Preview Changes: R6 v Gold Coast

[CrowBloke]

1) My view last year was that teams started to figure out how to nullify betts influence and that the coaches never figured out a way to combat this. ...
2) I'd wait for the end of the year to make a call on him. How many years has he got on his contract?

1) Hardwick/Richmond worked it out for sure --- just hold Eddie down/back by the arm, especially in the goalsquare.
I'm still dark about that *mutter mutter spew*.
2) You're probably right. He'd have to play very badly for several weeks to be dropped. Contracted to end 2020, I think.

 

[CrowBloke]

How fast did Scott Thompson drop off?

Took a while, from memory. Not just a group of games.

 

[Golumless]

How fast did Scott Thompson drop off?

Thommo was showing signs of decline for a while, but really he went hot in 2016 for 6 weeks and then just fell apart. It only felt quick if you missed a lot of red flags with his game slowly going.

The one thing that saves Betts to a degree is small forward is a less intensive role then a midfielder so whilst the goal sense stays he has worth. With that in mind, it is worth noting that we're back to what is a normal small forward production from Betts, seeing the past few years have seen him play football that puts him in the conversation for best small forward to have played this game.

 

[StonesThrow]

How fast did Scott Thompson drop off?

Was waiting for that.

Scott Thompson definitely wasn't playing some of his best footy in the same season that he was noticeably in decline.

Eddie betts is also not relying on his spread from stoppages.

 

[Truck25]

Vhaluus makes a fair point:

especially since not even McLeod, Ricciuto or Edwards were offered 3-year contracts after they turned 30.
(https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/ad...l/news-story/2c05d387442c0697ec0a1d562ffc3054)
Elite Crow and Drugs Are Bad Mackay? remain staunch Eddie supporters:


The hangers Eddie goes for have been defended by others claiming he's frustrated and has decided to do the job that Gov, Tex and JJ should be doing as talls, ie taking contested marks. That's bulltwaddle. Elite Crow's right --- Eddie should stay down to crumb off packs which he does brilliantly. His attempted hangers spoil our talls or give away free kicks, way too often.
Eddie won't be attracting the oppo's best small defender if what he's shown so far this year continues. Eddie has plenty of credits from his last 4 seasons but, let's face it, 3 goals in 4 games is not a great return on his extended contract. Murphy and Gallucci want Eddie's spot.
Hey, I love Eddie too. Not only does he play with flair and experienced trickery, it's clear he loves his footy with the Crows, but those pack-hangers have gotta stop. He's got a better chance of possession on the ground, one-on-one, hell, even two-on-one against as we've seen. Something's amiss --- could be pre-natal tension then lack of sleep as DABM? suggested.
Let's all hope he comes back with spirit and energy to his goal-crumbing best.

I think Eddie is a bit hard done by with his hanger criticism. A large majority (not all) of the high fly attempts the entry into the forward 50 was crap and there was no tall timber. He had no choice but to contest the mark or the opposition would just clean up with an uncontested mark.

 

[Vhaluus]

Was waiting for that.

Scott Thompson definitely wasn't playing some of his best footy in the same season that he was noticeably in decline.

Eddie betts is also not relying on his spread from stoppages.

Really? Pretty sure Scott Thompson was averaging over 30 touches a game for about his first 6 games wasn't he until he fell off a cliff?

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

I was wondering if anyone was able to inform me as to why Lachlan Murphy did not play SANFL last night, but then came accross this:

Lee Gaskin

@Lee_Gaskin1 | 5,319 followers

Activity Map Analyse Visualise Alert

Lachlan Murphy not playing for the Crows in tonight’s SANFL game against Norwood at Coopers Stadium. Must be the emergency held over for tomorrow night’s game with Gold Coast. Fogarty, Wilson and O’Brien all playing tonight

With the number of injured players, not really surprising...

 

[StonesThrow]

Really? Pretty sure Scott Thompson was averaging over 30 touches a game for about his first 6 games wasn't he until he fell off a cliff?

Imo he was still a contested bull but the decline in his ability to run (at all) had been on show for a while. He did have a couple of stand out games but overall not the same impact as when he was at his peak. The season before he also struggled at times.

He did completely fall off quite abruptly ill give you that. I doubt this was a surprise to anyone though.

 

[Vhaluus]

Imo he was still a contested bull but the decline in his ability to run (at all) had been on show for a while. He did have a couple of stand out games but overall not the same impact as when he was at his peak. The season before he also struggled at times.

He did completely fall off quite abruptly ill give you that. I doubt this was a surprise to anyone though.

So.. a bit like Betts is showing atm?

 

[Thetrader15]

Eddie betts is also not relying on his spread from stoppages.

Neither was Scott Thompson

 

[ad victoriam]

It's necessary because we have 4 permanent forwards who can't rotate through the stoppages. If Eddie can't then it would make 5, this is not modern footy. Running power and pressure is absolute key and you can't have that without plentiful midfield options.

Who are the 4 who cannot run thru the stoppages? unless you mean as inside mids,
Lynch who play a high Half Forward wing Position, and Runs all Day. and play outside at the stoppages. quite a few times this year he has been playing boundary side at the stoppages.
JJ who Play the supporting Ruck position, And when Jacobs has been bad has gone into the middle and actually added some momentum.
McGovern Last year yes, but this year they have been running him back and on the wing this year. Starting to build a tank. and starting to play outside on the stoppages,
Leaving Walker who really only one, he tends to play high Half Forward and stays away from the stoppages.

To be honest, at times I wished we did have at least 2 forwards who stayed at home.
And yes I know it received a lot of Airtime with the injuries, about not having the depth to run thru the middle. Personally, they got it wrong, it was the lack of Quality inside mids, along with Forwards all returning from injuries or broken preseason restricting there ability to run. And the wrong selection.

 

[GrommoT]

And let's hope that he has lots of talented kids.

[thanks flashcrow for beard pix]

 

[Donkey Magoo]

View attachment 489310

That's gold Jerry.

 

[StonesThrow]

So.. a bit like Betts is showing atm?

Possibly?

Would you have said the same thing mid way through last year though? He was absolutely killing it up until the Richmond game (I think).

It's a small sample size is all I'm saying.

Right now I'd be reacting to teams tactics against him rather than calling it a day for him. If things haven't changed by the end of the year I'd be worried.

I do agree that the contract extension was generous though.

 

[CrowBloke]

A large majority (not all) of the high fly attempts the entry into the forward 50 was crap and there was no tall timber. He had no choice but to contest the mark or the opposition would just clean up with an uncontested mark.

We remember the frequency differently, but I have no hard stats facts to dispute your "large majority" claim.
I do remember times when he was one-on-one or even two on one against, in which examples I agree he has no choice but to make a contest and jump for the mark.
I'm talking about the times (and I'd say it's maybe three times/game) he takes off for a hanger, a screamer, in a pack. If we've got a tall, or more, contesting the mark, Eddie must stay down to crumb off hands or be a target for a tap-on. It's extremely annoying when he takes off way too early/late and interferes with an opponent in the process (free kick against, ending that attack), or ends up just getting in the way. Eddie can't crumb if he's flying, and crumbing elusively is what he does best, exclusively.
The only screamer or MOTY contender I can remember him taking was deep in our Cathedral End forward pocket, close-ish to the corner of the 15m square, last year. He took off against 3 opponents, got a lift off one of them and the ball dropped onto his chest on the way down. More arse than class, even if it looked fantastic.
After writing that, I Googled, found:
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=...9i57j69i64.15023j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Looks like he lands one a season, on average. Jeremy Howe, he ain't .

 

[CrowBloke]

Ugh!
Off-topic I know, but PA are towelling up NM 60-29 just into the 3rd quarter .

All the more reason for us to hammer GC tonight.

 

[Truck25]

We remember the frequency differently, but I have no hard stats facts to dispute your "large majority" claim.
I do remember times when he was one-on-one or even two on one against, in which examples I agree he has no choice but to make a contest and jump for the mark.
I'm talking about the times (and I'd say it's maybe three times/game) he takes off for a hanger, a screamer, in a pack. If we've got a tall, or more, contesting the mark, Eddie must stay down to crumb off hands or be a target for a tap-on. It's extremely annoying when he takes off way too early/late and interferes with an opponent in the process (free kick against, ending that attack), or ends up just getting in the way. Eddie can't crumb if he's flying, and crumbing elusively is what he does best, exclusively.
The only screamer or MOTY contender I can remember him taking was deep in our Cathedral End forward pocket, close-ish to the corner of the 15m square, last year. He took off against 3 opponents, got a lift off one of them and the ball dropped onto his chest on the way down. More arse than class, even if it looked fantastic.
After writing that, I Googled, found:
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=...9i57j69i64.15023j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Looks like he lands one a season, on average. Jeremy Howe, he ain't .

3 times a game? I doubt it. He does jump sometimes where he should stay down I agree but I would contest it is anywhere near 3 times a game. It would be lucky to be once a game for most games where he made the wrong decision. you know what I'm willing to let Eddie have the odd bad choice, because it's even odds that bad choice still works for him and we score. It's what he does, it's called X-Factor and I wouldn't risk missing out on it by curbing his behavior in 1 area.

 

[Jack is Back]

Really? Pretty sure Scott Thompson was averaging over 30 touches a game for about his first 6 games wasn't he until he fell off a cliff?

According to 1970Crow, Scotty started to decline around 2006 (possibly about the time he cut “someones” lunch at an unknown nightclub) .

I disagree that there has been a big decline in Eddie’s game this year. He has kicked less goals mainly because he keeps handing the ball off. He was still winning the one on ones until he was injured. It is very difficult to remain consistent playing as a small forward and Eddie is one of the few players to have achieved this.

Once he regains fitness, I expect plenty more Eddie magic.

 

[1970crow]

According to 1970Crow, Scotty started to decline around 2006 (possibly about the time he cut “someones” lunch at an unknown nightclub) .

I disagree that there has been a big decline in Eddie’s game this year. He has kicked less goals mainly because he keeps handing the ball off. He was still winning the one on ones until he was injured. It is very difficult to remain consistent playing as a small forward and Eddie is one of the few players to have achieved this.

Once he regains fitness, I expect plenty more Eddie magic.

Actually, it was the year that he carried that hip injury that he didn't have but had surgery on at the end of he year. I think it was Tamblings last year. That's when I started noticing his body failing him and that he couldn't carry injuries as he had and needed managing going forward. In reality it was 2015 where it was obvious that his form fell off prior to each week off and that he was having to rush his disposal which resulted in them not being as advantageous as they were in the past. 2016 was where his wheels fell off, but I maintained that we should have tried a 4-6 week mini preseason type program to try and have him cherry ripe for September.

I'm not sure why it bothers you so much, you bever bothered to address a single point that I made. Probably because they were unarguable and you like to think that you're the only person qualified to make assessments about players and coaches around here. You did like to respond with petty insults, just like your 2006 and lunch cut jibe.

 

[Jack is Back]

Actually, it was the year that he carried that hip injury that he didn't have but had surgery on at the end of he year. I think it was Tamblings last year. That's when I started noticing his body failing him and that he couldn't carry injuries as he had and needed managing going forward. In reality it was 2015 where it was obvious that his form fell off prior to each week off and that he was having to rush his disposal which resulted in them not being as advantageous as they were in the past. 2016 was where his wheels fell off, but I maintained that we should have tried a 4-6 week mini preseason type program to try and have him cherry ripe for September.

I'm not sure why it bothers you so much, you bever bothered to address a single point that I made. Probably because they were unarguable and you like to think that you're the only person qualified to make assessments about players and coaches around here. You did like to respond with petty insults, just like your 2006 and lunch cut jibe.

Sorry petal. Your obsession with Scott Thompson puts you in Gold Medal contention with The Rabbit/Crouches and Marty/Doedee.

Scott Thompson finished 7th in the 2015 Club Championship compared to 6th in 2014, a huge drop-off? He was also one of our better players in the last match of the year (Semi-Final v Hawthorn).

I don’t like unwarranted criticism of our players, same story at the moment with Eddie Betts.

Eventually all players drop off in form so I don’t give any creedence to someone predicting, Eddie, Tex, Talia etc are on the decline. You were correct about the fact that Scott’s form would eventually decline but I seem to recall that you started posting this in 2013?