- Banned
- #1
Crows must improve: Goodwin
Alan Shiell
afc.com.au
1:43:24 PM Thu 23 January, 2003
Adelaide midfielder Simon Goodwin says the Crows must improve this year to at least retain the third position they occupied at the end of last year’s home-and-away season.
Asked whether he thought there would be a perception that Adelaide had failed this year if it did not play in the grand final after having been a preliminary finalist last year, Goodwin said: “We just want to keep improving, heading in the right direction. If we improve and other sides improve, and we don’t get there, then so be it.
“But if we improve and take that extra step, then that’s the direction we’re looking for.
“We know we’re going to have to play a lot better footy this year to be as successful. We’re becoming one of the hunted now and we just have to make sure we attack each game with the mindset that every side’s going to be trying to beat us.”
Goodwin, 26 and a veteran of 117 AFL matches over the past six seasons, said he had fully recovered from his ankle injury of late last season.
“I’ve done all the training,” said the dual premiership (1997-98) and dual All-Australian (2000-01) left-footed midfielder.
“I did a fair bit during the off-season and not going to Ireland (with Australia’s International Rules team) gave me a chance to recover and get myself ready for this year.
“It’s at that stage of pre-season now where we are just waiting for the games to come around, and we are really looking forward to it as a group.
“We’ve got plenty to prove and it starts against Port (Adelaide) in the Wizard Cup (at AAMI Stadium on Saturday night, February 22).”
Asked whether the Crows had someone to step into Kane Johnson’s role as a ball-winner or stoppage-winner this year, Goodwin said: “Yes, obviously we had a fair few guys step up last year so we need them to continue to step up.
“I think Michael Doughty is having a fantastic pre-season along with Brent Reilly and (ex-Tiger) Jason Torney, who’s one who could push for the midfield.
“As a group, we just want to keep improving and keep ourselves up around the top in terms of midfield. Losing Kane (to Richmond) was a big loss but we feel we’ve got other players who can fill that position and make us move in the right direction.
“Tyson Stenglein is definitely a player who proved last year that he’s not only a tagger now, he’s a ball-winner, and I think he can be released into the midfield and provide a fair bit of drive for us.
“And Graham John**** has improved a fair bit over the pre-season. If he keeps running the way he’s been running, he’s another I’m sure the coaching staff will look at to put into the midfield.
“It’s something we’ve strived for over the last couple of years – to have a good group of midfielders – and I guess now with the young guys developing, we’ve got a good eight to 10 blokes who can rotate through the midfield and who can step up to the plate whenever we need them.”
Goodwin expressed his excitement about having former Kangaroos captain Wayne Carey as a team-mate this year.
“It’s going to be great, just to have his presence down forward is going to be enormous,” he said. “He’s certainly going to give us a really good target to kick to.
“I’m looking forward to playing with him. With the other midfielders, we just can’t wait to get the ball and see him down there standing one out in the goalsquare or at centre half-forward.
“If you look at last year’s statistics, we finished fourth in the goals kicked or the points for, so I think our forward-line structure has been very good in terms of goalkicking ability.
“Contested marking is an area we’ve certainly looked at, so we’ve recruited in that area and we’re looking forward to being able to kick the ball in long and high.”
Alan Shiell
afc.com.au
1:43:24 PM Thu 23 January, 2003
Adelaide midfielder Simon Goodwin says the Crows must improve this year to at least retain the third position they occupied at the end of last year’s home-and-away season.
Asked whether he thought there would be a perception that Adelaide had failed this year if it did not play in the grand final after having been a preliminary finalist last year, Goodwin said: “We just want to keep improving, heading in the right direction. If we improve and other sides improve, and we don’t get there, then so be it.
“But if we improve and take that extra step, then that’s the direction we’re looking for.
“We know we’re going to have to play a lot better footy this year to be as successful. We’re becoming one of the hunted now and we just have to make sure we attack each game with the mindset that every side’s going to be trying to beat us.”
Goodwin, 26 and a veteran of 117 AFL matches over the past six seasons, said he had fully recovered from his ankle injury of late last season.
“I’ve done all the training,” said the dual premiership (1997-98) and dual All-Australian (2000-01) left-footed midfielder.
“I did a fair bit during the off-season and not going to Ireland (with Australia’s International Rules team) gave me a chance to recover and get myself ready for this year.
“It’s at that stage of pre-season now where we are just waiting for the games to come around, and we are really looking forward to it as a group.
“We’ve got plenty to prove and it starts against Port (Adelaide) in the Wizard Cup (at AAMI Stadium on Saturday night, February 22).”
Asked whether the Crows had someone to step into Kane Johnson’s role as a ball-winner or stoppage-winner this year, Goodwin said: “Yes, obviously we had a fair few guys step up last year so we need them to continue to step up.
“I think Michael Doughty is having a fantastic pre-season along with Brent Reilly and (ex-Tiger) Jason Torney, who’s one who could push for the midfield.
“As a group, we just want to keep improving and keep ourselves up around the top in terms of midfield. Losing Kane (to Richmond) was a big loss but we feel we’ve got other players who can fill that position and make us move in the right direction.
“Tyson Stenglein is definitely a player who proved last year that he’s not only a tagger now, he’s a ball-winner, and I think he can be released into the midfield and provide a fair bit of drive for us.
“And Graham John**** has improved a fair bit over the pre-season. If he keeps running the way he’s been running, he’s another I’m sure the coaching staff will look at to put into the midfield.
“It’s something we’ve strived for over the last couple of years – to have a good group of midfielders – and I guess now with the young guys developing, we’ve got a good eight to 10 blokes who can rotate through the midfield and who can step up to the plate whenever we need them.”
Goodwin expressed his excitement about having former Kangaroos captain Wayne Carey as a team-mate this year.
“It’s going to be great, just to have his presence down forward is going to be enormous,” he said. “He’s certainly going to give us a really good target to kick to.
“I’m looking forward to playing with him. With the other midfielders, we just can’t wait to get the ball and see him down there standing one out in the goalsquare or at centre half-forward.
“If you look at last year’s statistics, we finished fourth in the goals kicked or the points for, so I think our forward-line structure has been very good in terms of goalkicking ability.
“Contested marking is an area we’ve certainly looked at, so we’ve recruited in that area and we’re looking forward to being able to kick the ball in long and high.”
