Preview Changes vs Nth Melbourne

[FR0GGY]

If smith misses has Oscar Ryan been putting himself in the frame? Probably the one missing I’d be most excited to be given his chance there

Misses?
He’s having a light week so he can get through the game.

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Misses?
He’s having a light week so he can get through the game.

Smith would also know that if he loses his spot now at his age he may not get it back

Needs to play and the next man up can claw the HBF position out of his cold, dead hands

Which is our culture in a nutshell

 

[tinman]

Smith time for a spell fella.

Smith panic kicks it every time he gets the footy. Hell he can’t even kick out from a behind anymore. His leg used to be his weapon at AFL level. Sad to see a player who has been great for us performing at this level now. But we keep selecting him.

 

[Chances Are]

Damien Hardwick quote on 360 tonight. "I think it's better for a kid's development to play 3 or 4 AFL games rather than 12 VFL games". But what would he know - he's only won 3 AFL premierships!!

That's what I said a post a few days ago. Bring the 3 kids in with Dowling and let them learn. They all have talent. Let them use it.

 

[Sanders]

Cook is a non factor too, not sure what he's supposed to offer.

Cook has all the talent in the world but he’s uncompetitive. He doesn’t go when it’s a bit difficult

The very definition of a conditional player, he goes when the timing is right, when it suits him, and everything is just so

 

[Interloperer]

Cook has all the talent in the world but he’s uncompetitive. He doesn’t go when it’s a bit difficult

The very definition of a conditional player, he goes when the timing is right, when it suits him, and everything is just so

I think Cook's issue is awareness as much as anything else. There have been a few issues where he's been wide open and completely oblivious to the fact or facing the wrong way. (standing next to McHenry and telling him to kick it long vs Melbourne, or Smith and Dawson screaming at him to turn around on consecutive possessions vs Carlton.)

He probably had his mind occupied trying to figure out his role in Nicks' moonlogic positioning set up though.

 

[Sanders]

Always got Norwood

See this is where you go wrong, as a lifelong south Adelaide panthers fan I’ve been tempted to switch my attentions back to the SANFL

It’s the equivalent of explorers burning their boats, for panthers fans there’s no going back

 

[Sanders]

Nicks is coaching for his career. He absolutely cannot afford to lose this game.

He will select with the sole intention of winning this week, and that means continuity

His papers will be stamped by losing this, and it will be reflected with minimal changes

 

[cleanhands]

See this is where you go wrong, as a lifelong south Adelaide panthers fan I’ve been tempted to switch my attentions back to the SANFL

It’s the equivalent of explorers burning their boats, for panthers fans there’s no going back

It’s like being cradled into the bosoms it’s so comforting

 

[FR0GGY]

Nicks is coaching for his career. He absolutely cannot afford to lose this game.

He will select with the sole intention of winning this week, and that means continuity

His papers will be stamped by losing this, and it will be reflected with minimal changes

Wasted 3 more f’ing years

 

[Dangerousfield]

Smith would also know that if he loses his spot now at his age he may not get it back

Needs to play and the next man up can claw the HBF position out of his cold, dead hands

Which is our culture in a nutshell

We all know changes need to be made, but with comments like this quote in the Advertiser " but the form we showed last weekend, we are confident that is more us" we know they'll back the incumbents to bounce back against - LOL Norf

Let's get real, we were outplayed at home by the flaky Essendon

 

[Dangerousfield]

Damien Hardwick quote on 360 tonight. "I think it's better for a kid's development to play 3 or 4 AFL games rather than 12 VFL games". But what would he know - he's only won 3 AFL premierships!!

Hardwick is smart, he's got a long contract, is making sure that when they rise up the ladder, he's got plenty of foundation games into the key young talent.

Nicks hasn't got a long contract so he can't - oh wait ........ two extra years!

 

[George CantStandYa]

See this is where you go wrong, as a lifelong south Adelaide panthers fan I’ve been tempted to switch my attentions back to the SANFL

It’s the equivalent of explorers burning their boats, for panthers fans there’s no going back

You could always change teams…come to the mighty legs

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Wasted 3 more f’ing years
View attachment 1967832

Yep, not only are we losing most games in the short-term with a shitty game plan, we are also neglecting our long-term by not prioritising our best young talent.

It's like our club has nfi...

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Smith panic kicks it every time he gets the footy. Hell he can’t even kick out from a behind anymore. His leg used to be his weapon at AFL level. Sad to see a player who has been great for us performing at this level now. But we keep selecting him.

When the coaches moved Smith to a wing last year he looked much better... so this year we have reverted him back to half back & he has been in career worse form.

It's like the coaches have forgotten about what worked & what didn't last year.

If Smith was a younger player he would haven been dropped after either round 1 or 2.

 

[NSolis]

Speaking of this being a 'must win' for Nicks, an interesting background piece for this week is that when judging by the win/loss record of their opposition (excluding games in which Adelaide was involved), the Crows have had comfortably the hardest draw of any team this year. Their opponents have a combined record of 20-10 when facing non-Adelaide teams, with two teams that are 5-0, two that are 3-2 and two which are 2-3. This is a few games clear of next place. At the other end of the spectrum, Geelong's opponents are 9-21, and their hardest opposition win/loss wise have been the Saints and Dogs, both of which were narrow wins.

I think this is part of the internal story within the club at the moment - Nicks mentioned after the Carlton game that 'we haven't played a team that has lost yet', and I think this factor combined with the fact that all the games have been fairly close and competitive is keeping the heat off a bit. This is the first game against a team that has struggled this year and I think a big comfortable win would support an internal narrative that the team was a bit off early on and has been a bit unlucky with injuries, form and even umpiring, but it's largely a blip. A loss would be pretty devastating, on the other hand.

That said I think Adelaide will probably win comfortably.

 

[George CantStandYa]

Speaking of this being a 'must win' for Nicks, an interesting background piece for this week is that when judging by the win/loss record of their opposition (excluding games in which Adelaide was involved), the Crows have had comfortably the hardest draw of any team this year. Their opponents have a combined record of 20-10 when facing non-Adelaide teams, with two teams that are 5-0, two that are 3-2 and two which are 2-3. This is a few games clear of next place. At the other end of the spectrum, Geelong's opponents are 9-21, and their hardest opposition win/loss wise have been the Saints and Dogs, both of which were narrow wins.

I think this is part of the internal story within the club at the moment - Nicks mentioned after the Carlton game that 'we haven't played a team that has lost yet', and I think this factor combined with the fact that all the games have been fairly close and competitive is keeping the heat off a bit. This is the first game against a team that has struggled this year and I think a big comfortable win would support an internal narrative that the team was a bit off early on and has been a bit unlucky with injuries, form and even umpiring, but it's largely a blip. A loss would be pretty devastating, on the other hand.

That said I think Adelaide will probably win comfortably.

Aren’t the teams records improved by beating us? We can hardly use that a benchmark of playing a tough opponent and guess what to be considered a good team worthy of finals we need to be able to beat teams we are competing with for finals.

I posted a comment Nicks made when we lost to Melbourne in Feb 2020 that he talked up the opposition and it was a worrying comment, well 5 seasons in and he’s still doing it.

 

[NSolis]

Aren’t the teams records improved by beating us? We can hardly use that a benchmark of playing a tough opponent and guess what to be considered a good team worthy of finals we need to be able to beat teams we are competing with for finals.

I posted a comment Nicks made when we lost to Melbourne in Feb 2020 that he talked up the opposition and it was a worrying comment, well 5 seasons in and he’s still doing it.

I'm talking about their records excluding Adelaide games. For example Adelaide's opponents have a total record of 25-11. This is 20-10 excluding Crows games. For Geelong it's 9-27, or 9-21 excluding the games against Geelong.

But yes I agree, it's not really a great way to think about things, especially because we've played a number of teams who missed finals last year and we'd see as peers/competitors on our way up the ladder (Gold Coast, Freo and Essendon particularly).

 

[George CantStandYa]

I'm talking about their records excluding Adelaide games. For example Adelaide's opponents have a total record of 25-11. This is 20-10 excluding Crows games. For Geelong it's 9-27, or 9-21 excluding the games against Geelong.

But yes I agree, it's not really a great way to think about things, especially because we've played a number of teams who missed finals last year and we'd see as peers/competitors on our way up the ladder (Gold Coast, Freo and Essendon particularly).

And we’ve lost 3 home games

 

[Vader]

I think Cook's issue is awareness as much as anything else. There have been a few issues where he's been wide open and completely oblivious to the fact or facing the wrong way. (standing next to McHenry telling him to kick it long vs Melbourne, or Smith and Dawson screaming at him to turn around on consecutive possessions vs Carlton.)

He probably had his mind occupied trying to figure out his role in Nicks' moonlogic positioning set up though.

Let's be honest here... wouldn't you be looking for short options, if you had McHenry telling you to kick it long?

 

[SellarStardom]

Laird, Smith and McHenry should be first out so Nick's will target Gollant, Cook and Sholl.

What should happen
Crouch in, Laird out
Ryan in, Smith out
Gallant out, Strachan in
Dowling in, McHenry Out

If Berry is injured bring back Pedlar.

What will happen is Dowling for Cook or something stupid like that. The Dowling non-selevtion is getting difficult for Nick's when even Fox is saying he has to debut.

 

[Interloperer]

Let's be honest here... wouldn't you be looking for short options, if you had McHenry telling you to kick it long?

It was Mchenry who had the ball ~55m from goal. Cook was unmarked about 10m away from him doing nothing except gesturing. If he moved 5m back he would have had an easy mark about 50m from goal, well within range. McHenry would struggle to make it half way.

 

[Vader]

It was Mchenry who had the ball ~55m from goal. Cook was unmarked about 10m away from him doing nothing except gesturing. If he moved 5m back he would have had an easy mark about 50m from goal, well within range. McHenry would struggle to make it half way.

My apologies. Context is everything. I thought you were suggesting Cook had the ball, and McHenry was telling him to kick it long.

 

[Crow_Magnon]

They left because we didn't want to pay them what they were worth, which points to us undervaluing them.

And I did say that yes we have played high draft picks recently, but how often do we put players into their best roles immediately? We only fill gaps in the 22, not look to actually introduce them, which is why players like Worrell sit in the SANFL - no space for them.

Gallucci - debuted forward and SANFL for ages
Fogarty - in and out, tried multiple roles
Jones - debuted forward
McHenry - SANFL for years
McAsey - debuted, chopped and changed, dumped for years
Worrell - SANFL for years
Schoenberg - debuted forward
Thilthorpe - played in position!
Pedlar - SANFL for years
Cook - barely played
Berry - debuted forward
Rachele - sort of in position but low midfield time
Soligo - debuted sort of sometimes in position
Michalanney - debuted in position!
Curtin - SANFL so far

There has been little to no eye for developing these players where they might play their best football. It's all plugging holes or not getting a run.

And yeah maybe there wasn't a midfield spot for Jones right away, but was he ever a forward? Was Berry ever a small forward? Why haven't we ever tried a young player off half back? Why are all our young mids played forward?

And then, not so much lately but it definitely happened in our last flag charge, when we did back in players to play their best roles we then didn't pay them relative to their talent, output and potential

I agree with much of this, but there have been a lot of duds in that list. There's certainly been a reluctance to debut young players early on, whereas some teams have accelerated their youngsters development by playing them in the seniors - often before they were truly ready. It's left us devoid of players in that 50 to 150 game range, and we'll fall off the cliff if we can't recruit some talent in that 23 - 27 y.o. range asap with Smith, Sloane and Tex about to retire (and Tex is the only one of those three with any talent these days). And when I say talent, I mean midfield talent primarily.

 

[Betts are off]

Smith panic kicks it every time he gets the footy. Hell he can’t even kick out from a behind anymore. His leg used to be his weapon at AFL level. Sad to see a player who has been great for us performing at this level now. But we keep selecting him.

TBH he's been dump kicking for years. But its the panic in his eyes that's new for Brodie. The look of someone that has lost all trust in his ability at the top level.

Like him or not, he's always been a supremely confident player, even as a youngster he played without any hesitation, and never questioned his dare and dash off HB. This version of Smith is a toothless dog by comparison.