Review Round 7 2021 - Adelaide Crows v GWS Giants, 2.10 pm @ Adelaide Oval, Sat 1 May

Idun has done alright so far. Are you all happy with his development?
Really surprised me, had you asked me pre season, I'd said he is back up at best.
He is starting to look likely. Not the finished product yet, but very promising.
 
Well played fellas

The confidence that will give hogan is priceless

Have not seen his hands that good for a while with the 2nd effort stuff. Loved it


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He was terrific!
Him and Harry H are great together, both very good at doing the little things for those around them.
 

ClockworkOrange

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Clearly a great win. The inclusions of Whitfield and Hogan obviously huge.
The most pleasing thing for me, although Toby had great moments, he was just a bit player today the other guys stepped up..
The 2 Lachies from the back excite me. Harry P plus those 2 makes it super dangerous rebound.
The mid field smashed them which was great.
Tom Green pushing forward worked the best I've seen.
Idun and XOH are developing well.
Exciting day.
 

Ichabod Noodle

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when you think about it, you’ve gotta give HUGE props to our defence today. going in...
Keefe 77 games (40 between 2011 & 2014 and 37 for us 2018-2021)
Taylor 40 games
Ash 18 games
Cumming 16 games
Buckley 8 games
Idun 8 games

Reid (96) started down there but was moved forward pretty early and Buntine (62) didn’t last long

but come on, no Davis, no Haynes and when Keefe is your most experienced defender and pretty much everyone else has less than 20 games under their belt - and then you hold the opposition to just 39 points - then you deserve all the plaudits you’re not going to get from the meeja who’s too busy focusing on the guy up the other end.

so to our defence I say...
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
 
Nov 23, 2015
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Gday lads, nice win today. Was Jelly back in the midfield today? Didn’t get to see the game but his stats looked juicy. Definitely not asking this for SC purposes btw
Yes, I think he was. Probably still somewhat on the outside (see his contested stats) but more in the guts just off the contest than HFF as in previous weeks. Just to the eye.
 
Gday lads, nice win today. Was Jelly back in the midfield today? Didn’t get to see the game but his stats looked juicy. Definitely not asking this for SC purposes btw
Mostly wing, but came into the middle more than the last 4 weeks
 

Danny88

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Great win. We really needed that. The midfield was dominant and that set us up. Hogan up forward makes us so much more of a threat and LW coming back really assisted the transition

If we bring that intensity we should smack the bombers next week at home
And set ourselves up nicely for a really hard run into the bye
 
Nov 23, 2015
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This week's write-up from my favourite media source ...


A dominant midfield performance from GWS, combined with a fantastic lockdown effort from their back six, saw the Giants cruise to a 67 point win, sending them back toward the bottom half of the ladder in the process. The clinical efficiency at stoppages from Tim Taranto, Jacob Hopper and Callan Ward rendered the Adelaide midfield to the role of spectators as the Giants won the clearance battle 41-17 – I have not seen a result like that in a long, long time. As a matter of fact, I am having trouble remembering a more one-sided belting at stoppages than this one. The return of the running man, Lachie Whitfield, combined with the running power of Josh Kelly gave them a huge advantage out wide as the Giants quickly made up for some early inaccuracy to stampede over a flat-footed Adelaide team.

A RETURN AND A DEBUT

The addition of Jesse Hogan and the return of Lachie Whitfield to the GWS line up were always going to have an impact. Whitfield has always been the engine room, running and carrying between the arcs for the Giants when they’re at their absolute best, and with GWS looking to run and gun in this one, Whitfield found himself in his element.

I may be a bit nit-picky here, but early in the game, Whitfield found it difficult to hit a target, with just four of his eight touches finding a man, but after that brief reintroduction to the senior team, he was off and running. He finished with 30 touches at 73% efficiency, whilst racking up a game-high 706 metres gained playing back on the wing.

And then there was a bloke up forward who has had question marks over him since 2019. Jesse Hogan debuted for the Giants and immediately displayed both his footy nous and work ethic, combining marks inside 50 with run up to half back on occasion to offer an outlet for his defenders. Hogan received some great service from his new teammates – the kick from Toby Greene to set him up for goal early in the last quarter was a brilliant piece of vision and he seemed to display a nice connection with his midfield as well.

Picking up Hogan was viewed as a risk by many. He didn’t just burn bridges in Western Australia, he also peed on them once they flamed out, but with a fresh start and a renewed focus, he may have found the situation where he can flourish.

Four goals is a fantastic return on debut for the club. After a couple of weeks in the seconds, displaying good, if not brilliant form, he received the call up and provided a good presence inside fifty to combine with Harry Himmelberg, and the feisty and petulant Jeremy Finlayson. This version of the three-headed monster will give some teams plenty of headaches.

Hogan finished with 15 touches and five marks to go along with his four snags and with a game under his belt, he will only get better from here.

TAYLOR V TAYLOR

After having a goal kicked on you in the first 30 seconds of the game, one could be forgiven for thinking it was going to be a bad day at the office.

That’s what happened to Sam Taylor, as Tex Walker marked and goaled to give the Crows a flying start. Luckily, Sam Taylor does not think that way, and for the next three and a half quarters, he went about his business to score a resounding win over the form-forward in the competition. Tex was restricted to just eight disposals and three marks, with the close checking of Taylor providing the Giants with something almost every other team has been unable to conjure to date – a weapon to curtail the brilliance of the former Adelaide skipper.

Taylor was all over Walker, using his elite closing speed to make the ground and athleticism to snare 12 spoils and eight intercepts in a spectacular defensive performance. I’m quite sure Taylor will not receive the credit he deserves for his work on Walker – there were moments where it looked likely that Walker was going to gobble up the footy on the lead, or in a contest, only for the young GWS defender to close the gap and get a fist on the ball at the last moment. He drew free kicks against an increasingly-frustrated Walker.

In his defence, Walker didn’t do a hell of a lot wrong – he was presenting well, crashing packs (and Matt Buntine’s exposed ribcage) and generally made the play – it’s just that Sam Taylor was so damn diligent in restricting his ability to get his mitts on the footy. Tex finished with two goals for the game, but he met his match in this game.

Sam Taylor continues to emerge as one of the best young defenders in the game and Is probably one more good game away from putting his hand up for All-Australian consideration. When you factor in that both Phil Davis and Nick Haynes are out of this side, he has taken the necessary steps to declare that he is more than ready to be the number one defender at Western Sydney.

THE BACK SIX

I know I singled out Sam Taylor, and rightfully so, but it is important to recognise the maturation of this GWS back six in the absence of Phil Davis and Nick Haynes. Connor Idun, Isaac Cumming and Jack Buckley are starting to shape into a very cohesive unit in defence. Throw in the presence and hard run of Lachie Ash, and you have a set up that can trouble teams, particularly when Taylor is able to get control of his one-on-one contests. My worry is that they’re still relatively inexperienced, so having one of Haynes or Davis back there as well would be beneficial, but in terms of the next 7-8 years, this GWS defence is looking better and better.

STICKING TACKLES

Just last week I wrote about the concern I had that Tim Taranto was no longer doing the tough stuff, which included sticking his tackles. Going back to 2019, Taranto was shaping as one of the best two-way midfielders in the caper, winning disposals at will and adding a defensive side to his game that saw him average 6.3 tackles per game. Last week, he looked like a shadow of that player, able to stick just two tackles as the Dogs ran away with the game.

At the time, I speculated whether there were any lingering effects of the shoulder injury that hampered him in 2020, and whether he was perhaps a little unwilling to risk injuring it again by really throwing his whole body into tackling an opponent. Tim Taranto answered my concerns emphatically in this game, notching an equal game-high seven tackles to go along with 35 touches and seven clearances in a complete midfielder’s game.

The 2019 Best and Fairest winner looked back to his best as he cracked in to win contested footy, and spread well to receive from his teammates as well. The continued form of players like Taranto is one of the keys to the GWS machine. With him humming along, things seem to start falling into place more readily. It is his work that kick starts the run of Josh Kelly and Lachie Whitfield, and in concert with Jacob Hopper, those two can wreak havoc on an opposition set up. The Giants have the Bombers next week, and the attack of Taranto at the contest will be vital in the Giants establishing an advantage over a susceptible Bombers on-ball group.

THE OTHER GREEN MACHINE

Spoiled for choice in the midfield, the Giants unveiled a new string to their bow against the Crows, throwing Tom Green forward to have an impact. The second-year man floated between the midfield and the forward line, using his clean hands and good judgment to continually create scoring avenues for his team. Green finished with 11 score involvements as both he and Jacob Hopper moved the ball quickly and effectively to the open man to set up shots at goal.

Tom Green’s CV billed him as a future inside mid, but with Taranto, Ward and Hopper in the middle, the midfield squeeze at the Giants is a never-ending story. Rather than drop his head or start eyeing off a chance to move elsewhere, Green strikes me as the type of player who will eventually make one of those spot his own. In the meantime, he is doing the little things that cannot help make Leon Cameron and the GWS hierarchy take notice.

He is as clean below his knees as anyone in the league, powerful through the hips and with the ability to take one-grab overhead marks, he has all the tools to be one of the top mids in the game. However, until that time comes, he is filling any number of roles for the Giants, and filling them well.

TAKING THE WEAPON AWAY

This was covered off a little by the commentary team, but it deserves a little more attention. The ability of Toby Greene to force the matchup he wanted was something quite remarkable. The Crows wanted Jake Kelly to take the match-up, but Greene basically decided that it was going to be Brodie Smith that was to be his opponent. The ensuing little game of blocking and switching saw Greene get his way, and after about the first ten minutes, the Crows permitted Greene to have his way.

Now, this is where it gets interesting.

Brodie Smith has been a running machine for the Crows from half back. His average metres gained over the last four weeks prior to this game was a mammoth 769 per game. In having to cover Greene, the Giants were able to extract Smith from both taking the bulk of kick ins and from having his way running off half back – they identified that Smith was dangerous and gave Greene the job of, not only being a weapon in his own right, but confiscating the Crows of one of their weapons in the process.

How did it go?

Well, Smith was -329 in metres gained compared to that average, and -9.25 in disposals. Did the Crows simply give in to the demands of Greene? Or was it always the plan to send Smith to the GWS match-winner at some point? Greene finished with 1.3 in another inaccurate performance, but his 19 touches and ten score involvements tell a more vivid story of his role in this one. Leading up around half forward, Greene was instrumental in the structure of the GWS forward line, leaving the space behind him for Jesse Hogan and Harry Himmelberg, who combined for seven goals.

GWS seem to have the forward line mix right now. Their three talls can all be very effective, but it is the work of Greene that allows this all to work. My favourite player to watch, and not by a close margin.

LET ME SHOW YOU HOW IT’S DONE

You know we have a weekly wingman rankings, right? Every week, in a members-only column, we have the best outside runners in the game ranked in a race to crown our Wingman of the Year. One who has been prominent all through the young 2021 season is the Crows’ Lachie Sholl. His hard run and stamina have been a standout, whilst on the opposite side of the square, we have watched Paul Seedsman excel to the point he has slotted in at the number one rank in the last two weeks.

This week, Leon Cameron must have looked at those two and allocated a task to his own runners, in Josh Kelly and Lachie Whitfield. And they responded.

I’ve covered Whitfield already, and whilst Seedsman was good, he was nowhere near as prominent as Whitfield. It was on the other wing that the majority of my interest lay. There, Josh Kelly looked as though he took it as a personal affront that Sholl’s name was being discussed as one of the best runners in the game. Standing side-by-side, Kelly went to work and was one of the Ginats’ absolute best.

Not only did he provide run and carry – his defensive efforts were first class. Smothers, tackles, hard run and chases, Kelly did it all en route to 27 touches and ten score involvements. He was dangerous, potent and looked as though he relished the challenge from the young star.

To his credit, Sholl was far from disgraced. He had 21 touches of his own, but seemed to spend more time in the defensive half to aid his back six this week.

Kelly looked like the player so many teams eyed off when he was last out of contract in this game, and this is the kind of form the Giants need, and should be expecting from him more regularly. He was huge in this one – close to the perfect game on the wing.

OPPORTUNITIES LOST

GWS do not get off the hook here – they squandered multiple opportunities in the first quarter that left the door ajar for the Crows, if they were good enough. As the siren rang to end the first quarter, the Giants had just one goal from nine shots, as they struggled to accurately assess the wind at one end of the ground. A scoreline of 14 points to two was not reflective of the domination they had with the ball in hand.

Toby Greene missed a couple, whilst Tom Green, Lachie Whitfield and Brent Daniels all failed to convert shots they would have normally gobbled up.

Of course, all’s well that ends well, right? But against a better opposition, those are the types of quarters that come back to haunt you. This should have been a 100-point win to the Giants – the type of win that people look to as the moment the club clicked and put it all together in 2021. It still may be regarded that way, but when they led by 14 points, it very well could have been a six-goal lead and the game could have been over.

Adelaide made the Giants’ efforts look okay in the second quarter, by missing several gettable shots at the same end, but ti does not excuse some of the misses from GWS. Yes, they ran away with the win, and yes, I may be labouring a moot point because of the result, but any team in the competition is capable of punishing you when you don’t make the most of your opportunities – GWS left plenty on the table, but the Crows forgot they were on clean up duty.

IS JEREMY FINLAYSON EVER HAPPY?

I haven’t seen someone so annoyed at got getting the footy, even when his teammate kicks a goal in the same play.

I know the commentators commented on him spraying teammates, but the times I found of interest were when the Giants were in control and you had one player get the ball with options, dish to the one he thought best, and you could see Finlayson crack the shits in the background.

I mean, it shows that he is determined to have an impact, but when the team is enjoying success, it doesn’t matter that it wasn’t you slotting the goal, big fella.

IS THERE A FLAW TO BOBBY HILL’S GAME AT THE MOMENT?

Yeah, there is… and if I have to be the one to point it out, so be it.

Yes, he is exciting and yes, he is a highlight machine, but when the opposition gets the footy, he needs to make sure his man does not run off him. He was minded by David McKay at times in this one, and when the opportunity arose, McKay took off and found plenty of space. Hill remained at home inside 50. The result was 23 touches for McKay whilst Hill had eight touches for the game. Yes, he did look dangerous, but when he is not hitting the scoreboard, he needs to do the hard stuff to increase his value. Allowing his opponent free rein does not aid his team.
 
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Well played fellas

The confidence that will give hogan is priceless

Have not seen his hands that good for a while with the 2nd effort stuff. Loved it


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Glad Jesse Hogan played well. At adelaide oval vs the crows of all places.

Pity he didnt work out at freo. He had his fair share of injuries.

Glad he is fully fit and has a positive mindset Again.
 
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