Adelaide season preview

[Stiffy_18]

Originally posted by The Hitman
It's very easy to say "Reilly will add improvement in the midfield", but for that to happen, he'll need to displace someone. Who will he displace? Will he be better there than the displaced player? In Adelaide's case, I'd say anyone currently in Adelaide's midfield is better than Reilly. You can't have 15 players in the midfield at once, can you?

As for the question of where I put Hawthorn, you'll have to wait until the 17th.

The Hitman

Why would Reilly have to displace anyone. Hasn't Bickley retired?????? Isn't there a spot for taking??????

As for where you put Hawks, I bet you have them in top 8 and I will REALLY be interested for your reasoning.

 

[The Hitman]

Originally posted by Stiffy_18
Why would Reilly have to displace anyone. Hasn't Bickley retired?????? Isn't there a spot for taking??????

As for where you put Hawks, I bet you have them in top 8 and I will REALLY be interested for your reasoning.

Because, Reilly hasn't been a first choice player. He played seven games last season, which tells me that, although he was injured, that someone better than him was in the midfield.

Yes, Bickley has retired, but you still have Riccuito, McLeod, Goodwin, Edwards, Stenglein, Burton, Bode and Doughty as genuine on-ballers. I reluctantly put him ahead of Doughty, but who is next on the chopping block?

As for the Hawks, you'll have to wait and see. I don't expect everyone to agree with my previews, and I'll probably be wrong on a fair few teams. It's not like any other journo has got much right before in these.

The Hitman

 

[WaynesWorld19]

Hitman, great summary, and I thought all the comments in response had a lot of validity.
It is difficult at this time of the year to know from each team, which of the youngsters or trades, are going to step up and make a real difference to the team mix.
Given that we have 2 or 3 of the players who spent a large proportion of last season on the sidelines, playing this year, and a couple of youngsters (Reilly, Hentschell, Schuback, Hudson, Jericho) take the next step, I don't doubt we have the potential to improve on last season.
Still the unknowns are injury, gameplan, and luck - but i'm confident we won't slip on last year.

 

[ok.crows]

Originally posted by Kane McGoodwin
Probably true he is won't be part of the starting-22, but at least Hudo will put some pressure on the other 2 & provide useful back up if required (unlike that other dud we had to use last season now with the Tigers). Think you will find he has improved from his VFL form with a good pre-season. He is still young in footy terms & I have liked what I have seen so far.

Not surprising you don't know too much about these 2, but believe me barring a shocking injury, you will know about them come year's end. Personally, I wasn't convinced about Trent prior to the pre-season, but reckon like Reilly he will be something special.


No doubt Bicks is a huge loss & anyone who says otherwise is kidding themselves. He played mainly in the midfield last year, so it is hardness in the pack we will miss, including his tackling as you mention. Reilly will take up some of the midfield slack along with a fit Goodwin, but agree we will miss Bicks toughness.

I see Hentschel more as a Smart-type replacement, given that he is a tall who can play on a flank. I can't see Smart "replacing" Bicks in his last year in the midfield, unless I have misunderstood ok.crows in some way.


For the record, I have Hawks in the top-4 as I reckon you have a great draw.

Your welcome anytime on the Crows Board Hitters.

From my perspective, I saw Bickley last year as being rotated between the bench, the back pocket & the midfield. Smart won't have any role in th midfield, but I can see him as taking a back pocket role, with perhaps Gallagher in the other pocket. This would probably give the nod to Massie & Hart on the flanks.

Smart is a fine player, has great recovery, & reads the ball exceptionally well. But he has lost the run off the back flank that used to be a vital part of his game, and that run also set up many attacking forays for the team. The Crows can't afford to have a stagnant back flank. So I think move Smart to a back pocket where he can still contribute. Lets face it, Smart has lost his run. I say use him in a place where that loss from his game won't be missed.

Reilly is a wingman through & through. These past three years the Crows have had a strong midfiled (in fact so strong the midfield has carried the team into the finals three years running) - but the Crows have been a bit light on on the wings since the loss of Johnson.

Late last season Burton made a place for himself on one wing. I think Reilly has just about nailed the other wing. I think he would have done that last year had he not broken a collarbone. Reilly has class stamped all over him. It is true he hasn't got a long list of achievement behind his name - but that I feel has more to do with just plain bad luck for Reilly rather than any lack of ability on his part.

I won't pretend that Hudson is a real find, or anything like it. My point is more that he is useful around the ground, he can provide some backup to Clarke & Biglands (mainly as cover for injury), and he is an undeniable improvement over Marsh.

Similarly for S Stevens. He wouldn't displace M Stevens in the side, but he would displace a Schell. The Crows won't get much out of M Stevens this year - but then again they didn't last year either - so no real negative there.

All in all, the positives would seem to outweigh the negatives, and the Crows might look for some small, modest improvement over last years performance, IMO - provided the gameplan is at least reasonably workable.

That might prove to be an optimistic view - but then again I think 9th place is decidedly pessimistic.

All said & done though - it is all just opinion. The real stuff starts in a few weeks. Then we will (begin) to see, not before.

 

[ok.crows]

Originally posted by The Hitman
Because, Reilly hasn't been a first choice player. He played seven games last season, which tells me that, although he was injured, that someone better than him was in the midfield.

A broken collarbone takes out a huge chunk of a season. AFAIK, Reillly wasn't selected for one (1) game when he was available early in the season, and maybe one or two games on the way back from the injury while he was re-establishing some form. Other than that - yes he was a first-choice player.

Yes, Bickley has retired, but you still have Riccuito, McLeod, Goodwin, Edwards, Stenglein, Burton, Bode and Doughty as genuine on-ballers. I reluctantly put him ahead of Doughty, but who is next on the chopping block?

Burton & Doughty out of that list can play on the wing. Stenglein at a stretch - but Stenglein is far more useful & suited elsewhere. That leaves, rather convieniently, one wing for Burton & the other for Reilly - with Doughty as backup in case of injury. I see Reilly as easily ahead of Doughty.

As for the Hawks, you'll have to wait and see. I don't expect everyone to agree with my previews, and I'll probably be wrong on a fair few teams. It's not like any other journo has got much right before in these.

The Hitman

No one can possibly expect previews to be correct.

Good discussion Hitman.

 

[Stiffy_18]

Originally posted by The Hitman
As for the question of where I put Hawthorn, you'll have to wait until the 17th.

The Hitman

Its 21th and still no Season Preview for Hawthorn. One can't help but feel that you have them in the top 4.

 

[The Hitman]

Apologies to Kane McGoodwin for dragging up an old post, but it is interesting to go back and have a look at the well argued points based around my preview last year.

I was right about you missing the finals and the decline of Hart, Smart and Carey, but I didn't pick just how far you'd fall or the improvement of Reilly.

And Stiffy, I had the Hawks at 6. I won't be making the same mistake this year.

For the record, I'm starting the club-by-club previews with Adelaide on Tuesday, so I'll definately post a link to it here as last season's discussion was a good one.

The Hitman

 

[noddy]

Apologies to Kane McGoodwin for dragging up an old post, but it is interesting to go back and have a look at the well argued points based around my preview last year.

I was right about you missing the finals and the decline of Hart, Smart and Carey, but I didn't pick just how far you'd fall or the improvement of Reilly.

And Stiffy, I had the Hawks at 6. I won't be making the same mistake this year.

For the record, I'm starting the club-by-club previews with Adelaide on Tuesday, so I'll definately post a link to it here as last season's discussion was a good one.

The Hitman

Well it sure had me sucked in for a while.


From now on i better check the dates before i start reading a thread.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Apologies to Kane McGoodwin for dragging up an old post, but it is interesting to go back and have a look at the well argued points based around my preview last year.

I was right about you missing the finals and the decline of Hart, Smart and Carey, but I didn't pick just how far you'd fall or the improvement of Reilly.

And Stiffy, I had the Hawks at 6. I won't be making the same mistake this year.

For the record, I'm starting the club-by-club previews with Adelaide on Tuesday, so I'll definately post a link to it here as last season's discussion was a good one.

The Hitman

Geez, we certainly are having a few old posts dragged up. I think it is fair to say not much went to plan last year, but you were correct on on our fading stars. Will be interested to see what you write this year - I expect it will be more informative than most interstate & local scribes.