Review Semi final vs Hawthorn - Ugly, Historically Embarrassing and Pathetic

[CrowBloke]

Nicks floundering in the coaching box.

Gotta be a 'tackle' joke in there too ...

 

[Hell Boy6669]

At one stage weren’t we #1 for breaking tackles?

I feel this completely deserted our midfielders in the finals games, conversely pies and hawks mids seemed to brush our blokes aside or at the least able to free their arms and release handballs when it felt like we had them cold.

 

[Captain_Plane]

At one stage weren’t we #1 for breaking tackles?

I feel this completely deserted our midfielders in the finals games, conversely pies and hawks mids seemed to brush our blokes aside or at the least able to free their arms and release handballs when it felt like we had them cold.

That's a really good point, were we too timid or was it that the intensity was higher and suddenly oppo players were that much harder to shrug off? Seems crazy that a professional footballer would suddenly become twice as fierce at tackling in a final but I could believe it - still it seems way more likely that we went into our shells

 

[cleanhands]

Yes!
Sun came up while I was fishing and actually catching (big tommies, in a small patch of water cleansed by a ripping body of water, daily). My mate's theory was that squid who are being decimated by the algal bloom are tommy ruff predators and it was either freakish luck or he was right. We kept 2 dozen clean, healthy/meaty tommies which will have been filleted and beer-battered and snarfed by now by his large family, throwing back at least as many smaller ones.
We fished 0345 to 0630 and drove past mobs of roos and occasional black-pawed wallabies to the wonderful Normanville Bakery for brekkie. Birdlife and lush green everywhere.
It was a glorious morning.

A pox on the 2024-gameplan-Crows and their Finals' capitulations.

wow been over at my man cave on YP haven’t even bother to chase anything. Who needs footywell done

 

[CrowBloke]

wow been over at my man cave on YP haven’t even bother to chase anything. Who needs footywell done

PM sent.

 

[TheLeftFist8]

That's a really good point, were we too timid or was it that the intensity was higher and suddenly oppo players were that much harder to shrug off? Seems crazy that a professional footballer would suddenly become twice as fierce at tackling in a final but I could believe it - still it seems way more likely that we went into our shells

I think Dawson and Soligo in particular were simply cooked weeks ago. Poor player management.

 

[Burtonsgottago]

Ugly: paid $150 for 3 game membership just so I could get guaranteed finals tickets then add $100 per final and $250 on food. I spent $600 primarily just to see those 2 finals.

I paid $35 for a seat, ate and had a beer outside the stadium before the game. Cheap night.

 

[Burtonsgottago]

I braced myself before the game for the loss so losing wasn't unexpected but the flaccid effort certainly was.
Such a poor finals campaign. Players embarressed themselves and the club.
Change is inevitable.

The players are ok. They’re on great money and will be heading off on their European vacations soon. It’s the fans that feel it.

 

[Moonwatcher]

I paid $35 for a seat, ate and had a beer outside the stadium before the game. Cheap night.

But you would have been a season ticket holder already

 

[Moonwatcher]

Poor player management.

But hey, we nursed Tex to 300 games

 

[MrBarry]

At one stage weren’t we #1 for breaking tackles?

I feel this completely deserted our midfielders in the finals games, conversely pies and hawks mids seemed to brush our blokes aside or at the least able to free their arms and release handballs when it felt like we had them cold.

There felt like there was absolutely 0 urgency or ferocity in either game but against hawthorn it was particularly pathetic.

Its the reason we are out.

 

[daniel_4tw]

Still can’t believe we started Smith on the ground.

 

[footy4ever]

So,

Is this our mad Monday?

I wonder what heinous crimes we'll commit to get the media all frothed up, and who will get how many weeks suspension.

Should I get the popcorn ready?

 

[footy4ever]

Still can’t believe we started Smith on the ground.

Still can't believe we went from 15th to minor premiers.

Certainly can believe how and why we shat the bed.

 

[1970crow]

I actually place the September embarrassment blame at the players

There is no way in hell we are coached to play differently- all the pre-finals messaging was to get back to our attacking footy

The players went in there shells - they feared losing rather than attacked winning

The players lost this above the shoulders

It’s unbelievable how unlucky we are in that sense.

 

[1970crow]

Rachele?

That’s what I meant, yes.

 

[Cromulant]

So,

Is this our mad Monday?

I wonder what heinous crimes we'll commit to get the media all frothed up, and who will get how many weeks suspension.

Should I get the popcorn ready?

Had Silly Sunday yesterday

 

[mitchyboy23]

I think Dawson and Soligo in particular were simply cooked weeks ago. Poor player management.

100% correct. Both been playing through injury.

 

[Jetwa5h]

Anyone else notice we tend to have a lot of players attack the ball relying on spread once we get it, but and especially in the finals when we didn't get it, we had no one on the outside and the opposition always had a player or two waiting outside the contest to either receive or shut down the spread

 

[sr36]

I put a post up warning about the glaring issues in our game and midfield. Many on here dismissed it with things like "we dont need to win the midfield to win" and "our gameplan doesnt revolve around clearances and winning in the middle".

Well, it looks like they were wrong.
None are so blind than those who choose not to see.

I watch most Adelaide home games. I think there's a lot of harshness towards the coaching.

4/5ths of your midfield for finals was ROB, Peatling, Berry and Soligo with Rory Laird being called on out of necessity. Even if Dawson was Dusty Martin, no one is coaching a team with that midfield to September success.

A focus on defending the ground was the right game plan for Adelaide. A low transition game which makes aerial contest and brilliance in congestion more significant was the way to go. You've got a lot of hard working, hard running B graders and your strengths are aerial contests and the brilliance of Rankine and the kicking and overall game of Dawson. I don't think you could have gotten it down with Rankine, but without him you were cooked.

You need a better midfield to go from good team to September success. Either recruiting, significant development from Soligo/Berry/Peatling or Draper/Curtin coming on as top midfielders really quickly.

 

[maxlilly]

100% correct. Both been playing through injury.

It makes you wonder why we play them in the West Coast and North games when they are injured ?

 

[maxlilly]

I watch most Adelaide home games. I think there's a lot of harshness towards the coaching.

4/5ths of your midfield for finals was ROB, Peatling, Berry and Soligo with Rory Laird being called on out of necessity. Even if Dawson was Dusty Martin, no one is coaching a team with that midfield to September success.

A focus on defending the ground was the right game plan for Adelaide. A low transition game which makes aerial contest and brilliance in congestion more significant was the way to go. You've got a lot of hard working, hard running B graders and your strengths are aerial contests and the brilliance of Rankine and the kicking and overall game of Dawson. I don't think you could have gotten it down with Rankine, but without him you were cooked.

You need a better midfield to go from good team to September success. Either recruiting, significant development from Soligo/Berry/Peatling or Draper/Curtin coming on as top midfielders really quickly.

I think a lot of fans knew that about our midfield.
But for the coaches to base the teams game plan around 'brilliance in congestion' with an average midfield was domed to fail.

That's why we wanted us to play a faster attacking game where we could utilise our marking strength better and avoid stoppages, instead of going down the line to expose your weaknesses

 

[weekend at bernies]

Still can't believe we went from 15th to minor premiers.

Certainly can believe how and why we shat the bed.

and played finals like the team that finished 15th. Smith starting and Laird back in the midfield.

 

[sr36]

I think a lot of fans knew that about our midfield.
But for the coaches to base the teams game plan around 'brilliance in congestion' with an average midfield was domed to fail.

That's why the we wanted us to play a faster attacking game where we could utilise our marking strength better and avoid stoppages, instead of going down the line to expose your weaknesses

A faster attacking style opens up the game for more uncontested marks, but your advantage is in marking contests. Maybe it would have been better as you run so hard. But you haven't got the experience of the Cats who can drastically change game plans at the drop of the hat and have the team execute it. I don't think anything other than minor tweaks was realistic going into finals. and they'd been planning on Rankine being there. But even without him, I still think it was the right option - keep it tight to try to force kicks to contests where you have the advantage in the air - those hard running half forwards to push up and often give you a numerical advantage around the footy, and clog it up to make it harder for better midfields to damage.

It was ultimately tackling - due to personnel in the midfield - the other midfields are harder to tackle - so you didn't tackle as well and you didn't challenge the oppositions tacklers at all, so you were dumping the ball forward whilst your opponents were getting a lot more clean breaks. There might have been a coaching issue in terms of structures and set ups around the ball, but the overall strategy was fine. Keane on Gunston was stupid though. An inexperienced bloke who is fantastic in contest but isn't the best decision maker around against the bloke who is awesome at avoiding contest and getting it uncontested.

 

[Scorpus]

It makes you wonder why we play them in the West Coast and North games when they are injured ?

Did you see how we played in those games? Fair chance we lose them if they don't play

With that said we should have beaten both easily even without our best players