Our defence

[marvin]

Just looking at the ladder after 16 rounds, the Adelaide defence has given up a mere 1119 points, or 69.9 points/game. Project that average through 22 rounds, and you get a total points conceded of 1539 points.

To demonstrate how good that is, consider the following:

• Our league leading defences of 1997 and 1998 conceded 1769 and 1763 points
• The only other team to better that defensive record in the last 30 years is the 1991 Eagles, with 1532 points at 69.6 points / game
• The only other side to come close in the last 30 years to that record were the 1994 Eagles, 1572 points at 71.5 points/game
• The Crows defence is over 50 points / game better than this year's worst defensive team (Carlton).

So to ever presents Rutten and Bassett; stalwarts Hart and Torney; and other contributors like McLeod, Johncock, Doughty, McGregor and Bock - hats off to you all.

 

[Mong]

And we shouldn't forget our midfield which is contributing to our good defence by playing accountable football, and not at the expense of creativity.

 

[noddy]

Our forwards don't do a bad job either in the chasing, tackling & keeping the ball in the 50 metre arc.

 

[Jars458]

Judging comments from Kerley Walls and Healey I think Bassett is under strong consideration for the All Australian side but it appears Rutten is not and will probably miss out to Hudgton and Clement.

How about McLeod though? He would have to be the first or second best small defender in the comp along with Wiirripunda. Given that he can go forward or into the midfield I reckon he is a big chance of a spot as well. His season has been pretty good.

In summary I think that Bassett and Goodwin are our best chances and that Roo and McLeod may be ouside chances of All Australian selection. Time will tell.

Our defence is awesome by they way but as Craig says its defensive pressure all over the ground that matters.

 

[Mong]

In summary I think that Bassett and Goodwin are our best chances and that Roo and McLeod may be ouside chances of All Australian selection. Time will tell.

What about McGregor? He has been pretty good up forward in a good team. He also played some good football in defence early on. Maybe a bench spot. I know his start to the season was a bit down, but we're talking All-Australian selectors here. Early season form would be the last thing on their minds.

 

[PrideOf]

Judging comments from Kerley Walls and Healey I think Bassett is under strong consideration for the All Australian side but it appears Rutten is not and will probably miss out to Hudgton and Clement.

Once again the form player will miss out to a player with a reputation. Poor Benny Rutten will miss out like Peter Caven did in 1997.

 

[AdelUniCrowFan]

WBULL 35, PORT 56, STK 57, CARL 57, GEEL 61, RICH 62, ESS 63, KANG 64, WCE 64, BRIS 72, COLL 75, SYD 79, FREO 88, WBULL 140. Only 2 sides have kicked more than 12 goals in a match against us in 16 games. Isn't it a great defence.

Clement should make the AA side in defence. Hudghton not so sure. I'd choose Rutten over him anyday of the week.

 

[CaptainDangerfield]

Just looking at the ladder after 16 rounds, the Adelaide defence has given up a mere 1119 points, or 69.9 points/game. Project that average through 22 rounds, and you get a total points conceded of 1539 points.

To demonstrate how good that is, consider the following:

• Our league leading defences of 1997 and 1998 conceded 1769 and 1763 points
• The only other team to better that defensive record in the last 30 years is the 1991 Eagles, with 1532 points at 69.6 points / game
• The only other side to come close in the last 30 years to that record were the 1994 Eagles, 1572 points at 71.5 points/game
• The Crows defence is over 50 points / game better than this year's worst defensive team (Carlton).

So to ever presents Rutten and Bassett; stalwarts Hart and Torney; and other contributors like McLeod, Johncock, Doughty, McGregor and Bock - hats off to you all.

pretty impressive stats there Marv?

 

[NikkiNoo]

I think Roo would be under pretty strong consideration for AA - who else comes under captain material in the side that they would be looking at? I don't know if the AA selectors rate cousins as a leader though, a very good player yes, but a leader.....

 

[Alex99]

Once again the form player will miss out to a player with a reputation. Poor Benny Rutten will miss out like Peter Caven did in 1997.

But Ben Rutten is 23 years old and has 8-10 years of good football; he has to be consistently be good and keep his form at the level it is now or his one season will justifiably over looked, one season may be good enough for AA honours but 4 or 5 will demand that he get 3 or 4 jumpers.

 

[Alex99]

I think Roo would be under pretty strong consideration for AA - who else comes under captain material in the side that they would be looking at? I don't know if the AA selectors rate cousins as a leader though, a very good player yes, but a leader.....

Ben Cousins is a very strong candidate to replace the roo as AA captain, especially if the WCE go 20-2 or 21 –1 over the season.

Mark Ricciuto should have his 8th AA but may struggle to keep his AA captaincy (if we finish 2nd then he will have every reason to question the decision if it doesn’t go his way)

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Judging comments from Kerley Walls and Healey I think Bassett is under strong consideration for the All Australian side but it appears Rutten is not and will probably miss out to Hudgton and Clement.

How about McLeod though? He would have to be the first or second best small defender in the comp along with Wiirripunda. Given that he can go forward or into the midfield I reckon he is a big chance of a spot as well. His season has been pretty good.

In summary I think that Bassett and Goodwin are our best chances and that Roo and McLeod may be ouside chances of All Australian selection. Time will tell.

Our defence is awesome by they way but as Craig says its defensive pressure all over the ground that matters.

Bassett would be our most deserving defender to make the AA side - but in a back-pocket.

The AA selectors don't like picking a new player in the side until they have played at least 2 years of good football & tend to fall back on reputation rather than form. ie. Scarlett will probably get FB ahead of Truck.

I agree that Goodwin should also make it (at this stage), with Roo & Macca fringe chances.

Kenny's early season form in defence was average, but has been solid since being moved forward... but would be behind other forwards for a spot. At very best would sneak a bench spot, but unlikely.

 

[Truck Rutten]

Judging comments from Kerley Walls and Healey I think Bassett is under strong consideration for the All Australian side but it appears Rutten is not and will probably miss out to Hudgton and Clement.

Did those gentleman say that Rutten wouldn't be in contention, or is that your impression?

I haven't seen heaps of St Kilda games but from what I have I would say that Rutten is just as effective at negating his opponent as Hughdton, with the bonus that he provides heaps of run, and creates opportunities further up the field with his quality disposal. I'd be very surprised if the Truck isn't in with a good chance of being named AA FB.

 

[Mad Dog]

I think Roo would be under pretty strong consideration for AA - who else comes under captain material in the side that they would be looking at? I don't know if the AA selectors rate cousins as a leader though, a very good player yes, but a leader.....

I think Roo would be struggling to get into the AA side just on the amount of game time he is getting. Prior to last weekend he was averaging in the 80-odd mins per game - which is not enough IMO.
I agree though he is definately the best credentialed skipper in the league and may get the call up on that basis.

 

[WaynesWorld19]

I think Roo would be struggling to get into the AA side just on the amount of game time he is getting. Prior to last weekend he was averaging in the 80-odd mins per game - which is not enough IMO.
I agree though he is definately the best credentialed skipper in the league and may get the call up on that basis.

Channel 9 put his stat comparison up this year versus last year and theyre about the same, even considering his reduced gametime.

Would be very very surprised if he's not in the AA side again this year

 

[macca23]

Channel 9 put his stat comparison up this year versus last year and theyre about the same, even considering his reduced gametime.

Would be very very surprised if he's not in the AA side again this year

24 disposals per game last year. 23 disposals per game this year.

As you say, very little difference.

 

[just maybe]

24 disposals per game last year. 23 disposals per game this year.

As you say, very little difference.

Big difference! That one disposal missing is like, the best disposal in the world! Now that's a big difference, eh? It's the kind of disposal that goes through for a goal, but on the way causes a contest where the opposition infringes and wants to punch on, resulting in a free kick straight in front of goal right after the goal, then causes a free kick in the centre and another goal.

 

[Tas]

A defense is only as good as the midfield. Last year the Crows midfield was probably at the lowest it has ever been for a long time and that put a lot of pressure on the defense.

The midfield is very good this year and a lot of the ball that comes into defensive 50 is under pressure, that makes it a lot easier in terms of being a defender and restricting your opponent.

As good as those numbers are, they also factor the large number of shocking last quarters the Crows have played which have let sides catch up what have been significant leads. I think that just highlights the importance of the midfield and also how good the crows have been even factoring in those fadeouts.

I think it also highlights the danger of a dependance in keeping the opposition to a low score based on midfield pressure. Crows would probably want to look at increasing the number of scoring opportunities to ease the pressure a bit.

 

[snakebite01]

I think it also highlights the danger of a dependance in keeping the opposition to a low score based on midfield pressure. Crows would probably want to look at increasing the number of scoring opportunities to ease the pressure a bit.

I think our % of over 130 would indicate we are having our fair share of scoring opportunities compared to the opposition.

 

[just maybe]

the large number of shocking last quarters the Crows have played which have let sides catch up what have been significant leads.

What, all 2 of them?

 

[Fudd]

What, all 2 of them?

ahh so much hysteria over 2 bad quarters of footy.

 

[Tas]

I think our % of over 130 would indicate we are having our fair share of scoring opportunities compared to the opposition.

Percentage can be a tad misleading.

Crows have been very good at thumping the ordinary opposition but have not scored a lot of goals against the better teams this year. Kicked 7 against Eagles and Melbourne, 8 against Geelong and Brisbane with the only good bag of goals was the 15 against St Kilda.

Those are the teams you will expect to face come the finals and it is 1 win, 4 losses vs those opponents with an effective percentage below a hundred percent against those teams. The Crows would need to score heavier, in my opinion, if they are to go onwards this year.

 

[DaveW]

Actually percentage is not misleading. Or if it is, you're going to need to state a better case than that. It takes account of both points scored and points conceded. Yet you've attempted to dismiss it by only considering points scored.

So we scored few goals in low scoring games; that's hardly unusual.

Plus your sample is also rather unbalanced. There's just as good a chance we'll meet Sydney come finals time. We scored 18 goals against them.

 

[just maybe]

Percentage can be a tad misleading.

Crows have been very good at thumping the ordinary opposition but have not scored a lot of goals against the better teams this year. Kicked 7 against Eagles and Melbourne, 8 against Geelong and Brisbane with the only good bag of goals was the 15 against St Kilda.

Those are the teams you will expect to face come the finals and it is 1 win, 4 losses vs those opponents with an effective percentage below a hundred percent against those teams. The Crows would need to score heavier, in my opinion, if they are to go onwards this year.

Actually, I'd also think we'd be likely to face yourselves and Sydney in the finals as well. Odd, why would you leave them out but add Brisbane, who are more tenuous in position than yourselves or Sydney? Oh wait, because you like to run rubbis arguments like the 'large amount of shocking last quarters' the Crows have had...

See, add in yourselves and Sydney, that makes 3 wins, 4 losses against the top 8. I'm even trading Brisbane for Richmond to make your argument look better...

Let's see:

For: 330 Against: 332

Oh...hmmm... 99.39%

Now let's add in Sydney and Roos games, which you so conveniently left out...

For: 524 Against: 475

Oh...hmmm... 110.32%

Oh...hmmm...and what if I was to swap Richmond, who actually ARE in the 8, and Brisbane? I won't, because I don't want to embarrass you or expose your pathetic argument any further.

Funny how you ignore that our games against West Coast, Geelong and Brisbane all could easily have gone our way, and we were ahead of Melbourne for all but half a quarter essentially.

But don't let REALITY get in the way of your bagging, Tas. Shall we start on your team losing 5 in a row perhaps? No we won't, because I'm not as petty as you.

Don't ever come on our board again unless you've got valid facts, tool.

 

[just maybe]

Oh dear, has poor Tas run off so soon?