Crows: a team built from defence out

[-VC-]

Going into last night's game St.Kilda and Adelaide had the two lowest points against tallies in the league.
Adelaide were on 730 and St.Kilda on 868.
After last night we maitain our record of being the only team to have conceded less than 800 and St.Kilda almost hit the 1000 mark.
Currently for points against from lowest to highest being less than 1000 is:

Adelaide - 790* (avg. 65.8)
Sydney - 896 (avg. 81.4)
West Coast - 930
Collingwood - 990
St.Kilda - 991*
Melbourne - 991

* = played one more game

• Our average points against per game is 65.8 and the next best is Sydney with 81.4.
• By the end of this round Melbourne and Collingwood will be over 1000
• West Coast could possibly be over 1000 and Sydney unlikely but possible to be over 1000
• There's every chance that by the end of Round 13 everyone will have conceded over 1000 and we won't have even hit 900 yet

As the saying goes, offence wins you games but defence wins you championships.
Being a big ice hockey fan they say that the best teams are built from crease out ie. goalie > defence > offence. While no single person has the same responsibility as a goalie in footy I think the same concept could apply loosely and I am very glad that we have a team built from defence out.

 

[Stiffy_18]

There is an old saying in basketball, "Road to the championship is paved by defence"

Not only are we best defensively, we are right up there offensively as well. After 12 rounds we kick on average, 108.17 points per game

Thats not too shabby either

 

[CrowsOK]

Do you think Gary Ayres defensive influence is still having an effect?

He sowed the seed for many of the players we have in our great team to this day.

Go Gary!

 

[Stiffy_18]

Do you think Gary Ayres defensive influence is still having an effect?

He sowed the seed for many of the players we have in our great team to this day.

Go Gary!

Didn't take you long to get banned

But I do agree that Gary Ayres can take some of the credit for our players having a defensive side to their game. Having said that, Craig took our defence to another level.

 

[PrideofSA]

It's also interesting to note that last year was our best year for defence...after that the next 2 best years for us defence wise were 97 and 98.....coincidence, I think not.

What we didn't do last year that we did in 97 and 98 was, our offence wasn't good enough.

This year our defence is even better and our offence is right up there too. Not saying we will win the premiership however it's a good sign we are even better than last year.

 

[RoosterLad]

There is an old saying in basketball, "Road to the championship is paved by defence"

Not only are we best defensively, we are right up there offensively as well. After 12 rounds we kick on average, 108.17 points per game

Thats not too shabby either

Not bad for a boring team which only floods and doesnt attack at all.

 

[marvin]

One of the things that's been noticeable about our 2 most recent wins here in Melbourne is that the players are making great decisions - both with the ball, and defensively.

Physical execution of the skills may sometimes be a problem, (e.g. kicking over the head of the leading forward) but the players are picking the right option.

Defensively, it's very similar. The decision making about when to charge in and lay a tackle, when to corral the player with the ball and when to leave off to pick up the player further downfield is outstanding.

Particular kudos to Michael Doughty. It wasn't obvious on TV, but when he knocked down Montagna's handpass in the first term by not over-committing on the tackle, Montagna had 2 free runners outside him with no-one a chance of cutting off ane easy shot at goal. Doughty makes the play and we get the ball back inside 50; he doesn't make it and St Kilda score. It was better than his first quarter knockdown against the Bombers.