Lets not get carried away with things

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Yes I was very disappointed with the result yesterday, we played extremely poorly and were really flat from the first bounce, but lets keep things in perspective.

Perth has always been a tough place for Adelaide to win at we even dropped some games to Freo when they were at their worst.

We are a great side and deserve to be where we are.

So lets not get wrapped too much into the crap like what Rucci wrote today, he was like a kid in a candy store. Lets remember that Port lost by 90+ points to North Melb in their premiership year. Its not a sign that the wheels have fallen off or that "we have been worked out". We were spanked yesterday and made lots of costly errors and we unfortunately had our first dog day at the office in two seasons.

Yeah there were a couple of concerns but, lets not lose sight of where we are at. Sometimes it is very easy to over analyse the performance of players after one very bad game. The haters like Rucci are only trying to casts doubts about our structure and gameplan so that the team and the supporters second guess what they are currently doing, I wouldnt hold much faith into his incoherent ramblings.

I have complete faith in Neil Craig and co and feel confident that the creases will all be ironed out come September this year.

 

[Stiffy_18]

I agree that the reaction has been over the top, especially on this board. We still have the same weaknesses today that we did 2 weeks ago.

We will still make finals but we do need more quality in the midfield if we are to really go all the way. Thats why Roo has to be returned to the midfield for the finals. He is still a fair way off being a full time midfielder but he needs to be brought up to the level where he can be a midfielder during finals series.

Yesterday was always a danger game for one single thing. Our midfield has been spanked in the last 4-6 weeks by some pretty ordinary midfields and they were always going to be somewhat exposed by THE best midfield in the teh comp.

This loss will be a good thing for us.

 

[kirky]

Yes I was very disappointed with the result yesterday, we played extremely poorly and were really flat from the first bounce, but lets keep things in perspective.

Perth has always been a tough place for Adelaide to win at we even dropped some games to Freo when they were at their worst.

We are a great side and deserve to be where we are.

So lets not get wrapped too much into the crap like what Rucci wrote today, he was like a kid in a candy store. Lets remember that Port lost by 90+ points to North Melb in their premiership year. Its not a sign that the wheels have fallen off or that "we have been worked out". We were spanked yesterday and made lots of costly errors and we unfortunately had our first dog day at the office in two seasons.

Yeah there were a couple of concerns but, lets not lose sight of where we are at. Sometimes it is very easy to over analyse the performance of players after one very bad game. The haters like Rucci are only trying to casts doubts about our structure and gameplan so that the team and the supporters second guess what they are currently doing, I wouldnt hold much faith into his incoherent ramblings.

I have complete faith in Neil Craig and co and feel confident that the creases will all be ironed out come September this year.

Agree, now if this happened again before season's end then we have something to worry about.

We win next week, top two is confirmed, end of story.

 

[Adam BK]

Will it certainly makes the next 5 weeks interesting...thought we would have nothing to play for and could only suffer with the finals still a fair away. Looks like we have a bit of time now to get the best possible players onto the field ready for the finals. I also agree with Stiffy, Roo will have to be returned to the midfield if we are to have a chance to win the cup this year.

 

[crowsfan]

Disappointing loss no doubt, but like a lot of others have said, one bad match doesn't necessarily mean too much when taken in the context with the rest of the season.

After 17 rounds, we're still atop and have a percentage of 155. That reflects the season overall has been great, and the last match does not represent our season in any way. I mean, if Essendon beat Carlton by 25 goals (in what I think was the) last round, it doesn't mean they've had a great season.

This loss, even though it was substantial, maybe alleviates the pressure off us a bit to win the flag too. If we'd won this match and every other match prior to the finals, that'd surely mean our players would be under even greater pressure than a loss to the second ranked time in round 17. We all want to win every match, but thats not possible and I think we'll learn more from this loss than if we had won.

Next week will be important, but I have confidence we'll bounce back. It's not like all is lost and that Craigy and the players will give up now.

 

[Altum Volantes]

Yesterday was always a danger game for one single thing. Our midfield has been spanked in the last 4-6 weeks by some pretty ordinary midfields and they were always going to be somewhat exposed by THE best midfield in the teh comp.

I think the fact that the Eagles were missing Cox, Fletcher and Embley pretty much put the midfield battle to the Crows advantage.

I wouldn't be hitting the panic button just yet, the Eagles were very much on and your team simply dropped their bundle at the worst possible time. I doubt you'll lose another H&A game this season.

 

[RoosterLad]

We just have to make sure we regroup and come out firing against Collingwood. its a funny game we follow, Collingwood pumped West Coast last week and then West Coast pumped us, we should account for Collingwood easily

 

[PrideOf]

Last week, no need to start counting premierships.

This morning, no need to ring Alfred James and Sons.

We're travelling okay and, as I said in a thread a few weeks back, I'd rather have a tougher run into the finals playing other contenders so we can work out deficiencies and fine tune our plays. Better that than belt the Essendons, Carltons, Hawthorns and Port Powers by 100+ points.

In Neil I trust.

 

[tribey]

With 24 hours to cool down and reflect I'm quite happy to wait and see without the panic button being pushed - but as others have said, far from being a one-off, our engine room has had its colours lowered over the past month or so now and alarm bells are well and truly ringing.

 

[Altum Volantes]

Out of interest, are you guys 100% happy with your ruck department? I know big Hudson is injured but do Biglands and Clarke bring enough to the table outside of the taps?

I was surprised how well Seaby and Quint did against them yesterday.

 

[RoosterLad]

Our ruck unit is below par.
Hudson made his return in the SANFL reserves yesterday, he is the player we are missing the most.

 

[Altum Volantes]

fair enough.

I have always rated Biglands and Clarke and really expected them to put Seaby and the pinch hitters (sounds like a band!) under the pump. Does Clarke offer anything around the park these days?

 

[tribey]

Does Clarke offer anything around the park these days?

He hasn't for about 4-5 years. A Clarke mark around the ground (let alone a contested one from say, a kick in) is as rare as a Kevin Bartlett handball.

Still the king of the taps when he's on form though.

 

[PrideOf]

Does Clarke offer anything around the park these days?

The one word most used about Clarke nowadays is insurance.

On the paddock until Hudson comes back or Maric is ready.

 

[Altum Volantes]

Surely it hasn't been 5 years since Clarke was a real goer?

Then again, I guess the guy has been around for a very long time now. Was a great young ruckman at Brissie many moons ago.

Will Hudson play AFL this season?

If you can get him up and running, it could give you another edge over the other contenders - most of which have average ruck divisions themselves. Sydney's a 1 man show (and the 1 man is a good player at best), Collingwood's is pretty average, St. Kilda's is weak. The Eagles (if Cox gets back out there) and Melbourne are the only decent sides with strong ruck divisions.

 

[tribey]

Surely it hasn't been 5 years since Clarke was a real goer?

Link

2003 he averaged less than one mark a game. (I knew his mark tally has traditionally been low, but that really surprised me.)

 

[PrideOf]

Surely it hasn't been 5 years since Clarke was a real goer?

Then again, I guess the guy has been around for a very long time now. Was a great young ruckman at Brissie many moons ago.

Hi Wallsy.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

It's hard to be up all year, so no real surprise to get beaten by the 2nd ranked team on the hardest road trip ... however, the disappointing thing was that we were not even competitive. We were compresensively thrashed in all aspects. You could tell it was one of those days, where the ball was bouncing the Weagles way - they were kicking goals from everywhere! I think the biggest concern is that the Weagles now have a mental edge over us. Hopefully this won't be a problem when we cross paths in the finals.

 

[Altum Volantes]

Hi Wallsy.

YOU TAKE THAT BACK!!

 

[Stiffy_18]

I think the fact that the Eagles were missing Cox, Fletcher and Embley pretty much put the midfield battle to the Crows advantage.

I wouldn't be hitting the panic button just yet, the Eagles were very much on and your team simply dropped their bundle at the worst possible time. I doubt you'll lose another H&A game this season.

I wouldn't think so because IMHO Judd, Cousins and Kerr is a fairly better trio than Goodwin, Edwards and Thompson.

Thompson was our best player yesterday IMHO and Goody was servicable. The rest of the midfield just looked ordinary.

I had the "pleasure" of watching that game twice today and you guys were on fire and pulling some goals out of your backside. You also SMASHED us in stoppages.

 

[Stiffy_18]

I have suspected that our midfield has been down on contested footy and clearences this year. I went through some stats at pro-stats website and this is what I dug up

We are:

7th in clearences
8th in center bounce clearences
4th in ball up clearences
10th in throw in clearences

On the season average we get 1 more clearence per game than our opponent. Thats just a worrying sign IMHO.

We are 13th in the competition in contested ball gets. What once was cosidered our real strength, creating scoring opporunities from stoppages inside our attacking 50, is now pretty average, 14th in scoring from the ball ups, 9th in scoring from the throw ins.

We are also 15th in the league in 1%ers and 15th in spoils.

I don't know about you guys but those are some pretty concerning figures. We are average or below average in all those categories.

 

[Altum Volantes]

I wouldn't think so because IMHO Judd, Cousins and Kerr is a fairly better trio than Goodwin, Edwards and Thompson.

I reckon a few of your supporters would argue otherwise but it's more the next tier that Adelaide should have had the advantage in, the Eags had Braun, Butler, Jones, Stinger and Selwood (who spent most of the game back), which is good but without Fletcher and Embley it's back with the pack.

 

[Southerntakeover]

Good to see a thread like this amongst all the doom and gloom. For what its worth, this loss doesnt change our premiership chances all that much, if anything West Coast have done us a favour by issuing the wake up call that will keep the players focussed.

 

[TheLeftFist8]

I have suspected that our midfield has been down on contested footy and clearences this year. I went through some stats at pro-stats website and this is what I dug up

We are:

7th in clearences
8th in center bounce clearences
4th in ball up clearences
10th in throw in clearences

On the season average we get 1 more clearence per game than our opponent. Thats just a worrying sign IMHO.

We are 13th in the competition in contested ball gets. What once was cosidered our real strength, creating scoring opporunities from stoppages inside our attacking 50, is now pretty average, 14th in scoring from the ball ups, 9th in scoring from the throw ins.

We are also 15th in the league in 1%ers and 15th in spoils.

I don't know about you guys but those are some pretty concerning figures. We are average or below average in all those categories.

Great stats Stiffy. It reinforces that some of the negative criticism of our ruckmen and midfield after the WC game is not simply an emotional over-reaction which we should ignore. rather, it is an area which has been concerning all year and something we should act on to rectify before it hurts us in finals, especially against WC and Melbourne. We miss you Huddo!

 

[Stiffy_18]

Great stats Stiffy. It reinforces that some of the negative criticism of our ruckmen and midfield after the WC game is not simply an emotional over-reaction which we should ignore. rather, it is an area which has been concerning all year and something we should act on to rectify before it hurts us in finals, especially against WC and Melbourne. We miss you Huddo!

Here are the stats for hitouts:

9th in the league in hitouts
10th in center bounce hitouts
3rd in thow in hitouts
4th in ball up hitouts

On season average we are only beaten in one of those areas by our opponent and thats by 1 hitout at CB.