USAEagle
6 Aug 2003, 03:19
Just how credible is this sportswriter from The Age?
Apparently he has us finishing second.
I would like to think so.
Who will stay the distance in the finals race?
By Rohan Connolly
August 05 2003
The hare or the tortoise? Sprinter or stayer? In a top eight as tight as this season's, they're going to be a lot of questions asked over the next few weeks.
It's been many, many years since you could say as late as round 19 that there were still at least six premiership contenders. And just as long since those contenders were coming off such contrasting preparations for their tilt at September.
Reigning champ Brisbane flew out of the starting gates in April, building a handy buffer before it ran into serious trouble mid-season. Sydney got a little lost at the start, but picked up that ground with a huge burst mid-race and is handily placed at the final turn. Port Adelaide has been a constant at the head of the pack. And for those with a Melbourne Cup bent, Adelaide appears to be doing a Kiwi.
The Crows haven't ever been as far back in the field as was the famous New Zealand gelding in 1983, but have nevertheless gobbled up the gap between them and the leaders in equally ominous fashion. And it makes their clash with West Coast at Subiaco on Saturday even more intriguing than it might have been with the Eagles, having set the pace most of the year, now appearing to feel the pinch.
Would you rather be Adelaide or West Coast? With the Crows getting their injured stars back and having climbed to second, and the Eagles beginning to lose theirs and surrendering for the moment the double chance, the answer appears obvious. But look at their respective draws and it takes on another perspective.
Saturday's game is just the first of four considerable hurdles the Crows will have to jump to make the top four. They then play Collingwood at Telstra Dome, the Kangaroos at home, and face a round-22 showdown with Port Adelaide, the Power having beaten the Crows the past five times.
As ominous as the Crows have looked lately, they'll start clear favourites in only one of those games. Given the better road ahead for the Eagles, immediately beneath them on the ladder, they'll need to win at least three to make sure of a top-four spot. And if they don't, they're looking at another month-long slog after having just come through one simply to get there.
That said, Adelaide's only remaining injuries of note are to key forwards Scott Welsh and Mark Stevens, both of whom are expected to return in the next couple of weeks. Throw those names in alongside Wayne Carey, Ian Perrie, Brett Burton, Graham John****, Chris Ladhams and Ronnie Burns and you have more forward firepower than probably any other rival can muster. The question is whether the Crows will be in any position to unleash it.
West Coast would certainly be looking at the Crows' suddenly empty medical room with envy. The Eagles could hardly have lost four more important players (skipper Ben Cousins aside) than ruckman Michael Gardiner, key onballers Chad Fletcher and Andrew Embley, and now defensive playmaker David Wirrpunda, none of whom are likely to be back for a couple of games at least.
Embley has given the Eagles a new dimension as a good-sized midfielder who drifts forward and kicks plenty of goals, Fletcher was among the leading handful of AFL possession-getters before his back injury, and Gardiner's ruck value goes without question.
If West Coast, with that sort of injury profile, had the run Adelaide is facing now, the Eagles could just about be gone. But they don't. Once this weekend's critical clash is negotiated, the Eagles have Geelong, albeit away, Melbourne at home, and the round-22 derby with Fremantle, over whom the Eagles have a 14-3 stranglehold.
Adelaide is fresher and fitter, but with an Everest ahead. West Coast is ailing, but coming to a downhill slope.
It should be an interesting race.
Apparently he has us finishing second.
I would like to think so.
Who will stay the distance in the finals race?
By Rohan Connolly
August 05 2003
The hare or the tortoise? Sprinter or stayer? In a top eight as tight as this season's, they're going to be a lot of questions asked over the next few weeks.
It's been many, many years since you could say as late as round 19 that there were still at least six premiership contenders. And just as long since those contenders were coming off such contrasting preparations for their tilt at September.
Reigning champ Brisbane flew out of the starting gates in April, building a handy buffer before it ran into serious trouble mid-season. Sydney got a little lost at the start, but picked up that ground with a huge burst mid-race and is handily placed at the final turn. Port Adelaide has been a constant at the head of the pack. And for those with a Melbourne Cup bent, Adelaide appears to be doing a Kiwi.
The Crows haven't ever been as far back in the field as was the famous New Zealand gelding in 1983, but have nevertheless gobbled up the gap between them and the leaders in equally ominous fashion. And it makes their clash with West Coast at Subiaco on Saturday even more intriguing than it might have been with the Eagles, having set the pace most of the year, now appearing to feel the pinch.
Would you rather be Adelaide or West Coast? With the Crows getting their injured stars back and having climbed to second, and the Eagles beginning to lose theirs and surrendering for the moment the double chance, the answer appears obvious. But look at their respective draws and it takes on another perspective.
Saturday's game is just the first of four considerable hurdles the Crows will have to jump to make the top four. They then play Collingwood at Telstra Dome, the Kangaroos at home, and face a round-22 showdown with Port Adelaide, the Power having beaten the Crows the past five times.
As ominous as the Crows have looked lately, they'll start clear favourites in only one of those games. Given the better road ahead for the Eagles, immediately beneath them on the ladder, they'll need to win at least three to make sure of a top-four spot. And if they don't, they're looking at another month-long slog after having just come through one simply to get there.
That said, Adelaide's only remaining injuries of note are to key forwards Scott Welsh and Mark Stevens, both of whom are expected to return in the next couple of weeks. Throw those names in alongside Wayne Carey, Ian Perrie, Brett Burton, Graham John****, Chris Ladhams and Ronnie Burns and you have more forward firepower than probably any other rival can muster. The question is whether the Crows will be in any position to unleash it.
West Coast would certainly be looking at the Crows' suddenly empty medical room with envy. The Eagles could hardly have lost four more important players (skipper Ben Cousins aside) than ruckman Michael Gardiner, key onballers Chad Fletcher and Andrew Embley, and now defensive playmaker David Wirrpunda, none of whom are likely to be back for a couple of games at least.
Embley has given the Eagles a new dimension as a good-sized midfielder who drifts forward and kicks plenty of goals, Fletcher was among the leading handful of AFL possession-getters before his back injury, and Gardiner's ruck value goes without question.
If West Coast, with that sort of injury profile, had the run Adelaide is facing now, the Eagles could just about be gone. But they don't. Once this weekend's critical clash is negotiated, the Eagles have Geelong, albeit away, Melbourne at home, and the round-22 derby with Fremantle, over whom the Eagles have a 14-3 stranglehold.
Adelaide is fresher and fitter, but with an Everest ahead. West Coast is ailing, but coming to a downhill slope.
It should be an interesting race.