Strategy Arresting the slide...It's never too late!

[Huntercrow]

All is not looking too good. I don't need to remind anyone of that. But after the debacle on Thursday night perhaps we need to look at our current situation and what is up ahead.

It's a strange year. Looking at all teams it's very hard to predict where anyone will finish. Maybe safe to say Brisbane won't play finals and Hawthorn may have left their run too late but the season is far from over for the others. Including The AFC.

2 weeks ago our draw looked good. Not so good now though. However nothing a good win can't fix.

When all is said and done our club is still a little unfamiliar with their individual roles. From the top down. Our CEO comes from a Rugby background. Although he is said to be a good administrator he is still learning to be the head of an Adelaide based AFL club. Sometimes I wonder if he understands the passion of an AFL supporter. His dalliances with big footy left a little to be desired.

Our head coach is still learning to be a head coach. Our on field leaders are still reletivly young in experience and finals success. Our new list manager faced the trading period from hell.

Our best football is better than anyone else. This is indisputable. We saw the adulation from all parts after our defeat of Richmond. After round 6 we had shown the AFL what we were capable of. It was scary good but I think some of us wondered how long we could keep up this standard.....Then we played North Melbourne....This was when it seemed obvious our leaders had lost the plot. Tex had a shocker and admitted so himself. His inexperience in these situations was something he vowed to work on. I don't think he can work on being a better captain, I think this comes with experience and maturity. I still think he's the man for the job. He is best when leading by example rather than trying to intimidate.

Our slide since then is not injury related. We seemed to be blessed by the gods again. There is no one sitting on the sidelines holding us back. I guess our form has suffered with the drop in our midfield output. Sloanes demise has not helped what was already a midfield lacking depth. But overall our best 5 or 6 are struggling.

Whatever ails us at the moment can be turned around quickly by our on field leaders. I think it is totally up to them. The team that ran out against Hawthorn is not a bad team by any stretch. But leadership was sadly lacking. There were too many instances of panic football. The stand out amongst this poor performance was a Cat 2 rookie. Did not panic in the situation. Played superb finals type football. Will make a fine on field leader.

Our coach.......not sure if he's the man but the club has to make this work somehow. They need to settle the coaching situation. There needs to be some consistency with team developement. Consistency with team tactics and just consistency in general. This guy has to come good or we risk taking on another rookie coach.
Exactly what we don't want at this point of our window.

So looking ahead we now have more 50/50 games than we first thought but this is not entirely our fault. Any other year being beaten by the 17th placed team would be looking at an early start to pre season but this year is unique. Hawthorn are not the 17th worst team and Sydney, Melbourne, Essendon, Carlton are all knocking on the door. Unfortunately we meet most of them in the run home. Unfortunate if we keep playing like a bunch of panicking Precillas that is.

We are equal now to this time last season. From here on we lost 2 more games before finals. We have the players. Not sure if we have the coach but he doesn't really matter at this stage. Our leaders need to stand up. That's what we lacked in the final against Sydney.

Tex, Eddie, Sloane and Lynch. Any team would love that line up. These guys lift and it's game on.

 

[Huntercrow]

What nothing. I dont believe it. I try to be positive and nothing. Wheres all these one eyed club supporters always complaining that the threads are too negative?

If you think the club can just cross their fingers and hope for the best then good luck people.

 

[Paladin]

We need to get back to the fast hard running team that pressured the opposition in the first 6 rounds.

Impossible with the team Don has been selecting. Not sure why he isnt picking a team to suit his own gameplan.

Also need to solve Sloane getting tagged and our structural issues. Not insurmountable but Pyke will need to be a lot more flexible and not so soft at selection.

Gov will be a huge asset for the second half of the year.

 

[marty36]

All is not looking too good. I don't need to remind anyone of that. But after the debacle on Thursday night perhaps we need to look at our current situation and what is up ahead.

It's a strange year. Looking at all teams it's very hard to predict where anyone will finish. Maybe safe to say Brisbane won't play finals and Hawthorn may have left their run too late but the season is far from over for the others. Including The AFC.

2 weeks ago our draw looked good. Not so good now though. However nothing a good win can't fix.

When all is said and done our club is still a little unfamiliar with their individual roles. From the top down. Our CEO comes from a Rugby background. Although he is said to be a good administrator he is still learning to be the head of an Adelaide based AFL club. Sometimes I wonder if he understands the passion of an AFL supporter. His dalliances with big footy left a little to be desired.

Our head coach is still learning to be a head coach. Our on field leaders are still reletivly young in experience and finals success. Our new list manager faced the trading period from hell.

Our best football is better than anyone else. This is indisputable. We saw the adulation from all parts after our defeat of Richmond. After round 6 we had shown the AFL what we were capable of. It was scary good but I think some of us wondered how long we could keep up this standard.....Then we played North Melbourne....This was when it seemed obvious our leaders had lost the plot. Tex had a shocker and admitted so himself. His inexperience in these situations was something he vowed to work on. I don't think he can work on being a better captain, I think this comes with experience and maturity. I still think he's the man for the job. He is best when leading by example rather than trying to intimidate.

Our slide since then is not injury related. We seemed to be blessed by the gods again. There is no one sitting on the sidelines holding us back. I guess our form has suffered with the drop in our midfield output. Sloanes demise has not helped what was already a midfield lacking depth. But overall our best 5 or 6 are struggling.

Whatever ails us at the moment can be turned around quickly by our on field leaders. I think it is totally up to them. The team that ran out against Hawthorn is not a bad team by any stretch. But leadership was sadly lacking. There were too many instances of panic football. The stand out amongst this poor performance was a Cat 2 rookie. Did not panic in the situation. Played superb finals type football. Will make a fine on field leader.

Our coach.......not sure if he's the man but the club has to make this work somehow. They need to settle the coaching situation. There needs to be some consistency with team developement. Consistency with team tactics and just consistency in general. This guy has to come good or we risk taking on another rookie coach.
Exactly what we don't want at this point of our window.

So looking ahead we now have more 50/50 games than we first thought but this is not entirely our fault. Any other year being beaten by the 17th placed team would be looking at an early start to pre season but this year is unique. Hawthorn are not the 17th worst team and Sydney, Melbourne, Essendon, Carlton are all knocking on the door. Unfortunately we meet most of them in the run home. Unfortunate if we keep playing like a bunch of panicking Precillas that is.

We are equal now to this time last season. From here on we lost 2 more games before finals. We have the players. Not sure if we have the coach but he doesn't really matter at this stage. Our leaders need to stand up. That's what we lacked in the final against Sydney.

Tex, Eddie, Sloane and Lynch. Any team would love that line up. These guys lift and it's game on.

Your right the senior players are the key without them we are screwed

Gov and cheney might help but tex is the biggest influence on our forward line and I said it at the beginning of the year can Betts maintain his previous years form, it appears not

Sloane and smith are prime movers and they have been disappointing

Every team has three or four players they are useless without, which ones are ours


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[Huntercrow]

Your right the senior players are the key without them we are screwed

Gov and cheney might help but tex is the biggest influence on our forward line and I said it at the beginning of the year can Betts maintain his previous years form, it appears not

Sloane and smith are prime movers and they have been disappointing

Every team has three or four players they are useless without, which ones are ours


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app

Our leadership group is balanced in favour of the forward line. Tex, Eddie and Lynch seems a little congested compared to the backline. Pretty much they have Sloane in the middle and I think Talia and that's about it. Cheney could be the steadying influence in the backline. Otto as well. They could be a handy influence come the finals.

 

[skoobydoo]

Go back a few weeks. Our original problem still exists. Two elements - shut down Sloane and choke the Crows off their game with in your face manic pressure. We can't handle it, have no answer and hence we lose it with execution and ball movement. It's certainly not just Sloane. We need an alternative better way to operate our game plan.

 

[marty36]

Go back a few weeks. Our original problem still exists. Two elements - shut down Sloane and choke the Crows off their game with in your face manic pressure. We can't handle it, have no answer and hence we lose it with execution and ball movement. It's certainly not just Sloane. We need an alternative better way to operate our game plan.

Just noted it on changes thread work out who our most important 4 are in the team for me it's

Sloane
Betts
Walker
Talia

Everyone of them is down on form from 2016 and no team can afford mediocre out of their best 4 players if they want to contend


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[Huntercrow]

Just noted it on changes thread work out who our most important 4 are in the team for me it's

Sloane
Betts
Walker
Talia

Everyone of them is down on form from 2016 and no team can afford mediocre out of their best 4 players if they want to contend


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Sloane we know is struggling to shake the tag. He needs help. The Crouches need to answer the call.

Eddie, not sure what is happening there.
Is he trying to be the marking forward we lost with the injury to McGovern? He is a little unrealistic in his marking attempts lately. Hopefully this will right itself when McGovern returns.

Talia I thought actually played his best game this year against Hawthorn, at least in the first half. Talia and Hartigan have been down this year. Not sure if something has changed.

Tex....Can be an absolute match winner. This guy loves the Crows. No doubt about it, if you wanted someone in the trenches.....
But this could also be his weakness. He seems to lose it when things aint going well. His team mates look to him when times are tough. I think a good captain leads by example. He doesn't have to do anything but play his natural game. He is that good.

The best sides I have seen have always performed well under pressure. We don't have that yet. I hope Pyke can bring a bit of the old West Coast Eagles philosophy (less the partying and stuff) to the playing list. He was an exceptional player during their most successful years. he must have something to offer the club once he gets the hang of this coaching caper.

 

[Rotayjay]

The path to the flag is still open to us this year. I don't think we can beat Geelong, but we might not need to.

 

[Rotayjay]

Sloane we know is struggling to shake the tag. He needs help. The Crouches need to answer the call.

Eddie, not sure what is happening there.

Talia and Hartigan have been down this year. Not sure if something has changed.

.

In my opinion, what we're seeing with Betts is wear and tear. He's turning 31 in November.

I also think Hartigan has never been much chop - has some good games but also absolute shockers. So as much as he tries hard, he's just not a reliable rock in defence like Talia.

 

[Simmo28]

We need to get back to the fast hard running team that pressured the opposition in the first 6 rounds.

Impossible with the team Don has been selecting. Not sure why he isnt picking a team to suit his own gameplan.

Also need to solve Sloane getting tagged and our structural issues. Not insurmountable but Pyke will need to be a lot more flexible and not so soft at selection.

Gov will be a huge asset for the second half of the year.

Gov and Seeds


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[Simmo28]

The path to the flag is still open to us this year. I don't think we can beat Geelong, but we might not need to.

Geelong and Giants play each other twice before end of season, hope its 1-1 and we beat Geelong at home. If we tick off the games we should win then it's top 2. Still don't think we will make GF but happy to be proven wrong.


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[Huntercrow]

Geelong and Giants play each other twice before end of season, hope its 1-1 and we beat Geelong at home. If we tick off the games we should win then it's top 2. Still don't think we will make GF but happy to be proven wrong.


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This round has shown how close the compitition is. We could still finish top four or better. From there we can do what what we should have done last season.

 

[Coopers]

Here's an idea: Maybe Pyke is foxing a bit? I mean, really, our #1 gamestyle should have beaten hawthorn: They suck this year.
I also don't believe he's so bad a coach that he can't make changes and combat the proven method of beating that #1 gameplan.

So why hasn't he? I reckon, he was expecting to win this without having to show his cards (e.g. show the #2 gameplan). I also reckon he'll still be thinking that against carlton. Good god though, if we lose that.

The alternative - that we have a gameplan that has been sussed out, and he's not able to do anything about it, is unacceptable.

We can still win it all, based on ladder position. Not based on current form.

 

[JPetro83]

we are too predictable and other teams know who to target etc.. time to mix it up...
its time to bring in Thommo, Cheney, Knight & McGovern.

Its time to sow to our game down as well.. play a bit of possession footy.. we have lost the confidence to play the way we were.. so it s time to slow it down.
I reckon play Atkins forward.. get him out of the defensive half as much as we can cos that guy can not hit a target.... reshuffle the side.

 

[Alwaysacrow]

I could go on and on about structures and selections but I'll save that for another thread. Even if all of these changes that we all have suggested are implemented it won't change much unless our leaders "STAND UP". I agree it's not too late, in fact it's probably better to have a slump now than at the business end of the year but it had better happen soon or we'll lose our chance this year. What we really need is 1 or 2 gritty wins against contenders leading into the finals which would give us the belief that we can do it. It's not insurmountable as some of us think but it will require our leaders to find the form that we know they're capable of.

 

[Simmo28]

Here's an idea: Maybe Pyke is foxing a bit? I mean, really, our #1 gamestyle should have beaten hawthorn: They suck this year.
I also don't believe he's so bad a coach that he can't make changes and combat the proven method of beating that #1 gameplan.

So why hasn't he? I reckon, he was expecting to win this without having to show his cards (e.g. show the #2 gameplan). I also reckon he'll still be thinking that against carlton. Good god though, if we lose that.

The alternative - that we have a gameplan that has been sussed out, and he's not able to do anything about it, is unacceptable.

We can still win it all, based on ladder position. Not based on current form.

It doesn't create much hope when our number one game plan should beat Hawthorn and yet we got beaten by then - convincingly. Our game plan should be adaptive to the opponent, the conditions and during the game. This having one game plan thing is nonsense.


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[skoobydoo]

It doesn't create much hope when our number one game plan should beat Hawthorn and yet we got beaten by then - convincingly. Our game plan should be adaptive to the opponent, the conditions and during the game. This having one game plan thing is nonsense.


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Love it !

 

[Large 1]

I think we've moved too far away from our strengths.

What we saw on Thursday was plan B. Kick short, switch, slow movement when numbers are behind play. We are not good at this (but at least we will have 9 rounds to improve). We need to be able to change gears during a game and move between quick run and carry and shorter, slower play. This is what keeps teams guessing.

At least now we have plenty of time to look at what teams are going to bring in finals. If we can work our way through this we can have a genuine crack at finals.

 

[Simmo28]

I think we've moved too far away from our strengths.

What we saw on Thursday was plan B. Kick short, switch, slow movement when numbers are behind play. We are not good at this (but at least we will have 9 rounds to improve). We need to be able to change gears during a game and move between quick run and carry and shorter, slower play. This is what keeps teams guessing.

At least now we have plenty of time to look at what teams are going to bring in finals. If we can work our way through this we can have a genuine crack at finals.

And teams have had plenty of time to work us out also. Shut Sloane, stop chain of possession through midfield and tag Betts. Teams seem to have worked out that our delivery into fifty is crap so just hang numbers back and wait the kick in from 70-80 out. We are robotic at the present.


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[Large 1]

And teams have had plenty of time to work us out also. Shut Sloane, stop chain of possession through midfield and tag Betts. Teams seem to have worked out that our delivery into fifty is crap so just hang numbers back and wait the kick in from 70-80 out. We are robotic at the present.


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The key term is "at present".

The only two things you need for evolution are pressure and time. We have the pressure, so let's see if we can evolve over time. If we can overcome it by the finals then teams will need to find another way to beat us.

Unfortunately, what I believe is that at the start of the year our results were the product of our teams ability + Pyke's plan. Now the plan has been neutralised we are merely seeing our player's ability, which isn't good enough.

 

[Donkey Magoo]

Here's an idea: Maybe Pyke is foxing a bit? I mean, really, our #1 gamestyle should have beaten hawthorn: They suck this year.
I also don't believe he's so bad a coach that he can't make changes and combat the proven method of beating that #1 gameplan.

So why hasn't he? I reckon, he was expecting to win this without having to show his cards (e.g. show the #2 gameplan). I also reckon he'll still be thinking that against carlton. Good god though, if we lose that.

The alternative - that we have a gameplan that has been sussed out, and he's not able to do anything about it, is unacceptable.

We can still win it all, based on ladder position. Not based on current form.

Also they say that 90% of the game is mental and the rest is in your head. We don't look mentally prepared for the fight at the moment. Also doesn't look like we train with footballs at the moment.
I'd love to be reading a post premiership article explaining that we are doing a midseason preseason to take the fitness levels up. Pipe dream.

I actually still rate Pyke, he doesn't get carried away by things. I don't think people should read too much into press conferences, Pykes job there is to limit the sensationalism.

 

[Crow_Magnon]

we are too predictable and other teams know who to target etc.. time to mix it up...
its time to bring in Thommo, Cheney, Knight & McGovern.

Its time to sow to our game down as well.. play a bit of possession footy.. we have lost the confidence to play the way we were.. so it s time to slow it down.
I reckon play Atkins forward.. get him out of the defensive half as much as we can cos that guy can not hit a target.... reshuffle the side.

Assuming this is 'slow our game down'....really can't get much slower than against the Hawks! Zero run and carry, zero risk taking, witches hats for forward targets, then once they got it in their forward line we had them 40 metres in the clear at times. Sorry...not the answer.

 

[pmar]

Instead of starting one (or two) of our forwards from the half back line on EVERY centre bounce, how about just starting them in the forward line! Its a good occasional tactic but doing it more often than not is predictable and frees up a defender in our forward line.
Too many times against Hawthorn we tried to go with 4 forwards against 7 or 8 defenders. If we did manage to win a rushed clearance out of the middle, it came straight back out again. When we didn't win the clearance we were too committed to running forward to be able to defend effectively.
If the opposition play a spare man in defence, make him accountable and go 7 on 7.
The full ground press for defensive stoppages needs tweaking when the other team leave defenders behind the ball. When we do win the ball and go for the fast break forward, we have no where to go as their defence is already back.
Having said that, all the team structures and game plans count for nothing if we cant hit targets, hold marks or just generally not cough up the ball under pressure....

 

[Aussie_boy]

Here's an idea: Maybe Pyke is foxing a bit? I mean, really, our #1 gamestyle should have beaten hawthorn: They suck this year.
I also don't believe he's so bad a coach that he can't make changes and combat the proven method of beating that #1 gameplan.

So why hasn't he? I reckon, he was expecting to win this without having to show his cards (e.g. show the #2 gameplan). I also reckon he'll still be thinking that against carlton. Good god though, if we lose that.

The alternative - that we have a gameplan that has been sussed out, and he's not able to do anything about it, is unacceptable.

We can still win it all, based on ladder position. Not based on current form.

I thought this last season and then the finals rolled around and nope, nothing new came out. Who knows what would've happened though if we won in round 23, if he did have some sort of plan up his sleeve then it backfired badly or didn't work vs Sydney.