Round 1 Crows team

[Jerome]

Well Crow fans we got beaten by the Sanits. Due to injury and the odd player being
wrapped in cotton wool we played our B team against a near full strength Saints outfit. We only got the game on the radio over
here and from what I can gather the standard of the contest was far better this week from both sides. Saints were far more
disciplined, direct and worked harder at ground level. The Crows had several young kids who made a few mistakes, but in general we were not in
front of the packs enough, didn't hold enough marks and could not kick straight. The movement of the ball from defence and through the middle seemed to be good, we just did'nt do enough up forward again. Our goalscorers for the match were as
follows: Richardson(2), O'Loughlin and Johncock one each. Our best were Smart, Clarke, Stenglien, Shir, Bickley, Johnson, Crowell.
Marsh, Skipworth and Johncock also did a few good things. No injuries this week! Some more experinced players to return for
round 1. Taking into consideration current injuries (and barring more injuries) we should line up something like this:

F Bode, Richardson Ladhams
HF Robran, Hewitt, O'Loughlin
C Johnson, Ricciuto, Stenglien
HB Smart, McGregor, Bickley
FB Hart, Crowell, Shir
R Clarke, McLeod, Edwards
Int Stevens, Marsh, Welsh, Skipworth

comments??

Jerome

 

[Guest]

Jerome,

Interested to compare your side against the one Gerard Healy put in the Herald Sun as his dream team for the Crows.

Gerard's side was:

F: Welsh, Burton, Jarman
HF: Smart, Hewett, Vardy
C: Bickley, Johnson, Eccles
HB: Hart, Robran, Goodwin
B: Edwards, Bassett, Stevens

R: Clarke, Ricciuto, McLeod
IN: Ladhams, Stenglein, Gallagher, Marsh

It just goes to show the lack of knowledge the Victorians have about the Crows lineup. I'm definately no expert but Bickley on the wing? Robran has to play forward. Burton Full forward? Edwards wasted in the back pocket.

I'll be very interested to see how O'Loughlin goes this year. I see you have him named on a forward flank Jerome and concur completely. Just let the kid go for it and I'm sure we'll see a very good footballer emerge this year. I'd probably play Ladhams either on a wing or forward flank. Clarke will be enormous this year and will shut up a lot of people.

I still think Richo will be good for around 60 goals this year and be a strong focal point.

Still to be convinced about Marsh though.

Cheers.

 

[Jerome]

Originally posted by Spogs:
Jerome,

Interested to compare your side against the one Gerard Healy put in the Herald Sun as his dream team for the Crows.

Gerard's side was:

F: Welsh, Burton, Jarman
HF: Smart, Hewett, Vardy
C: Bickley, Johnson, Eccles
HB: Hart, Robran, Goodwin
B: Edwards, Bassett, Stevens

R: Clarke, Ricciuto, McLeod
IN: Ladhams, Stenglein, Gallagher, Marsh

**** WTF?? What is this dude on? I agree with you, he needs to buy a clue. The side I named is not my best Crows line up, its simply who is available and in playing well enough to get a gig in Round 1.

All things being equal this would be my best Crows side (this is a couple of months old BTW):

F Vardy, Richardson, Welsh
HF Jarman, Hewitt, Burton
C Johnson, Roo, Eccles
HB Smart, Robran, Goodwin
B Bickley, Bassett, Hart
C Clarke, McLeod, Edwards
INT Biglands, Stevens,Stenglien, Bode

Crowell and McGregor seem to have taken everyone by suprise and good on them! It's exactly what we need, keep some of the regulars on their toes.

I'll be very interested to see how O'Loughlin goes this year. I see you have him named on a forward flank Jerome and concur completely. Just let the kid go for it and I'm sure we'll see a very good footballer emerge this year. I'd probably play Ladhams either on a wing or forward flank. Clarke will be enormous this year and will shut up a lot of people.

*** Well, I named Ricky O because I think he has the talent to be an AFL player and with Jarman and Vardy out we need someone who can kick goals for us. He struggled with the pace of the AFL and his disposal let him down a few times. I also dont think the Coach gives him a fair go. However it was only his first year with the Crows and he played very well with Port Magpies in 2000. He was regularly in their best players and I think he won their Top Team Man award. That's a good award to win at any club, you have to have a fair bit of ability and character to get those, I reckon. I hope Ricky gets a game and kicks a few next week!

I'm very happy with Clarke at the moment, he is deadset keen to turn his form around this year. Needs to hold more marks, but other than that, Good Luck to him. From what I heard on 5AA, Marsh was good yesterday and I dont think Biglands and Bassett have done enough to get a game in Round 1.

cheers

Jerome

 

[Macca19]

Originally posted by Spogs:
Jerome,

Interested to compare your side against the one Gerard Healy put in the Herald Sun as his dream team for the Crows.

Gerard's side was:

F: Welsh, Burton, Jarman
HF: Smart, Hewett, Vardy
C: Bickley, Johnson, Eccles
HB: Hart, Robran, Goodwin
B: Edwards, Bassett, Stevens

R: Clarke, Ricciuto, McLeod
IN: Ladhams, Stenglein, Gallagher, Marsh

It just goes to show the lack of knowledge the Victorians have about the Crows lineup. I'm definately no expert but Bickley on the wing? Robran has to play forward. Burton Full forward? Edwards wasted in the back pocket.

Gerald Healy...mister ego himself. Has NO idea at all. He has Stewy Dew on the bench in his dream team.
It looks like he has just closed his eyes and pulled names out of a hat for the positions. Burton at Full Forward??? Thats got to be the worst place to put him really. Smart on a forward flank? WHAT!?!?! AA hlaf back on a forward flank? Bickley on a wing?
Why on earth is Hart on the back flank and not on his favourable position of back pocket?? Gallagher in the side?? Where is Biglands?? He has got to be in before Marsh.
Gerald Healy, what an absolute Tool!! Thats definatly the wierdest lineup of the crows ive ever seen. Id hope Ayres doesnt take his advice!

 

[Jerome]

Originally posted by Macca19:
Gerald Healy...mister ego himself. Has NO idea at all. He has Stewy Dew on the bench in his dream team.
It looks like he has just closed his eyes and pulled names out of a hat for the positions. Burton at Full Forward??? Thats got to be the worst place to put him really. Smart on a forward flank? WHAT!?!?! AA hlaf back on a forward flank? Bickley on a wing?
Why on earth is Hart on the back flank and not on his favourable position of back pocket?? Gallagher in the side?? Where is Biglands?? He has got to be in before Marsh.
Gerald Healy, what an absolute Tool!! Thats definatly the wierdest lineup of the crows ive ever seen. Id hope Ayres doesnt take his advice!

Spot on. Smart should not start up forward and Burton is not a key forward. He will only be used on a flank as a pinch hitter or when they are rotating the players thru the midfield.

As for my Round 1 Crows team, I'd like to make the following alteration:

IN: Bassett
OUT: Richardson

Richo suffered an accident at training today. A slight knee problem that will keep him out for 2 weeks. Mark Stevens should now start at FF.

The Crows are also hoping to play up to 19 players in SANFL trials this weekend for a bit of match fitness. They are waiting on AFL approval and it looks like the AFL will knock a few players back.

Jerome

 

[Crow54]

What about Marsh at FF? He played well against Sydney in his debut match there. All he needs is a bit of confidence from the Club.

 

[Guest]

Assuming we play McGregor at CHB,Robran somewhere, Hewitt at CHF and Clarke on the ball, playing March at FF just makes us look a bit top heavy. Someone like Basset or Richo when he comes back just has a more balanced feel to it.

I think they'll run Marsh off the bench with Clarke, play Hewett at FF and Robran at CFH giving us 4 talls on the ground.

Having said that Mark Mickan did say that there was an emphasis on taking more contested marks around the ground so maybe they are thinking of playing a taller side. I'd like to see Vardy back in the side before they do that though being our one genuine crumbing goal scorer.

 

[Crows.ok]

Stevens has got to be a chance at FF.

Welsh needs to find some form, he seems to have been completely off the boil. He was our top goalscorer last year and this preseason - very quiet I'm afraid.

Why not Hewitt to FF and Robran to CHF?

Any which way, the forward line is the problem.

 

[ant]

Still Crows.ok, I think we have more options there than last year, with Robran down back it seemed McGregor was our only target. I think if those crumbing players like Ladhams, Bode, Vardy and even McLeod can get to the contest then we can score enough goals.

 

[Jerome]

According to todays paper, none of our blokes were injured in the SANFL trials yesterday. Marsh, Bassett and Johncock were the best of the Crows. Scott Welsh also kicked 4 goals for Wests. I would include Marsh ahead of Biglands at the minute, Stevens at FF and Bass on the bench.

Jerome