From The Advertiser
No easy answers as fit Crows push for places
By ANDREW CAPEL
21mar05
ADELAIDE is faced with one of its biggest first-round selection dilemmas in club history.
The Crows yesterday narrowed the field to 28 possibles for Sunday's tough premiership-season opener against West Coast at AAMI Stadium. But the debate will continue until Friday over which 22 will take the field with an injury doubt over wingman Brett Burton and match fitness queries over ruckmen Matthew Clarke and Rhett Biglands, midfielders Scott Thompson and Michael Doughty and veteran defender Ben Hart.
The good news for Adelaide is that it has plenty of players available for round one. The bad news is the lack of match conditioning in five of them.
"It is a dilemma," Crows coach Neil Craig conceded. "There are no easy answers." Craig's assistant, David Noble, predicted "long deliberations" at selection discussions and the final match committee meeting. "There are for and against (cases) for several players," Noble said. "That's what we have to consider." Burton will be picked if he proves at training he has shaken off a hamstring problem suffered against Melbourne 10 days ago. The solution is not so simple for the others, although a big week on the training track could swing the vote in their favour. Hart (hamstring) and Thompson (shin) got through three and two quarters respectively in their comebacks in Friday's North-Port SANFL trial match at Alberton Oval to put their hands up for selection.
While that might not seem enough game time, Craig insists they have done plenty of lead-up work, including game simulation, to get them ready for the start of the premiership season.
Hart looked fit and sharp while Thompson was superb in his attack on the ball and his ability to find it in traffic.
Doughty (broken wrist) got through his first game for a month for South while Clarke and Biglands did not play on the weekend but have been given the all-clear to play this week.
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God they're seriously considering Doughty
No easy answers as fit Crows push for places
By ANDREW CAPEL
21mar05
ADELAIDE is faced with one of its biggest first-round selection dilemmas in club history.
The Crows yesterday narrowed the field to 28 possibles for Sunday's tough premiership-season opener against West Coast at AAMI Stadium. But the debate will continue until Friday over which 22 will take the field with an injury doubt over wingman Brett Burton and match fitness queries over ruckmen Matthew Clarke and Rhett Biglands, midfielders Scott Thompson and Michael Doughty and veteran defender Ben Hart.
The good news for Adelaide is that it has plenty of players available for round one. The bad news is the lack of match conditioning in five of them.
"It is a dilemma," Crows coach Neil Craig conceded. "There are no easy answers." Craig's assistant, David Noble, predicted "long deliberations" at selection discussions and the final match committee meeting. "There are for and against (cases) for several players," Noble said. "That's what we have to consider." Burton will be picked if he proves at training he has shaken off a hamstring problem suffered against Melbourne 10 days ago. The solution is not so simple for the others, although a big week on the training track could swing the vote in their favour. Hart (hamstring) and Thompson (shin) got through three and two quarters respectively in their comebacks in Friday's North-Port SANFL trial match at Alberton Oval to put their hands up for selection.
While that might not seem enough game time, Craig insists they have done plenty of lead-up work, including game simulation, to get them ready for the start of the premiership season.
Hart looked fit and sharp while Thompson was superb in his attack on the ball and his ability to find it in traffic.
Doughty (broken wrist) got through his first game for a month for South while Clarke and Biglands did not play on the weekend but have been given the all-clear to play this week.
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God they're seriously considering Doughty
