Player Watch Matt Crouch - Wanted For Hat Crimes

[Big Gazoongas]

Matt was dropped after the GC match in which he had 6 kicks 16 handballs, the heat map indicates he was predominantly getting his touches in D50.

Against WCE the heat map shows again his possessions are generally in D50 (in this case opposite back flank) but he's flipped it to 16 kicks and 13 handballs.

The metres gained is hugely different, 185 very 449.

I get the feeling Nick's isn't interested in Matt's handballs and wants him creating plays by foot. Which Matt is struggling.

Matt creating play with his boot?.......not going to happen in a million years......he's not capable.
Neither is his brother.

 

[douglyzia]

Serious question. Does/did Poholke with roughly/less-than half of M Crouch's possessions have the same impact on the game?

I'd certainly be interested in anyone who can be bothered to do a proper analysis/comparison, but I don't think anyone will, so I guess we can all just be left to wonder .......

 

[dplggr47]

Matt was dropped after the GC match in which he had 6 kicks 16 handballs, the heat map indicates he was predominantly getting his touches in D50.
Against WCE the heat map shows again his possessions are generally in D50 (in this case opposite back flank) but he's flipped it to 16 kicks and 13 handballs.
The metres gained is hugely different, 185 very 449.
I get the feeling Nick's isn't interested in Matt's handballs and wants him creating plays by foot. Which Matt is struggling.

Matt's strengths have always been extracting the ball and dishing out a handball though. He's never been good at much else to be honest.

 

[Southerntakeover]

Serious question. Does/did Poholke with roughly/less-than half of M Crouch's possessions have the same impact on the game?

I'd certainly be interested in anyone who can be bothered to do a proper analysis/comparison, but I don't think anyone will, so I guess we can all just be left to wonder .......

Does negative impact count?

 

[Scorpus]

Serious question. Does/did Poholke with roughly/less-than half of M Crouch's possessions have the same impact on the game?

I'd certainly be interested in anyone who can be bothered to do a proper analysis/comparison, but I don't think anyone will, so I guess we can all just be left to wonder .......

Not that I always trust the AFL Player Rating system, but against Fremantle, Champion Data thought Poholke was about twice as effective as Matt Crouch and in fact the third best Crows player on the ground

 

[Jarman3]

Have to question the club's fitness regime

I think it would be much quicker, simpler and easier to just list the things about the club that we DON'T question.

 

[skittlebrew]

As much as Matt has never wowed me I always thought of his record disposal in a year as an indication they guy knew how to play!

But I think it's time to accept Matt's success hinged heavily on his rapport with Sauce...

Matt's strengths have always been extracting the ball and dishing out a handball though. He's never been good at much else to be honest.

Nailed it

 

[Golumless]

As much as Matt has never wowed me I always thought of his record disposal in a year as an indication they guy knew how to play!

But I think it's time to accept Matt's success hinged heavily on his rapport with Sauce...



Nailed it

Matt is really what the packaging said. Not a damaging midfielder, but he'll keep things ticking over and knows how to accumulate.

It's possible that there is an issue with him + O'Brien, though, I doubt it seeing O'Brien is using similar rucking patterns to Sauce. I do think its a mixture of some self-survival/selfishness at play, Matt not meshing with what Nicks wants and Matt being very unfit.

 

[40porpoise]

I would trade him but let’s be real the club won’t. In 2017 he had great disposal by foot on both left and right. I think he’s still capable but he needs defensive support.

In a good system he’s AA level

 

[Cap]

I would trade him but let’s be real the club won’t. In 2017 he had great disposal by foot on both left and right. I think he’s still capable but he needs defensive support.

In a good system he’s AA level

If he an return to 2017 form, then at his age he has a good career at the club and likely to be part of the next finals push.

the question is if he can do that.

 

[skam85]

It has become more and more evident to me that Matt Crouch is currently the biggest on-field issue at the club.

He is not a smart footballer and his on-field actions indicate that he is a selfish footballer also. Calling for short handballs to pad his stats is a prime example. How does football intelligence come into this? He calls for short handball receives often are on his right hand side. Then what happens? Having no right foot, something that every single person associated with an opposition AFL club knows, he tries to get onto his left and guess what? He is caught, or he dishes off a hospital handball to someone else, or he throws it on his foot for a turnover.

Last night was an example of all his problems in one, in the bright lights of prime time for all to see.

Matt had 26 disposals last night at 69% efficiency. On the surface, not a terrible game. However, looking deeper it was not good by any measure. 18 of these disposals were handballs. Matt has no confidence kicking the ball currently. Six contested possessions for an inside midfielder. Getting worse. Seven turnovers. Uh oh. Four clearances. Four. Zero from the centre! Make it stop! But wait, there’s more. A whopping 133 metres gained for a monstrous average of 5.11 metres per disposal.

And this is meant to be our prime mover out of the centre and at stoppages.

Why is he the biggest on-field problem? His status within the side when he and the team were very good means he is looked to as one of our premier mids within the club. This is plainly obvious, because now before Matt selfishly calling for the close in handball receives his teammates are actively looking for him.

His habits are spreading throughout an already poor midfield group. A midfield group that is bereft of confidence and has forgotten how to win a clearance. What a wonderful sight it was watching Chayce Jones (yes, he was playing) winning that one clearance, dashing through the middle and getting it into the 50.

Brad plays better without Matt in the side. His default is to look to get the ball to his brother whenever they are both around the ball. Without Matt, Brad shows to all and sundry how much of a damaging player he can be.

Matt is an inside mid, at his best a very good one, currently playing as a very poor outside distributor.

So how do we fix this? It’s easy to say just say trade him. But it’s Brad that is the one that we will likely lose, keeping Matt. We have painted ourselves into a corner with the Crouches, we have put all our midfield eggs in this basket and it simply doesn’t work. Brad is the better player but will likely leave as a Free Agent. As a football club we will likely hold onto Matt so as not to be seen to lose too much quality again in the off season. Matt would be a good third string midfielder in a better side.

Matt was earmarked to be our new Scott Thompson, and he is our new Scott Thompson - only not in the good way.

We need to do our best to keep Brad and look to trade Matt – the loss on the surface of on of our ‘best’ midfielders may seem large, but the net gain is bigger. One less Crouch brother in the middle opens up the development of our other young mids. Jones. Schoenberg. Even Poholke for a longer stretch than one game!

I’d love for him to turn it around but I think it’s too far gone and it’s spreading throughout the midfield group. It needs to change.

 

[Murray2503]

It has become more and more evident to me that Matt Crouch is currently the biggest on-field issue at the club.

He is not a smart footballer and his on-field actions indicate that he is a selfish footballer also. Calling for short handballs to pad his stats is a prime example. How does football intelligence come into this? He calls for short handball receives often are on his right hand side. Then what happens? Having no right foot, something that every single person associated with an opposition AFL club knows, he tries to get onto his left and guess what? He is caught, or he dishes off a hospital handball to someone else, or he throws it on his foot for a turnover.

Last night was an example of all his problems in one, in the bright lights of prime time for all to see.

Matt had 26 disposals last night at 69% efficiency. On the surface, not a terrible game. However, looking deeper it was not good by any measure. 18 of these disposals were handballs. Matt has no confidence kicking the ball currently. Six contested possessions for an inside midfielder. Getting worse. Seven turnovers. Uh oh. Four clearances. Four. Zero from the centre! Make it stop! But wait, there’s more. A whopping 133 metres gained for a monstrous average of 5.11 metres per disposal.

And this is meant to be our prime mover out of the centre and at stoppages.

Why is he the biggest on-field problem? His status within the side when he and the team were very good means he is looked to as one of our premier mids within the club. This is plainly obvious, because now before Matt selfishly calling for the close in handball receives his teammates are actively looking for him.

His habits are spreading throughout an already poor midfield group. A midfield group that is bereft of confidence and has forgotten how to win a clearance. What a wonderful sight it was watching Chayce Jones (yes, he was playing) winning that one clearance, dashing through the middle and getting it into the 50.

Brad plays better without Matt in the side. His default is to look to get the ball to his brother whenever they are both around the ball. Without Matt, Brad shows to all and sundry how much of a damaging player he can be.

Matt is an inside mid, at his best a very good one, currently playing as a very poor outside distributor.

So how do we fix this? It’s easy to say just say trade him. But it’s Brad that is the one that we will likely lose, keeping Matt. We have painted ourselves into a corner with the Crouches, we have put all our midfield eggs in this basket and it simply doesn’t work. Brad is the better player but will likely leave as a Free Agent. As a football club we will likely hold onto Matt so as not to be seen to lose too much quality again in the off season. Matt would be a good third string midfielder in a better side.

Matt was earmarked to be our new Scott Thompson, and he is our new Scott Thompson - only not in the good way.

We need to do our best to keep Brad and look to trade Matt – the loss on the surface of on of our ‘best’ midfielders may seem large, but the net gain is bigger. One less Crouch brother in the middle opens up the development of our other young mids. Jones. Schoenberg. Even Poholke for a longer stretch than one game!

I’d love for him to turn it around but I think it’s too far gone and it’s spreading throughout the midfield group. It needs to change.

Agree with some of this but reading through the lines it sounds like you have overrated Matt for some time. I have never been a fan since he came to the club tbh as he doesnt have the one trait I rate above all else. Pace. Sure you need more than just pace to succeed but any player i would bring into the club would not even be considered unless they have it. I think you are confusing the issue. Both need to go and both have for some time.

Number 1: Brad doesn't even want to be here. Would you honestly want a player who told his agent to call Gold coast and get him the hell out of adelaide? Is that the player we honestly want on our list? Get a first rounder for him and give him what he wants which is outta here.

Matt. I would trade him as soon as the trade window opened. Is he stifling our midfield? Yes he is and his selling of team mates into trouble with ridiculous 5 metres handballs as he doesnt have leg speed has gotten to the point where it is embarrassing for him and the club.

What we need to do is trade and draft a midfield end of year. Look for a Hugh Greenwood type which we should have kept btw. Bring in someone not getting opportunity at a decent club. They are out there.
Combine that with bringing the best midfield talent from the draft instead of wasting first round picks on skinny kids with no height such as McHenry.

Combine that with Jones, Schoenberg, Smith, Milera, O'Connor, Keays, Poholke. I also feel Doedee and Hamill once he gains size can play thfough midfield.

Sometimes in life you need to cut your losses and that time is now with Matt and Brad.

 

[Vhaluus]

The issue isn't Matt, it's how the coaches evaluate performance.

Greenwood called Roo out on the fact that players are evaluated on their stats more than their contributions at the Crows.

Matt is playing the way he's being encouraged to play by a bunch of people too busy looking at the stats sheet to look up and realize there is a game of football being played in front of them.

If my boss tells me to do time wasting activities, I might argue a bit but ultimately I have to do what they tell me to do and what is going to keep me in a job and my career progressing.

Matt is just a symptom of the disease that infests our club.

 

[StonesThrow]

I love how we re-write the history of players given current form.

 

[skam85]

I love how we re-write the history of players given current form.

Ah, the classic "every point you made was correct but he won an B&F once" argument.

 

[StonesThrow]

Ah, the classic "every point you made was correct but he won an B&F once" argument.

Matt was a very good player with limitations. That's the truth.

Scott Thompson also got similar treatment when he fell off a cliff.

The current criticism is warranted. My beef is when people start discounting their whole careers.

 

[Geoffa32]

He is a very good inside mid with talent around him.

I think the issue right now is he is trying (or being asked) to do too much knowing how bad our midfield is.

That IMO is bad coaching, lack of faith in the players around him. Our structures centre around Matt Crouch in a mammer where is is not just the first tap option, but also a primary outlet option.

Will be interesting to see his bnf votes over the last two games.

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk

 

[skam85]

Matt was a very good player with limitations. That's the truth.

Scott Thompson also got similar treatment when he fell off a cliff.

The current criticism is warranted. My beef is when people start discounting their whole careers.

He was great and that just doesn't disappear.

But I don't think he is good for us anymore, nor are we good for him.

Both parties will benefit to part ways at season's end. I'd love us to make a statement and bench him for a while, but we have painted ourselves into a corner - if we do want to trade him, if we drop him then his value plummets: 'he can't even get a game at the wooden spooners'.

 

[glengowan]

Has the 6-6-6 rule effected Matt Crouch as badly as anybody? His strength was his hands, dishing it out in traffic. Now it is open at the centre clearances, he is exposed more so to the quicker players and doesn't have the back flankers running off the square as an option to handball.

At the game last night I thought he was better than he had been, but didn't realise how ineffective he was. I did notice Brad have a poor game.

There was one point Matt had the ball on the back flank with some space to run and carry the ball forward and then hit up a target. He stood in the one spot, waiting for up field targets to come to him before kicking. He doesn't have pace, but I don't think he has any confidence to even carry the ball, have a bounce etc.

 

[Interloperer]

Has the 6-6-6 rule effected Matt Crouch as badly as anybody? His strength was his hands, dishing it out in traffic. Now it is open at the centre clearances, he is exposed more so to the quicker players and doesn't have the back flankers running off the square as an option to handball.

At the game last night I thought he was better than he had been, but didn't realise how ineffective he was. I did notice Brad have a poor game.

There was one point Matt had the ball on the back flank with some space to run and carry the ball forward and then hit up a target. He stood in the one spot, waiting for up field targets to come to him before kicking. He doesn't have pace, but I don't think he has any confidence to even carry the ball, have a bounce etc.

M Crouch was still getting big numbers last year under the same rules. 35 possessions, 2 goals, 3 Brownlow votes the last time Adelaide won a game. A career high 47 touches 3 weeks after that too.

 

[triggyscrewedus]

Matt can play but at present is woeful.
I'm wondering if he's one of those blokes that has to have everything running at 100% to perform.
Seems to struggle in the grind, and his bro has no doubt told him he's out asap it all has Matt a bit lost.
He'd be fully aware after Brad skips town the heat will be on him even more as a senior player in a leadership/midfield role so I'd say there's a bit going on between his ears at mo.

 

[xazos79]

Crouch needs an explosive mid-fielder to be able to give hands to, or someone coming streaming off the back of the center square at ball ups to be an option. He's a bull inside, and needs a gazelle to give the ball to who can break away and not get tackled like all our other midfields (sloane/crouch/et al). Not sure how many stoppages/center bounces he and Jones attend together... but i'd be making sure Jones is there to get handball receives from Crouch so he can then use his speed/agility to break from packs.

In 2017 Crouch's disposal surprised me, as he seemed to have neatened it up compared to years prior. This year he's struggling with his efficiency and decision making. Hes certainly not a bad player by any means.

 

[Peter Doherty]

Imagine if Matt gets forced out this year so we can bring in a mid 20's draft pick, gets the Bernie Vince treatment.

He's in the leadership group and takes it very seriously from all reports, would be sad to see him go with that in mind.

Would love to know what Nicks' plan is here.

 

[Bearded Clam]

Imagine if Matt gets forced out this year so we can bring in a mid 20's draft pick, gets the Bernie Vince treatment.

He's in the leadership group and takes it very seriously from all reports, would be sad to see him go with that in mind.

Would love to know what Nicks' plan is here.

Has anyone got a gif of nicksy waving goodbye they can insert here?..

 

[CrowsB4hoes]

I heard earlier in the year that the club considered Matt was sticking around and was told his contract was stitched up but that’s obviously not the case. A mate showed him around a new house if that adds weight. This was a while ago.