- Joined
- Jul 31, 2005
- Posts
- 3,010
- Reaction score
- 1
- Location
- Down a burrow
- AFL Club
- Adelaide
- Other Teams
- Bugs Bunny 1st XVIII
From today's Australian:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19780830-32103,00.html
Daylight second when you measure with Adelaide's yardstick
COMMENT
Mick Malthouse
July 14, 2006
FIND yourself a copy of the premiership ladder.
Look up at the top and run down the left-hand column of numbers.
It's deceptively close, isn't it? Adelaide just a game in front of West Coast, which is a game ahead of Melbourne with the pack following and Essendon - I'll get to them later - at the bottom.
Stare at that side of the ladder long enough and you can delude yourself the competition is reasonably close.
It's not.
For a reality check, look across at the right hand column. Adelaide's percentage is 170, followed by daylight, then a bunch of clubs between 112 and 117. That's the stark reality of 2006.
We can get carried away with superlatives and hype. Brisbane set a benchmark few will match - three successive flags make the Lions a genuine candidate as best football side in history.
But through their halcyon years, I can't remember the Lions shaping as so formidable as Adelaide. Early on Essendon challenged the Lions during the home-and-away rounds. Later Port Adelaide matched the Lions. Brisbane's rare gift was to get its best players fit and firing at the right time. Nobody's done it better in modern football.
Adelaide is different altogether. Other clubs have won more games - the Bombers lost just the one match in 2000. But that powerful Essendon side, like Brisbane, contained, among others, champions performing at their peak.
Crows coach Neil Craig appears to be re-writing the rules. Practically every player performs at or near his best every week. Champions we might have thought past their peak are playing out of their skins. Unknown youngsters slot in seamlessly and contribute.
I've always said it's a good football side that makes a good coach. But a very good coach can make a very good football side extremely imposing. No one is in any doubt that Craig is a very, very good coach.
It's no secret every other club is keen to learn what's happening behind closed doors in Adelaide. There's nothing particularly special about this - on the AFL grapevine everyone's always trying to find out what everybody's doing if they think it can get them an advantage.
But Craig is creating something distinctive and intimidating that's grabbing everyone's attention.
I'd back myself against most other coaches on football nous, but I rely heavily on the fitness staff for knowledge of players' bodies. Neil has the sports science background - and a long career in the South Australian league - that gives him a perfect mix of both.
His employment of veteran cycling coach Charlie Walsh to monitor players' fitness has been groundbreaking and successful. It's no surprise my old friend Don Pike, an intelligent footballer and son of respected player/sports scientist Frank, has fitted in beautifully as an assistant to Neil.
Between them, they've got the Crows running like I've never seen any previous side. I thought the Pies were a strong running side until we went haywire a few weeks ago, but we're not in Adelaide's league. Perhaps only Melbourne comes close at this point.
No one's unbeatable or unbackable for the flag but this 2006 version of the Crows seems about as close as it gets. The versatility is astonishing.
The chemistry between coach and players is extraordinary, almost tangible. And don't forget the hunger factor. Only last year a lot of people thought Adelaide had "fluked" its way to the top, that West Coast, the Saints, Geelong and Sydney were the real deal.
We now know there was nothing fluky about Adelaide, and that Neil and his players would be burning up inside about making and winning a grand final. Time will tell whether I'm right - history is made in September, not July.
But there's just enough space to allow a glance down the bottom of the ladder where Essendon is coming off 13 straight losses. I completely believe Kevin Sheedy when he pleads innocent to "tanking" - deliberately losing games to secure the first-draft pick. But Sheeds might do better convincing the sceptics if he stops talking about targeting players at the end of the year.
You can only do that with any confidence if you finish bottom.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19780830-32103,00.html
Daylight second when you measure with Adelaide's yardstick
COMMENT
Mick Malthouse
July 14, 2006
FIND yourself a copy of the premiership ladder.
Look up at the top and run down the left-hand column of numbers.
It's deceptively close, isn't it? Adelaide just a game in front of West Coast, which is a game ahead of Melbourne with the pack following and Essendon - I'll get to them later - at the bottom.
Stare at that side of the ladder long enough and you can delude yourself the competition is reasonably close.
It's not.
For a reality check, look across at the right hand column. Adelaide's percentage is 170, followed by daylight, then a bunch of clubs between 112 and 117. That's the stark reality of 2006.
We can get carried away with superlatives and hype. Brisbane set a benchmark few will match - three successive flags make the Lions a genuine candidate as best football side in history.
But through their halcyon years, I can't remember the Lions shaping as so formidable as Adelaide. Early on Essendon challenged the Lions during the home-and-away rounds. Later Port Adelaide matched the Lions. Brisbane's rare gift was to get its best players fit and firing at the right time. Nobody's done it better in modern football.
Adelaide is different altogether. Other clubs have won more games - the Bombers lost just the one match in 2000. But that powerful Essendon side, like Brisbane, contained, among others, champions performing at their peak.
Crows coach Neil Craig appears to be re-writing the rules. Practically every player performs at or near his best every week. Champions we might have thought past their peak are playing out of their skins. Unknown youngsters slot in seamlessly and contribute.
I've always said it's a good football side that makes a good coach. But a very good coach can make a very good football side extremely imposing. No one is in any doubt that Craig is a very, very good coach.
It's no secret every other club is keen to learn what's happening behind closed doors in Adelaide. There's nothing particularly special about this - on the AFL grapevine everyone's always trying to find out what everybody's doing if they think it can get them an advantage.
But Craig is creating something distinctive and intimidating that's grabbing everyone's attention.
I'd back myself against most other coaches on football nous, but I rely heavily on the fitness staff for knowledge of players' bodies. Neil has the sports science background - and a long career in the South Australian league - that gives him a perfect mix of both.
His employment of veteran cycling coach Charlie Walsh to monitor players' fitness has been groundbreaking and successful. It's no surprise my old friend Don Pike, an intelligent footballer and son of respected player/sports scientist Frank, has fitted in beautifully as an assistant to Neil.
Between them, they've got the Crows running like I've never seen any previous side. I thought the Pies were a strong running side until we went haywire a few weeks ago, but we're not in Adelaide's league. Perhaps only Melbourne comes close at this point.
No one's unbeatable or unbackable for the flag but this 2006 version of the Crows seems about as close as it gets. The versatility is astonishing.
The chemistry between coach and players is extraordinary, almost tangible. And don't forget the hunger factor. Only last year a lot of people thought Adelaide had "fluked" its way to the top, that West Coast, the Saints, Geelong and Sydney were the real deal.
We now know there was nothing fluky about Adelaide, and that Neil and his players would be burning up inside about making and winning a grand final. Time will tell whether I'm right - history is made in September, not July.
But there's just enough space to allow a glance down the bottom of the ladder where Essendon is coming off 13 straight losses. I completely believe Kevin Sheedy when he pleads innocent to "tanking" - deliberately losing games to secure the first-draft pick. But Sheeds might do better convincing the sceptics if he stops talking about targeting players at the end of the year.
You can only do that with any confidence if you finish bottom.
