- Apr 30, 2015
- 13,616
- 24,442
- AFL Club
- West Coast
The week started off so well. Beating up our bully at the G, the purples losing in Brisvegas, the Tigers grabbing the headlines for nightclub punch-ons, and Tom Browne making himself look like a mega-fool with his Cripps-Yeo trade swap nonsense. How good!
Then,….garrgghhh!!
Banned player Willie “Nelson” Rioli seen at the airport, having finally learnt his lesson. Not down the pants!
But whatever man. No Willie No Cry. Moving on.
5 and 3. Not bad, could’ve been better (looking at you Round 4). But with a banged up unit missing a third of its best 22, I guess it’ll do. In fact, this is where the genuine contenders just grind away for a month or two and bank enough wins to stay in touch with the 8. We did it in 2018, and some minnow club whose name I forget has done it the past couple of years. I daresay there’s a few clubs about the place looking at us and hoping that we sustain enough damage to be nothing more than making up numbers come September. Despite these dark wishes, we’ve made do with our depth brigade and gained the W more often than not, including our first away win of the season at the home offooty Test cricket.
And so, Covid-willing, it’s back to Australia’s greatest sporting stadium to take on the Adelaide Crows. If ever there was a game where our season was on the line,… this would not be it. Adelaide raced out of the 2021 blocks on the back of a rejuvenated Taylor Walker returning to peak form. 4 consecutive losses however, including against Cockburn and Hawkforn, tell you all you need to know about where they are at. Basically, this week is an excellent opportunity for the big birds to get out to a 6-3 record.
There was much excitement around the City of Churches early in 2021. But it ended prematurely.
Match-ups
Honestly, aside from a couple of big names, I couldn’t tell you much about the Crows on-field line-up. And apart from that, the most of any game I’ve had a chance to watch all year is about a quarter against the Saints (lucky me). So with that in mind, here is Dazzler109’s take on the matchups this week:
Administration
Nizzy vs Ricciuto. In the battle of the off-field administrators, this one is a non-contest. In one corner is long-time administrator of the richest club in the land who has overseen multiple flags, cultural resurrections, astute coaching appointments and has an extensive network of contacts in the corridors of power at both AFL HQ and various levels of government. In the other corner is Ricciuto, who can barely string a sentence together (let’s give him a commentary gig), got closely involved in trades and moving players on (mostly all the good ones) and was probably the brains (quote unquote) behind the Collective Minds debacle.
In boxing parlance, this fight wouldn’t even get sanctioned.
Win to the Eagles.
Optus Stadium vs Adelaide Oval
Ok, this one’s a little closer. AO has a rich and storied history in the great and glorious game of cricket, renowned the world over as one of the most picturesque grounds to both play and spectate at. That said, it’s in Adelaide, so there’s that. Optus Stadium can’t boast the history of AO, but it is new and shiny and modern in every way. Also, flags unfurled at Optus = 1, flags unfurled at AO = 0.
Let’s call this one a draw.
Former captains
Two South Aussies, Bunga vs Tex. Ask any neutral who they would rather have leading them out? Bunga every time. Why? So many reasons, but this sums it up best:
Exhibit A
Win to the Eagles
Current captains
Sloane vs Shuey McGovern Kennedy Hurn ???
I’ll just let Adelaide have this one.
Coaches
Simmo vs [checks Google] Matthew Nicks.
Adam Simpson is a rolled gold legend. Just love the guy.
Matthew Nicks I know stuff all about. Here’s some Wikipedia snippets:
“Nicks joined the Port Adelaide Football Club in 2011 as a club development coach until the end of 2012 season, during which time the Power struggled towards the bottom part of the ladder, finishing 16th and 14th in 2011 and 2012 respectively”
“Nicks joined the GWS Giants as a senior assistant for the 2019 season.” See, 2019 Grand Final shellacking
“In October 2019, Nicks was named new senior coach of the Adelaide Football Club… the Crows slumped to a 0-13 start to the 2020 season, leading to Nicks being called “the least supported coach” in Adelaide’s history”.
“He retired from AFL football in 2005 after prolonged struggles with injury and illness, including a broken leg in 1995, pneumonia in 2000, a broken finger in 2001 and a stress fracture in his leg in 2005.”
Quite the resume.
Win to the Eagles.
Mascots
The wedge-tailed eagle vs a crow
The majestic wedge-tailed eagle (Aquila audax) is the largest bird of prey in Australia with a wingspan up to 3m. They are highly aerial, soaring for hours on end without wingbeat and seemingly without effort, regularly reaching 1,800m and sometimes considerably higher. Their keen eyesight extends into ultraviolet bands. They are capable of making off with small kangaroos and have been known to attack hang-gliders and regularly take out drones.
Crows are ugly scavenging pr*cks that wake me the f*** up at camping.
Win to the (literal) Eagles.
Ins and Outs
A quick scan of the Changes thread tells me Barrass is the most likely soldier to return this week, with old man JK being given a breather. Also, NicNat is carrying something, other than too much weight. But that doesn't matter because he doesn't run to proper ruckman positions anyway.
Prediction
A fairly even first quarter will turn into the Eagles show for the middle half, before partway through the fourth we start acting like we’ve been at Willie’s house on Bob Marley’s death anniversary* , with three junktime goals to Adelaide cutting the winning margin back to a workmanlike 30’ish points.
* today, coincidentally
Then,….garrgghhh!!
Banned player Willie “Nelson” Rioli seen at the airport, having finally learnt his lesson. Not down the pants!
But whatever man. No Willie No Cry. Moving on.
5 and 3. Not bad, could’ve been better (looking at you Round 4). But with a banged up unit missing a third of its best 22, I guess it’ll do. In fact, this is where the genuine contenders just grind away for a month or two and bank enough wins to stay in touch with the 8. We did it in 2018, and some minnow club whose name I forget has done it the past couple of years. I daresay there’s a few clubs about the place looking at us and hoping that we sustain enough damage to be nothing more than making up numbers come September. Despite these dark wishes, we’ve made do with our depth brigade and gained the W more often than not, including our first away win of the season at the home of
And so, Covid-willing, it’s back to Australia’s greatest sporting stadium to take on the Adelaide Crows. If ever there was a game where our season was on the line,… this would not be it. Adelaide raced out of the 2021 blocks on the back of a rejuvenated Taylor Walker returning to peak form. 4 consecutive losses however, including against Cockburn and Hawkforn, tell you all you need to know about where they are at. Basically, this week is an excellent opportunity for the big birds to get out to a 6-3 record.
There was much excitement around the City of Churches early in 2021. But it ended prematurely.
Match-ups
Honestly, aside from a couple of big names, I couldn’t tell you much about the Crows on-field line-up. And apart from that, the most of any game I’ve had a chance to watch all year is about a quarter against the Saints (lucky me). So with that in mind, here is Dazzler
Administration
Nizzy vs Ricciuto. In the battle of the off-field administrators, this one is a non-contest. In one corner is long-time administrator of the richest club in the land who has overseen multiple flags, cultural resurrections, astute coaching appointments and has an extensive network of contacts in the corridors of power at both AFL HQ and various levels of government. In the other corner is Ricciuto, who can barely string a sentence together (let’s give him a commentary gig), got closely involved in trades and moving players on (mostly all the good ones) and was probably the brains (quote unquote) behind the Collective Minds debacle.
In boxing parlance, this fight wouldn’t even get sanctioned.
Win to the Eagles.
Optus Stadium vs Adelaide Oval
Ok, this one’s a little closer. AO has a rich and storied history in the great and glorious game of cricket, renowned the world over as one of the most picturesque grounds to both play and spectate at. That said, it’s in Adelaide, so there’s that. Optus Stadium can’t boast the history of AO, but it is new and shiny and modern in every way. Also, flags unfurled at Optus = 1, flags unfurled at AO = 0.
Let’s call this one a draw.
Former captains
Two South Aussies, Bunga vs Tex. Ask any neutral who they would rather have leading them out? Bunga every time. Why? So many reasons, but this sums it up best:
Exhibit A
Win to the Eagles
Current captains
Sloane vs
I’ll just let Adelaide have this one.
Coaches
Simmo vs [checks Google] Matthew Nicks.
Adam Simpson is a rolled gold legend. Just love the guy.
Matthew Nicks I know stuff all about. Here’s some Wikipedia snippets:
“Nicks joined the Port Adelaide Football Club in 2011 as a club development coach until the end of 2012 season, during which time the Power struggled towards the bottom part of the ladder, finishing 16th and 14th in 2011 and 2012 respectively”
“Nicks joined the GWS Giants as a senior assistant for the 2019 season.” See, 2019 Grand Final shellacking
“In October 2019, Nicks was named new senior coach of the Adelaide Football Club… the Crows slumped to a 0-13 start to the 2020 season, leading to Nicks being called “the least supported coach” in Adelaide’s history”.
“He retired from AFL football in 2005 after prolonged struggles with injury and illness, including a broken leg in 1995, pneumonia in 2000, a broken finger in 2001 and a stress fracture in his leg in 2005.”
Quite the resume.
Win to the Eagles.
Mascots
The wedge-tailed eagle vs a crow
The majestic wedge-tailed eagle (Aquila audax) is the largest bird of prey in Australia with a wingspan up to 3m. They are highly aerial, soaring for hours on end without wingbeat and seemingly without effort, regularly reaching 1,800m and sometimes considerably higher. Their keen eyesight extends into ultraviolet bands. They are capable of making off with small kangaroos and have been known to attack hang-gliders and regularly take out drones.
Crows are ugly scavenging pr*cks that wake me the f*** up at camping.
Win to the (literal) Eagles.
Ins and Outs
A quick scan of the Changes thread tells me Barrass is the most likely soldier to return this week, with old man JK being given a breather. Also, NicNat is carrying something, other than too much weight. But that doesn't matter because he doesn't run to proper ruckman positions anyway.
Prediction
A fairly even first quarter will turn into the Eagles show for the middle half, before partway through the fourth we start acting like we’ve been at Willie’s house on Bob Marley’s death anniversary* , with three junktime goals to Adelaide cutting the winning margin back to a workmanlike 30’ish points.
* today, coincidentally
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