncock turnover in the Dee's clash and the kicking of Walker that cost the Blackbirds the game.

regards,

REB

[Psyber]

5x Port's score wasn't a bad first hit out, but it was a pity about that gift goal due to sloppy defensive work by Rutten et al.....

Plenty of rusty players out there last night sibe. More costly was the Johncock turnover in the Dee's clash and the kicking of Walker that cost the Blackbirds the game.

regards,

REB

I take your point on faith, as I saw only the TV replay of the crows vs Port section.
It may be McKernan in and Walker back at Norwood yet.

[Gingernuts]

Went along for a watch Friday night.

A few observations:

1. Walker still can't ******* kick it through the big ones.
2. McKernan has really filled out and was superb. Pulled down some great grabs and was moving beautifully around the park. May just find himself @ CHF come R1 (with Walker shifted to a pocket).
3. The midfield set up worked very well. Looked great at the taps and ran the ball with confidence.

Very early days, but saw enough to continue my pre-season optimism for a few more weeks yet.

[Rik E Boy]

Went along for a watch Friday night.

A few observations:

1. Walker still can't ******* kick it through the big ones.
2. McKernan has really filled out and was superb. Pulled down some great grabs and was moving beautifully around the park. May just find himself @ CHF come R1 (with Walker shifted to a pocket).
3. The midfield set up worked very well. Looked great at the taps and ran the ball with confidence.

Very early days, but saw enough to continue my pre-season optimism for a few more weeks yet.

Yep. McKernan looks a handy type.

regards,

REB

[valleys07]

Went along for a watch Friday night.

A few observations:

1. Walker still can't ******* kick it through the big ones.
2. McKernan has really filled out and was superb. Pulled down some great grabs and was moving beautifully around the park. May just find himself @ CHF come R1 (with Walker shifted to a pocket).3. The midfield set up worked very well. Looked great at the taps and ran the ball with confidence.

Very early days, but saw enough to continue my pre-season optimism for a few more weeks yet.

Agreed, Didnt quite think he would make it after watching a few of his games for south, didnt appear to have consistency and size. Certainly has done some work over the pre-season and took some great contested marks. He and tippett in your forward line will be a big 1-2 punch for the crows when firing.

[Drop Bear]

I reckon Brodie Martin will be a star. Has some pretty silky skills.

[Footy Smart]

I reckon Brodie Martin will be a star. Has some pretty silky skills.

Agreed and a serious engine on him. Can run all day! Seems to have come back seemlessly since the KNee recon

[Grahaml]

Don't see 150 goals between those guys? Tippett kicked over 50 goals himself in 2009. Walker has 36 goals in 18 games over his career. No reason why those guys given their ages can kick 50 each while Henderson might not be a headline act just yet, with other forward line threats he is just the sort of guy who can bob up for a couple of goals a game.

That still only adds up to 86 so that means Henderson has to kick 64 goals this year! For Taylor Walker to kick 50 goals he's going to need 120 shots based on last night's evidence. Even Mooney would have gotten a better return than Tay Tay did in front of the sticks last night.

regards,

REB

Now you're just being mischievous. No reason that Tippett can't kick more goals this year than he did in 2009. He certainly should be a better player. While Walker has 36 goals in 18 games (don't forget 22 games in an AFL season) no reason to think he too can't do better this year. So if we say Tippett kicks 65 (just 10 more than his career high) and Walker 54 (10 more than his career average over a 22 week season we're only looking at Henderson kicking 31 for the year to give 150 between the 3. Certainly no guarantees that they'll do that, but I don't think you can argue they don't have the potential to.

[Rik E Boy]

Now you're just being mischievous. No reason that Tippett can't kick more goals this year than he did in 2009. He certainly should be a better player. While Walker has 36 goals in 18 games (don't forget 22 games in an AFL season) no reason to think he too can't do better this year. So if we say Tippett kicks 65 (just 10 more than his career high) and Walker 54 (10 more than his career average over a 22 week season we're only looking at Henderson kicking 31 for the year to give 150 between the 3. Certainly no guarantees that they'll do that, but I don't think you can argue they don't have the potential to.

Mischievous, moi? Heaven forbid! I suggest a wager mon ami. If those three can kick 150 goals this season I will let you choose an Avatar for me which I must use all Summer and cannot remove until March 1, 2012. If your three guys can't kick 150 I get to create an avatar for you that you must use until the same date.

Do we have a bet?

regards,

REB

[sapaul]

Graham - swap McKernan for Henderson and take the bet.

[Dog_ger]

No Good News here.

What's changed..?

Maybe we need an improvement in Higher Management.

Middle Management.

And Lower Management.

FFS, lets do something..!

I have lost faith in the "Craig" ERA...

Another year of lower Ladder.

Such a waste of life and resources

Maybe the best thing would be to trade Craig to Collingwood....

[NFC]

A forward line of Tippett, Walker and McKernan is scary.

McKernan as the CHF, the one leading up the ground taking marks 70 metres out.
Tippett the big gorilla at FF
Walker somewhere in between, mainly playing as a leading forward.

Too top heavy? Don't think so.

Small forwards, or a mixture of, Callinan, Jaensch, Porps, Danger.

And then the wildcards Knights and Henderson.

Our forward line could be deadly, and I'd like to see this come Round 1:

CHF: Knights, McKernan, Porps
FF: Jaensch/Callinan, Tippett, Walker

Deadly.