AFL 2005: Adelaide

[The Hitman]

In the first of a 16-part season preview, Brett Collett takes an in-depth look at Adelaide’s chances in 2005.

The Adelaide Crows boast a new coach and some fresh faces, but it will once again be up to the old guard if they are to have any success in 2005. After a tumultuous season that saw the loss of their coach and a gun midfielder, can Adelaide find the cure to their injury and form problems, or will they nosedive to the bottom of the ladder like many prematurely predicted would happen a few seasons ago?

For the rest of the preview, go here.

I hope this generates some good debate, although obviously I don't expect most, if many, to agree with my viewpoint.

The Hitman

 

[jc67]

It is a well written piece, and reasonably well researched also.
Pitty that it's so biased.
15th PFFFT

 

[The Hitman]

Apologies. Try again.

The Hitman

 

[Arsene Wenger]

some good things - some bull********

Crows will not finish 15th

They are IMO better than Richmond Hawthorn Carlton Bulldogs Sydney

With their home games i rekn theyl win between 9-11 games and push for the 8 but just miss out - finishing 10th

"As promising as Thompson is, he isn’t the player Tyson Stenglein is"
No ******** - hes better

 

[Eggzoi]

I find it hard to agree with your full back.

 

[jmorg1]

I hope this generates some good debate, although obviously I don't expect most, if many, to agree with my viewpoint.

So where did you predict the Hawks would finish? Higher than Adelaide?

 

[noddy]

If we finish 15th then by all means count yourself as a bloody genius along with most of those Victorians who have so readily written us off as a basket case for 05.

Give us a fair run with injuries & some natural improvement in our up & comers then i expect a lot of of the so-called experts to end up with a decent serving of egg on their faces.


How the heck can you rate Jericho so highly ???

 

[No 1 Draft Pick]

In the first of a 16-part season preview, Brett Collett takes an in-depth look at Adelaide’s chances in 2005.

The Adelaide Crows boast a new coach and some fresh faces, but it will once again be up to the old guard if they are to have any success in 2005. After a tumultuous season that saw the loss of their coach and a gun midfielder, can Adelaide find the cure to their injury and form problems, or will they nosedive to the bottom of the ladder like many prematurely predicted would happen a few seasons ago?

For the rest of the preview, go here.

I hope this generates some good debate, although obviously I don't expect most, if many, to agree with my viewpoint.

The Hitman

Interesting read Hitman - I agree with some but certainly not all of your analysis.

Crows wont finish 15th - no chance!

I wouldnt say the Crows ruckmen had 'great form'. Ruck taps stats are only one part of the ruck equation

Perrie is important but shouldnt be used in the same sentence as Modra

Jericho still hsa some MAJOR question marks over him as to whether he is up to aFL standard. He is no certainty to be a 'young gun'

Team - Overall good effort but Rutten will start as FB. Also, Massie has been overtaken by Doughty or Begley.

Goodwin or Edwards are mor important than Johncock IMO (and most Crows fans)

Verdict - it would take a lot of things to go horribly wrong (ie Mc Leod and Roo out for most of the year) for us to drop to that level. If I was a betting man id be saying 8-12th this year for the Crows

Thanks for the effort in putting this together. Cheers

 

[marvin]

In the first of a 16-part season preview, Brett Collett takes an in-depth look at Adelaide’s chances in 2005.

The Adelaide Crows boast a new coach and some fresh faces, but it will once again be up to the old guard if they are to have any success in 2005. After a tumultuous season that saw the loss of their coach and a gun midfielder, can Adelaide find the cure to their injury and form problems, or will they nosedive to the bottom of the ladder like many prematurely predicted would happen a few seasons ago?

For the rest of the preview, go here.

I hope this generates some good debate, although obviously I don't expect most, if many, to agree with my viewpoint.

The Hitman

Some random thoughts:

- James Gallagher and David Gallagher are not related.
- Josh Krueger's problem is his body, not ability.
- Under "chink in the armour", you talk about a dearth of forward line options yet fail to mention our leading goalkicker in 2004, Scott Welsh
- Comparing Ian Perrie to Tony Modra is like comparing Nick Holland to Jason Dunstall
- Luke Jericho more encouraging than Ben Rutten, Trent Potential or Brent Relly?
- "the conservative style of play that made Adelaide so hard to watch last year....." The reason Adelaide were so hard to watch last year, and probably will be again this year has nothing to do with conservatism and everything to do with the inability to translate dominance in general play to scoring. Having been at the Hawks v Adelaide game last year, I found nothing hard to watch in red blue and gold that day at all.
- Chris Ladhams is AFL standard, in terms of ability. It's the bit above the shoulders that causes concern.
- You're pretty harsh on Marty Mattner and Hayden Skipworth, too, in declaring them not AFL standard. Mattner is still an open topic for debate in these parts, but he's got pace, I think his skills are reasonable, and he is a tenacious tackler. Skipworth may not be able to kick it over a jam tin, but 4x20 possession games and 6 goals in his last 6 outings, including 3 Brownlow votes in his last full game before injury (OK, how he got them was a mystery, but he still got them) suggest that he's got something to offer, and that his best footy has come under the new coach.
- Don't see why Neil Craig has the least time to make an impact of the incoming coaches, given the club has clearly embarked on a rebuilding strategy, and that the board appointment of him was a lot cleaner than, say, the appointment of Clarkson at Hawthorn appeared to be.
- You've got us slated for 15th. How many wins do you project? I see 7 expected wins, 6 50-50 matches, and 9 expected losses, looking at the draw and taking into account historical factors. Even if we lose all the 50-50 games, 15th is the absolute worst case scenario.

 

[Blue Red and Gold]

Good effort and I congratulate you on taking the time but I agree with the others there are some glaring omissions or points we are obviously going to debate.

Ben Rutten not being named as our best FB is the biggest one in my opinion, he is a rock down there and our backline is so much better with him in at FB. You just had to see his game against Sydney on friday night, he stopped everything and didnt give Hall a sniff.

I do not understand the constant praise over the border for Jericho, sure he is an exciting prospect but as others have said he has some major question marks over his head. I would definately put Rutten, Reilly and Henschel ahead of him as promising youngsters.

The biggest point I would like to raise is the fact you have us at 15th, this will not happen. Last season we had our worst season, under a coach the players didnt respond to, bucket load of injuries and then a group of players under performing and yet we still finished 12th. How can you justify us doing worse this season? I just cannto see this happening, we will not set the footballing world on fire but we will be solid and surprise a few this year.

 

[The Hitman]

I don't think you guys can claim bias - I put Hawthorn at the only spot below you.

The Hitman

P.S. Wow, I can't believe James isn't David's brother. All those years of sledging David about having a more talented (albeit not much more) brother have gone to waste.

 

[Mong]

P.S. Wow, I can't believe James isn't David's brother. All those years of sledging David about having a more talented (albeit not much more) brother have gone to waste.

Don't worry, if he's got a brother it's probably true anyway.

 

[marvin]

P.S. Wow, I can't believe James isn't David's brother. All those years of sledging David about having a more talented (albeit not much more) brother have gone to waste.

David's got a sister...........

 

[Truck Rutten]

Some accurate observations combined with utter excrement.

Despite toiling manfully in the position Nathan Bassett is not a full back's a hole! This is the third scribe to place him at full back in their best 22. They obviously haven't seen his game take a quantum leap forward since being released to a pocket/flank, not to mention how well Truck held down FB in the latter part of last season.

 

[Mitch Power]

They are IMO better than Richmond Hawthorn Carlton Bulldogs Sydney

Arsene, you have a good footy brain and I respect your judgement however I can not agree with your statement. Adelaide certainly has a better squad than Richmond and Hawthorn and a strong case can also be argued perhaps against the Bulldogs however IMO, Carlton and Sydney in particular, will finish higher than Adelaide.

In fact I expect Sydney to finish between 6th and 8th and Carlton to either just scrape into the 8 or just get pipped by Fremantle.

I predict the Crows will finish 13th.

 

[Phoney McRing-Ring]

Good report Brett. Had some low points, as mentioned but overally good.

15th...... mmmmm. I would think a little higher than that.

 

[Markthirtytwo]

David's got a sister...........

Yep they both wore blouses.

 

[Arsene Wenger]

Arsene, you have a good footy brain and I respect your judgement however I can not agree with your statement. Adelaide certainly has a better squad than Richmond and Hawthorn and a strong case can also be argued perhaps against the Bulldogs however IMO, Carlton and Sydney in particular, will finish higher than Adelaide.

In fact I expect Sydney to finish between 6th and 8th and Carlton to either just scrape into the 8 or just get pipped by Fremantle.

I predict the Crows will finish 13th.

Fair call mate - I just feel as though Crows will win a high percentage of their home games and a few away... I think Sydney are overrated and Carlton are on the way but not quite top 8 yet..

Hey footy sparks debates and opinions - im happy to see u disagree with me.. At the end of the day as long as port do well we are both happy

 

[Markthirtytwo]

Fair call mate - I just feel as though Crows will win a high percentage of their home games and a few away... I think Sydney are overrated and Carlton are on the way but not quite top 8 yet..

Hey footy sparks debates and opinions - im happy to see u disagree with me.. At the end of the day as long as port do well we are both happy

This isnt the self admiration society page is it. Do it on your own board.............please.

 

[macca23]

In the first of a 16-part season preview, Brett Collett takes an in-depth look at Adelaide’s chances in 2005.

For the rest of the preview, go here.

I hope this generates some good debate, although obviously I don't expect most, if many, to agree with my viewpoint.

The Hitman

Well hitman, I enjoyed it, although I wouldn't agree with everything you've said. Still there were a lot of home truths in it, because you weren't looking at it through rose coloured glasses as we supporters do.

One thing I just can't agree with is that Adelaide will finish as low as 15th. We won 8 games last year, in what you correctly called our annus horribilis, and I'm very confident that our worst scene will at least match that.

As for the folowing quote from that article

"2004 was merely the warning of things to come. 2005 will be the season that Adelaide has to have to clear out the stocks of underachievers and dead wood that won’t take the club forward down the track.

The likes of Robert Shirley, Marty Mattner, Chris Ladhams, Matthew Smith, Scott Stevens and Hayden Skipworth are simply not AFL standard, but most – if not all – of them will play senior football this season."

It's very hard to argue with the overall principle stated there. Too harsh a call on Mattner and maybe even Rob Shirley, and Ladhams is another story again, but the principle is spot on.

 

[tribey]

Gallagher joins his brother David on the football scrapheap

How good would a game of backyard cricket be at the Goodwin house, what with Simon being a former U19 State Captain and Murray being a former international with Zimbabwe?!...

Meticulously researched.

 

[Truck Rutten]

How good would a game of backyard cricket be at the Goodwin house, what with Simon being a former U19 State Captain and Murray being a former international with Zimbabwe?!...

Meticulously researched.

 

[Stiffy_18]

How good would a game of backyard cricket be at the Goodwin house, what with Simon being a former U19 State Captain and Murray being a former international with Zimbabwe?!...

Meticulously researched.

 

[ok.crows]

In the first of a 16-part season preview, Brett Collett takes an in-depth look at Adelaide’s chances in 2005.

The Adelaide Crows boast a new coach and some fresh faces, but it will once again be up to the old guard if they are to have any success in 2005. After a tumultuous season that saw the loss of their coach and a gun midfielder, can Adelaide find the cure to their injury and form problems, or will they nosedive to the bottom of the ladder like many prematurely predicted would happen a few seasons ago?

For the rest of the preview, go here.

I hope this generates some good debate, although obviously I don't expect most, if many, to agree with my viewpoint.

The Hitman

I'd perhaps agree with your viewpoint a little more if you hadn't got so many things just plain wrong.

If you had even only as much as 50% of your facts straight, then perhaps you would have been able to generate a reasonable discussion here.

As it stands, one is tempted to conclude that because you demonstrably know so little about Adelaide in 2005, then your conclusions, based as they are on pure fantasy, must necessarily be wrong.

I'll condescend to have a go at correcting your team a little:

You had:

Best 22

B: J. Torney - N. Bassett – B. Hart
HB: T. Edwards - K. McGregor –K. Massie
C: S. Goodwin - M. Riccuito – B. Reilly
HF: B. Burton – M. Stevens – T. Hentschel
F: G. Johncock – I. Perrie – S. Welsh
Foll: M. Clarke – S. Thompson – A. McLeod
Int: R. Biglands – M. Bode – L. Jericho – J. Begley

I would have:
Best 22

B: J. Torney - B. Rutten – G. Johncock
HB: B. Reilly - K. McGregor –N. Bassett
C: S. Goodwin - M. Riccuito – M. Mattner
HF: B. Burton – I. Perrie – T. Hentschel
F:T. Edwards – M. Stevens – S. Welsh
Foll: M. Clarke – S. Thompson – A. McLeod
Int: B. Hudson – M. Bode – L. Jericho – J. Begley

or similar. I think Hart is going to miss out again this year, unfortunately. Johncock is far better in the backline. Mattner has made the best players a number of times this preseason, and has even had the odd quarter where he has been the standout player on the field - eg. his third quarter against Sydney. Edwards is a capable forward. I expect Ricciuto to have more time up forward this year as well. Hudson is probably ahead of Biglands at this stage. Rutten without a shadow of doubt the best option at full back. Bassett plays very well off a half back flank, and that relative placing of those two players creates a win-win for the club.

Finally - did you have a peak at the "preseason ladder" that some wit posted on the main board? I know it is hardly indicative, but I would also suggest by the same token that it doesn't indicate a side headed for 15th either.

 

[Nige_Bix]

I would have:
Best 22

B: J. Torney - B. Rutten – G. Johncock
HB: B. Reilly - K. McGregor –N. Bassett
C: S. Goodwin - M. Riccuito – M. Mattner
HF: B. Burton – I. Perrie – T. Hentschel
F:T. Edwards – M. Stevens – S. Welsh
Foll: M. Clarke – S. Thompson – A. McLeod
Int: B. Hudson – M. Bode – L. Jericho – J. Begley

or similar. I think Hart is going to miss out again this year, unfortunately. Johncock is far better in the backline. Mattner has made the best players a number of times this preseason, and has even had the odd quarter where he has been the standout player on the field - eg. his third quarter against Sydney. Edwards is a capable forward. I expect Ricciuto to have more time up forward this year as well. Hudson is probably ahead of Biglands at this stage. Rutten without a shadow of doubt the best option at full back. Bassett plays very well off a half back flank, and that relative placing of those two players creates a win-win for the club.

Finally - did you have a peak at the "preseason ladder" that some wit posted on the main board? I know it is hardly indicative, but I would also suggest by the same token that it doesn't indicate a side headed for 15th either.

Pretty close to what I would have, probably start Basset in BP, but it tends to be irrelevant in terms of just finding the most appropriate match up for him and then he plays wherever!!

I think Mattner - could be - the surprise packet of the season for the Crows - we certainly need a few lesser lights to 'step up' and he is big chance to do that IMO. I also think Rutten will take big steps but he - despite the article - has established himself in the side whereas Mattner still hasn't.

I'm disappointed to see Torney injured as i rate him and I dont think we have seen the best of him yet.

I agree the verdict's out on Jericho but he is one that we do need to come along big time. You never know NC might stat calling him the next James Hird - [re compare Hentschell to Tredrea et al!!].