Adelaide - Has North Melbourne identified a flaw in their gameplan?

[Yellow Paint]

Have not been the same since. Did North Melbourne show how to beat them? And do Adelaide have the ability to adapt quickly enough to a new game plan to rescue their season?

 

[Deep]

I noticed a pattern that since Hampton got injured their scores have been so much lower & they're playing care and bruise free footy

(Excluding their Freo game but let's be honest they never even turned up)

 

[Sweet Jesus]

There's a vulnerable thermal exhaust port that leads to the main reactor.

 

[Hawk_francais]

Meh, I don't buy this game plan flaw thing, it is over-simplifying. If the Crows had huge game plan flaws then they wouldn't be equal top would they?

During Hawks 3 years at the top we often suffered losses to so-called 'fast-running' sides like Port and GWS. Lack of outside run was supposedly the 'flaw' in our system, but when GF day came around then lo and behold, outside run!

No one wants to be playing the Crows at finals time.

 

[Blue1980]

Meh, I don't buy this game plan flaw thing, it is over-simplifying. If the Crows had huge game plan flaws then they wouldn't be equal top would they?

During Hawks 3 years at the top we often suffered losses to so-called 'fast-running' sides like Port and GWS. Lack of outside run was supposedly the 'flaw' in our system, but when GF day came around then lo and behold, outside run!

No one wants to be playing the Crows at finals time.

I would, as it means we would have made the finals

 

[Jakksynn]

Meh, I don't buy this game plan flaw thing, it is over-simplifying. If the Crows had huge game plan flaws then they wouldn't be equal top would they?

During Hawks 3 years at the top we often suffered losses to so-called 'fast-running' sides like Port and GWS. Lack of outside run was supposedly the 'flaw' in our system, but when GF day came around then lo and behold, outside run!

No one wants to be playing the Crows at finals time.

The crows problem though is their entire gameplay is built around fast transition football. It doesn't stack up in tight contested games, especially crunch finals. Which has been shown in 2015 and 2016

 

[Hawk_francais]

I would, as it means we would have made the finals

We'll see you guys in AFLX

 

[Hawk_francais]

The crows problem though is their entire gameplay is built around fast transition football. It doesn't stack up in tight contested games, especially crunch finals. Which has been shown in 2015 and 2016

Especially Showdowns?

This year v Port and last year v Sydney were the best H&A wins of the last two years

 

[Damon_3388]

I noticed a pattern that since Hampton got injured their scores have been so much lower & they're playing care and bruise free footy

(Excluding their Freo game but let's be honest they never even turned up)

Greenwood has had a better output filling the same role in Hampton's absence, so I'm not really sure that's the difference.

I do think though they leave the grunt work to too few, and their losses often coincide with being beaten soundly in contested ball and stoppages. Having a soft-ish ruckman like Sam Jacobs (as opposed to a stoppage bull like Kreuzer, Mumford, Grundy) probably doesn't help redress that imbalance.

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

I just think the Hawks brought the heat and denied space for the Crows to play their out the back sling shot footy.

 

[LeverPuller]

Nah, they've lost when they can't take the heat in the guts. North bring that heat. So does Melbourne. Geelong not so much but it helps when you have two superstars. Hawthorn brought it tonight.

You just have to outmuscle them in the guts. Keep the hard ball off them and when they do get it hit them repeatedly. They go to water.

They won't win a flag if they can't take that heat either.

 

[blitzer]

Its hard to say whether they have a flaw in their game plan but I reckon the teams that have targeted Sloane have been amply rewarded for it. I reckon compared to other top players he lacks the power and pace to break the tags (eg Dangerfield, Martin, Pendlebury etc). Sloane is such a dangerous player with ball in hand that teams aren't going to stop targeting him - Adelaide need to find a way to help him.

They don't look to have the same scoring power as they did early in the season even though they have got basically all their players back. Teams seem to have figured out defensively what they need to do to limit their run. In fairness much of their forward line has had injury issues but I think a lot of it is more to do with teams not letting them use the ball as freely as they could early in the season.

I think midfield depth which was pegged as their big issue at the start of the season is starting to bubble up as a problem for them.

Charlie Cameron is also not having the same devastating impact he was having earlier in the season.

Also make no mistake being top of the ladder at this round is in no way equivalent to being to being top of the ladder at the end of the H&A let alone finals. Have people already forgotten North 2016? Now I don't expect them to fall off the cliff in the same way but the fact remains they looked pretty unstoppable for about 6 rounds but since then they've been pretty shaky.

I still think they are easily a top 6 side, probably still top 4 but I think come the business end of the season then I expect other teams like GWS and Geelong to get the job done against them.

 

[Scorpus]

Have not been the same since. Did North Melbourne show how to beat them? And do Adelaide have the ability to adapt quickly enough to a new game plan to rescue their season?

Geelong showed everyone how to beat us in Round 8 2016.

• Apply heaps of pressure
• Tag Sloane
• Possibly tag Smith and/or Lynch
• Put two players one kick ahead of the ball and always have spares in defence.
• Triple team Jacobs at our kick outs

Our coaches keep saying whenever we lose to these exact same tactics every time that it's an "event" and so don't make any structural changes next time we face the same stuff.

 

[Ron]

Stick a man next to Sloane and watch the rest of their midfield s**t their pants.

 

[TheFVK]

Doesn't help that the hardest guy in their midfield is a 5-gamer.

 

[Topkent]

They ****ed up not going hard for Gibbs. When your in a premiership window you gotta be prepared to maybe over pay for someone like him. Another first round 18 year old ain't doing s**t while this list is ready. Should have sent McGovern to Freo or WC for a first and packaged 2 for Gibbs and a second in return. There lack of midfield depth is going to cost them again in September

 

[Wojcinski]

Adelaide's issue has always been lack of options through the midfield and Hawthorn showed tonight that pressuring their few decent mids completely takes them out of the game. Any top 8 team who can apply this pressure will beat them in finals.

 

[pjcrows]

Not good enough across the board when true pressure is applied, and no adaptable game style.

 

[Gavin Excell]

Find it amazing that someone like Sloane who isnt a young player, seemingly is being tagged heavily for the first time.

3 weeks in a row has had limited impact. Unfortunately for him he will have to deal with it as all clubs woken up now to playing this tactic

 

[Gavin Excell]

They ****** up not going hard for Gibbs. When your in a premiership window you gotta be prepared to maybe over pay for someone like him. Another first round 18 year old ain't doing s**t while this list is ready. Should have sent McGovern to Freo or WC for a first and packaged 2 for Gibbs and a second in return. There lack of midfield depth is going to cost them again in September

Get the impression over the years that while they are a capably run organisation, they are deeply conservative and risk averse

 

[sobrave]

They need to bring in Dean "Dangerfield jnr" gore

 

[Herne Hill Hammer]

I wouldn't be necessarily using the loss to North as having identified anything. It was as windy as anything and the conditions were very flukey, North played the conditions much better.

Hawthorn are a shadow of their former selves but they will still jump up and surprise in the odd game, they also comfortably have the best record in the league coming off the bye. I had a look at all teams last week and last night's win now has them at 8 - 1 for doing this.

I don't think last night's result made any difference to Adelaide's premiership hopes, which I think had been trending down for a while anyway.

I do agree with most others though, a hard tag on Sloane will just about see them done.

 

[Damon_3388]

A player like Cam Ellis-Yolmen (who was dominant in the SANFL last year, and earmarked for a bigger senior role in 2017, but is out for the season with a knee injury) would be ideal for them right now, to spread the load and provide an extra option through the middle - a big-bodied mid with skill, athleticism and hardness.

 

[HairyO]

They ****** up not going hard for Gibbs. When your in a premiership window you gotta be prepared to maybe over pay for someone like him. Another first round 18 year old ain't doing s**t while this list is ready. Should have sent McGovern to Freo or WC for a first and packaged 2 for Gibbs and a second in return. There lack of midfield depth is going to cost them again in September

Hindsight is a wonderful thing but this is correct. Unless McGovern really wants to stay.

If he ends up going at the end of this year then the Crows may have screwed up massively.

 

[StonesThrow]

Meh, I don't buy this game plan flaw thing, it is over-simplifying. If the Crows had huge game plan flaws then they wouldn't be equal top would they?

During Hawks 3 years at the top we often suffered losses to so-called 'fast-running' sides like Port and GWS. Lack of outside run was supposedly the 'flaw' in our system, but when GF day came around then lo and behold, outside run!

No one wants to be playing the Crows at finals time.

I imagine that teams will be lining up to play the crows in finals. Have proven time and time again that all that is needed is some pressure.