Everybody calm down,. Rome wasn't built in a day!

[Crow_Magnon]

Yes and no, to some players and staff its a job, to the supporters its a passion

Fair point, you've got to build a team that has that passion to succeed as well as the skills. You can see in Sloane, CC and Lever that these guys have the right attitude. I'm not sure who of the others really has that burning desire, possibly Laird and Talia and to a lesser extent Hartigan. Tex appears to show the right stuff, but in my mind needs to improve his running ability (maybe lose a bit of muscle / weight) so he's a little more agile and can better play the lead-up role.

In my view there are too many in the team who go missing when the going gets tough - is it because they really don't have to fight for their places in the team? It seems these players are in a comfort zone (I often think the fishbowl that is Adelaide has something to do with this complacency too - there are only two big fish in the bowl and we're in the lead at the moment) and are not really being challenged to improve, as there's no real pressure on them. We can argue that there should have been more opportunity given to those in the SANFL squad, but we also need to take into account that we were winning most weeks, and most players were doing enough. That said, we do need to take more calculated risks and blood our youngsters more often, even if it means a solid performer is rested. Rounds 19 -21 were the perfect opportunity this year, and weren't taken advantage of - we seemed to be more interested in % at the time. When we offload the likes of Douglas, Thommo (hopefully), Mackay, etc. - I hope we recruit the same types of players as Sloane, CC and Lever - who are not only good players, but leaders of the future, where second-best isn't good enough.

One other key aspect that I agreed with too was 'The Touch of the Fumbles' comment around our loss to WC. I also thought at the time that a Monday night game with a longer rest after the showdown would've definitely benefited the players, but instead the club's focus was on the fans. We would still have had 45K to the game on a Monday night, yet we insisted on a Friday night game to get 5K more fans through the gates. We need to get the balance right if we're to go all the way!

 

[WetCrow1991]

In fairness that show went downhill fast.

If you do this we're done *inception boom*

 

[1970crow]

I cannot believe how many crows fan seem to think that 2016 was an absolute disaster and the end of the season was an implosion!! We lost away in Sydney to the team who finished first over the season. A team that possesses probably the best midfield in the league currently AND Buddy Franklin!

Yes we lost the game against WCE in the final round,. but this was our only bad loss for the season,.. we didn't lose to ANY teams outside the Eight all season.. We are a good side,. and next year will be even better, our young players are as good as anyone (as seen in the fact we have 6-7 in the squad for best 22 under 22) and this doesn't include guys currently getting blooded through the SANFL like Milera, Wigg, Greenwood, Dear, Keath, Doedee etc etc.

Be patient guys... We are on the doorstep of great times..

Look at (MY) possible best 22 for round 1 2017:

B: Lever / Talia / Brown
HB: Laird / Hartigan / Hampton
C: Smith / B.Crouch / Seedsman
HF: Lynch / Walker / Cameron
F: Betts / Jenkins / McGovern
FOLL: Jacobs / M.Crouch / Sloane
I/C: Wigg, Milera, Menzel, Cheney

Depth Players: Knight, Doedee, Atkins, Gore, ROB, Keath, Greenwood, Kelly, Knight, Beech, Dear.
(Plus whoever we draft this year.)

I'm assuming we move on in one fashion or another - VB, Thompson, Douglas, Mackay, Lyons, CEY, Henderson, Otten, Grigg, Shaw, Lowden,

I think the primary concern is that Dougie, Thommo and Mackay will all be lining up in round 1 and once there, have proven very hard to dislodge.

 

[JPetro83]

No premiership or even GF birth after winning 16 games and sitting 2nd going into round 23.... that to me is a massive disaster.

 

[Smoooothy]

what was the bigger disaster? losing rd 23, or losing to hawthorn after being 3 goals up with 4 mins to go

IMO, losing the hawthorn game is what cost us 2nd, rd23 we were victims of our own hype

 

[Vhaluus]

what was the bigger disaster? losing rd 23, or losing to hawthorn after being 3 goals up with 4 mins to go

IMO, losing the hawthorn game is what cost us 2nd, rd23 we were victims of our own hype

Both games were examples of the same thing, we struggle when the pressure is on.

We lost the Hawks game because we didn't believe we could win deep down. The expectation was on us to win and we choked.

 

[Smoooothy]

I know, but blaming it just on rd 23 doesn't do anything

you can look at examples of all of our losses, we win just one of them, and we're playing 2 home finals

 

[BrissyCrow]

Like all supporters I am disappointed with our final result. When I reflect over the season and where we finished last year one could say that we didn't improve because we dropped out at the same point in the finals. However we did improve the number of wins we had. We did overcome having a first year coach (who is still learning his way) and we also had to cope with losing arguably the best player in the competition.

One must also look at the rest of the competition. Many teams improved on their performance not the least being GWS. Sydney improved, Geelong improved The doggies improved. Look below us and we see Melbourne and Carlton improving. To simply maintain our position this year over last required our players to improve considerably. If we didn't out perform last years effort we would have finished outside of the 8. This year was always about re-establishing ourselves and I believe that we did that with flying colours. 2016 becomes our new base. Now we need to find a way to not only have a better squad but a squad that exceeds the improvement of our competitors. If our improvement is only minimal we will go nowhere. As Tex and Don have said being good is not enough we need to be great.

In 2015 every one bought into Walshy's idea that 2017 would be our year. I still see that as realistic objective. 2016 saw us head in that direction. So I have to say that in reflection we had a good year and the future looks bright. So don't get pessimistic about our performance this year.

Of course what I haven't said is how we will do it...but bring on 2017.

 

[Mike Smyth]

If you look at the quality of our midfield maybe we overachieved. Now lets see if this gets addressed aggressively in the off season. If true, a 5 year multi mill offer to Martin is a damn good start

 

[Mike Smyth]

I know, but blaming it just on rd 23 doesn't do anything

you can look at examples of all of our losses, we win just one of them, and we're playing 2 home finals

I thought the Collingwood home game was a wake up call. This is where I started to think that we werent as good as our current win/lose ratio says we were.

We need quality, big bodied midfielders especially now Thommo is unable to impact the contest.

 

[Vhaluus]

I know, but blaming it just on rd 23 doesn't do anything

you can look at examples of all of our losses, we win just one of them, and we're playing 2 home finals

We wouldn't have gotten any deeper into September even with two home finals.

 

[MRB37]

Rome wasn't built in a day, but the same sort of cautious thinking seems to sneak back into the side whenever we look like we could potentially have success. Ever since the Carey trade it seems there's a real aversion to rolling the dice and making a huge move that could put us over the top. All we do is hope for enough improvement from within the side to take us over the line, but the fact is we've never had the huge amount of low draft picks that teams usually do that get into grand finals. We've always been good, but not great, there needs to be aggressive, but smart thinking brought into the club.

 

[PCORF]

I feel your pain,. and I was shattered too,. But I think we are closer now than ever.. Just need to clear some dead wood,.. and keep blooding the youngsters.. I'm genuinely excited about the next 2-3 years.

Gotta do all the hard work again in 2017 and that is to win enough games to FINALLY get that double chance. I hope we come back with a Western Bulldogs 2016 mentality in 2017.

 

[marty36]

If you look at the quality of our midfield maybe we overachieved. Now lets see if this gets addressed aggressively in the off season. If true, a 5 year multi mill offer to Martin is a damn good start

The only concern with Martin, isnt the $$$, its what is going to need to be traded to get him. Would think they would want a ready made or at least a youngster who shows an enormous amount, so with those criterias you would be thinking a Crouch or Milera, after all you are after one of the top 3-5 midfielders in the league I doubt or 1st rounder is good enough where we finished

 

[Vhaluus]

The only concern with Martin, isnt the $$$, its what is going to need to be traded to get him. Would think they would want a ready made or at least a youngster who shows an enormous amount, so with those criterias you would be thinking a Crouch or Milera, after all you are after one of the top 3-5 midfielders in the league I doubt or 1st rounder is good enough where we finished

Why would they want a ready made? they're in a rebuild.

 

[Smoooothy]

We wouldn't have gotten any deeper into September even with two home finals.

your glass is half empty, mine is half full

 

[Vhaluus]

your glass is half empty, mine is half full

Adelaide Crows, the half full cup that can't win a cup, 18 years and counting!

 

[1970crow]

I know, but blaming it just on rd 23 doesn't do anything

you can look at examples of all of our losses, we win just one of them, and we're playing 2 home finals

Too much can be made of win or loss. It's also about how you went about it and whether there was noticable improvement. Apart from Geelong, we were more competetive against the top 4 sides in the minor round which is a plus. But we were found out again late in the year when the pressure was dialled up. This was also apparent against Pies and Port. But we continued to back in the same group because they could beat up on the bottom few sides.

 

[marty36]

Why would they want a ready made? they're in a rebuild.

In your eyes, they missed on the finals last year after being predicted to finish top 8 by most Hardwick is under the pump to perform, something tells me they are no way in a rebuild but more a reload

 

[MRB37]

Why would they want a ready made? they're in a rebuild.

Richmond don't think that.

 

[Smoooothy]

Adelaide Crows, the half full cup that can't win a cup, 18 years and counting!

ah, the reclaim Australia defence.. rant and yell louder to people who don't agree with you. chins up fella

 

[Moonwatcher]

We're missing something...some kind of piece...

 

[Moonwatcher]

What a ridiculous view. I had 16 weeks of pleasure and half a dozen when I got shitty. That's a pretty good ratio.

Then I got to watch a side I support win a final. Good feeling.

Then the annoyance of losing and the year being over.

5th or 6th - doesn't really matter. I really wanted to see the side play for a couple more weeks but we're not good enough yet.

All in all, I had a lot more enjoyment than not this year. I don't confuse myself with someone who actually plays the game. They can be more disappointed and motivated, because they're competing. I'm enjoying the games as a supporter.

That's good because you still have the Redbacks and Strikers to come

 

[Bay62]

Could've just necro-posted the thread from last year and saved the typing.

Necro-posted...

Today I have learnt a new word

 

[Deaneus!]

I am pissed that with all our opportunities this year, we didn't go further.

I am proud that having lost the soon-to-be-named Brownlow medallist, we had a better season

I am concerned that the only thing we're elite at, is saying "elite standards" out loud

I am worried that our list management right now is awry

I am a Crows fan