The Crows Truth
Club Legend
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2005
- Posts
- 1,792
- Reaction score
- 184
- Location
- Watago's
- AFL Club
- Adelaide
- Other Teams
- The Magnificent AFC
THEY say footy ain't rocket science. Well, it mightn't be, but the Adelaide Crows, under the command of their scientist-coach Neil Craig, are driving the game skyward, in the NASA direction.
A matter of four and five years ago, the competition became aware — and suspicious — of the Brisbane Lions' willingness to push the boundaries to gain a physical edge over their rivals, in much the same way that the physically endowed West Coast Eagles were viewed in the early '90s.
The Lions used intravenous drips during games, had hypoxicators to ensure their players were breathing quality oxygen and, in perhaps the most celebrated example of a medical "one percenter", chartered a low-flying aeroplane for their trip from Brisbane to Melbourne before the 2003 grand final.
Now, as the only club whose coach has a background as Olympic-level sports scientist, Craig's Crows are the club that invites the greatest curiosity and intrigue about its methods.
Bewildered opposition spies, known in the football world as forward scouts, find they take more notes when attending Adelaide training sessions, as they watch a highly disciplined, innovative and organised operation in which nearly everyone seems to have a specific task.
Adelaide was already a leader in the physical preparation, fitness and medical arenas before Craig's appointment; now, it has introduced a rigorous, scientific mindset to most areas of the club — including recruiting, training and the way the Crows play.
"If there's something we think can give us an edge, we're keen to be innovators and leaders if we can," said an Adelaide official, adding that not all its experiments came up trumps. "It means you're going to have some failures."
Most clubs talk about "process." Adelaide lives it.
As long ago as 1998, Adelaide hired an Olympic swimming coach, Glen Beringen (silver medal 200 metres breaststroker at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics) to teach its players to swim better; the reasoning was that players would have better rehabilitations from injury if they swam afterwards with the correct technique.
While the poorer relations on this side of the border gasp at the techno-scientific approach and are envious about the resources Craig has at his disposal, in truth the club's greatest resource is its mindset.
Adelaide, alone, has an Olympic cycling track coach in its coaching panel (Charlie Walsh), who knows little about the game.
Only Adelaide and West Coast have innovation managers — a person charged with the task of investigating whether a particular project — in sports science, psychology or even marketing — is feasible.
Consider some of the other attempts by Craig and co to gain an edge:
■While many club use GPS — an expensive satellite software system that measures the distances players run — the Crows are the market leaders in tracking their players during training.
Craig has a strong preference for empirical data over gut feeling or hunch. Thus, when he is considering whether a player needs a rest in the course of a game, the Crows have already worked out — by measuring the player at training — how far he can run.
These training and conditioning methods are integrated into the Adelaide game plan, which demands that its wingers, usually Brett Burton and Martin Mattner, run up and down the ground, getting behind the ball to assist the defenders and then running forward — clearly, a taxing game plan that can only be carried out by players with significant aerobic capacities, or through precise rotations.
The Crows leave little to chance.
■Keen to communicate with their players and instruct them from a distance, the Crows recently pioneered the use of mobile phones at training sessions.
The small phone is placed in the GPS vest, ensuring that the coach's instructions are audible on the ground. Craig places great emphasis on simulating game experiences during training and if he cannot have his players "miked up" on match day, training will suffice.
■Measuring recruits. Adelaide goes to considerable lengths to track, via tracking software, not simply the distances prospective recruits run, but also the breakdown of their sprinting, jogging and resting.
Adelaide recruiting manager James Fantasia said yesterday that the Crows had hired people in both Adelaide and Melbourne to "track" potential recruits and they were hopeful of doing the same in Perth. Collingwood and other clubs have used similar technology, perhaps with less rigour.
Craig places great store in the psychological profile of recruits, with the result that Fantasia and his recruiting team have carefully prepared form questions to probe the psychological make-up of recruits.
■Wet air. Whenever the Crows journey to Perth, Brisbane and even Sydney, the entire team is required to fly with a device known as a "Humidiflier", which keeps the air moist and thus reduces dehydration during the flight.
"We want to access the best people available," said conditioning coach Stephen Schwerdt, explaining the club's philosophy.
One of those people is Walsh, mentor to dozens of Olympic track cyclists, who talks to the players as they are interchanged on game day.
And if Walsh has no football expertise, he does have a key qualification. "He knows everything about winning," said Schwerdt, "regardless of the sport it is."
Unknown may get job on Riewoldt
ADELAIDE coach Neil Craig has indicated he's prepared to pit unheralded defender Scott Stevens — who only weeks ago seemed well outside the Crows' best 22 — against St Kilda power forward Nick Riewoldt at Telstra Dome tonight.
"It won't be any surprise to you guys that (Ben) Rutten will take (Fraser) Gehrig," Craig said yesterday.
"Then we've got Nathan Bassett or Scott Stevens to go with Riewoldt, or possibly even a Kris Massie, a bit of a mismatch in terms of height but (not) in terms of movement," he said.
"We've played Ken back before. The good thing is that Scott Stevens can go forward, but ideally I'd be keen to see Scott play down back. He's played some good football, and now he can really get an opportunity on a real class AFL forward."
A matter of four and five years ago, the competition became aware — and suspicious — of the Brisbane Lions' willingness to push the boundaries to gain a physical edge over their rivals, in much the same way that the physically endowed West Coast Eagles were viewed in the early '90s.
The Lions used intravenous drips during games, had hypoxicators to ensure their players were breathing quality oxygen and, in perhaps the most celebrated example of a medical "one percenter", chartered a low-flying aeroplane for their trip from Brisbane to Melbourne before the 2003 grand final.
Now, as the only club whose coach has a background as Olympic-level sports scientist, Craig's Crows are the club that invites the greatest curiosity and intrigue about its methods.
Bewildered opposition spies, known in the football world as forward scouts, find they take more notes when attending Adelaide training sessions, as they watch a highly disciplined, innovative and organised operation in which nearly everyone seems to have a specific task.
Adelaide was already a leader in the physical preparation, fitness and medical arenas before Craig's appointment; now, it has introduced a rigorous, scientific mindset to most areas of the club — including recruiting, training and the way the Crows play.
"If there's something we think can give us an edge, we're keen to be innovators and leaders if we can," said an Adelaide official, adding that not all its experiments came up trumps. "It means you're going to have some failures."
Most clubs talk about "process." Adelaide lives it.
As long ago as 1998, Adelaide hired an Olympic swimming coach, Glen Beringen (silver medal 200 metres breaststroker at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics) to teach its players to swim better; the reasoning was that players would have better rehabilitations from injury if they swam afterwards with the correct technique.
While the poorer relations on this side of the border gasp at the techno-scientific approach and are envious about the resources Craig has at his disposal, in truth the club's greatest resource is its mindset.
Adelaide, alone, has an Olympic cycling track coach in its coaching panel (Charlie Walsh), who knows little about the game.
Only Adelaide and West Coast have innovation managers — a person charged with the task of investigating whether a particular project — in sports science, psychology or even marketing — is feasible.
Consider some of the other attempts by Craig and co to gain an edge:
■While many club use GPS — an expensive satellite software system that measures the distances players run — the Crows are the market leaders in tracking their players during training.
Craig has a strong preference for empirical data over gut feeling or hunch. Thus, when he is considering whether a player needs a rest in the course of a game, the Crows have already worked out — by measuring the player at training — how far he can run.
These training and conditioning methods are integrated into the Adelaide game plan, which demands that its wingers, usually Brett Burton and Martin Mattner, run up and down the ground, getting behind the ball to assist the defenders and then running forward — clearly, a taxing game plan that can only be carried out by players with significant aerobic capacities, or through precise rotations.
The Crows leave little to chance.
■Keen to communicate with their players and instruct them from a distance, the Crows recently pioneered the use of mobile phones at training sessions.
The small phone is placed in the GPS vest, ensuring that the coach's instructions are audible on the ground. Craig places great emphasis on simulating game experiences during training and if he cannot have his players "miked up" on match day, training will suffice.
■Measuring recruits. Adelaide goes to considerable lengths to track, via tracking software, not simply the distances prospective recruits run, but also the breakdown of their sprinting, jogging and resting.
Adelaide recruiting manager James Fantasia said yesterday that the Crows had hired people in both Adelaide and Melbourne to "track" potential recruits and they were hopeful of doing the same in Perth. Collingwood and other clubs have used similar technology, perhaps with less rigour.
Craig places great store in the psychological profile of recruits, with the result that Fantasia and his recruiting team have carefully prepared form questions to probe the psychological make-up of recruits.
■Wet air. Whenever the Crows journey to Perth, Brisbane and even Sydney, the entire team is required to fly with a device known as a "Humidiflier", which keeps the air moist and thus reduces dehydration during the flight.
"We want to access the best people available," said conditioning coach Stephen Schwerdt, explaining the club's philosophy.
One of those people is Walsh, mentor to dozens of Olympic track cyclists, who talks to the players as they are interchanged on game day.
And if Walsh has no football expertise, he does have a key qualification. "He knows everything about winning," said Schwerdt, "regardless of the sport it is."
Unknown may get job on Riewoldt
ADELAIDE coach Neil Craig has indicated he's prepared to pit unheralded defender Scott Stevens — who only weeks ago seemed well outside the Crows' best 22 — against St Kilda power forward Nick Riewoldt at Telstra Dome tonight.
"It won't be any surprise to you guys that (Ben) Rutten will take (Fraser) Gehrig," Craig said yesterday.
"Then we've got Nathan Bassett or Scott Stevens to go with Riewoldt, or possibly even a Kris Massie, a bit of a mismatch in terms of height but (not) in terms of movement," he said.
"We've played Ken back before. The good thing is that Scott Stevens can go forward, but ideally I'd be keen to see Scott play down back. He's played some good football, and now he can really get an opportunity on a real class AFL forward."
