Roast s**t midfield is s**t
- Thread starter Elite Crow
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Rear Admiral
Club Legend
I think this is an outstanding post - absolutely spot on.
Personally, I think the last thing holding the Crows back is some backroom ties between some members of the hierarchy and the likes of Thommo, and perhaps a couple more. I don't know when our veterans will be stood down/retire - soon, in a few seasons. I honestly don't know. But what I am fairly confident of is that when they eventually do stand down, there will be no more gold pass relationships and royal treatment, where we will then see the sort of serious change you're referring to.
But as I said, a very good post.
Rear Admiral
Club Legend
Well put.
I think the people that really make or break a club are the nameless, faceless talent scouts that scour the land in search of talent. They have a razor sharp eye for detail and unearth the gems. I tend to think Sydney, Hawthorn, and Geelong have been above the rest of the field int this department.
In regards to the names you mentioned on our list, there is one that I think needs to be given a real chance to prove himself - CEY. This habit of playing a rookie once, then dropping him, then bringing him back in months later - that is utter bullsh*t and has to be put to an end. If you recruit rookies, you bl00dy well play them for a string of games and see what they're made of. CEY may indeed be not up to the task, but I think he's shown enough to warrant a regular gig on the big stage.
Rear Admiral
Club Legend
This is what I've been saying for years. There's been all this talk previously that we need another key post down back. Now? That would be the last type of player I'd be looking for. Hartigan is now more than adequate. I've mentioned it just recently that I think he's our most improved player, and he's damn strong, and good overhead.
What we need is:
One/Two elite mids.
As a second priority - a small, lightning quick defender....but with blistering lateral skills, not straight rebound run.
But mids must be the focus.
Rear Admiral
Club Legend
http://www.fiveaa.com.au/shows/rowey-bicks/mark-bickley-s-adelaide-fc-hit-list
Amen. Finally someone from the club (albeit an ex player) has the stones to go public with names; I take my hat off to you Bicks - well done.
I am more than a little eager to hear the response from the Jedi Council at the Crows Nest. Time to nut up.
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I would prefer to have Seedsman or Cameron in that role. Smith plays his current role better than anyone on our list.
Rear Admiral
Club Legend
I've read some really good comments here about some of our deficiencies, as well as options moving forward.
While this is not exactly etched in stone, I think most of our clearance mids are, in general terms, inside accumulators. It may not be quite as black and white as that, but I'd say that very few of our blokes truly carry the ball away from the stoppages (cleanly) and hit blokes on leads....or chase down opposition ball carriers that are on the spread.
Look at this way, how many times do we see our blokes crash and bash, then simply slam a hacked kick forward....if they do manage to get their hands on it? All this happens for one reason, and one reason only - lack of genuine leg speed away from stoppages.
When we go into Trade week and the Draft, ideally I'd like to see us secure two established, elite Mids - no question about it. But if we're going to prioritise one type over the other, we absolutely must do something to address our #1 Achilles Heel for years now, and that's genuine leg speed (or lack thereof), above all else. Look at this way, if we do manage to secure an elite in-and-under-grunt type, he'll likely have to replace either Sloane or one of the Crouch brothers, and I just cannot see that happening. There's also the other benefit of lightning quick whippets - they can damn well chase if we don't get the pill first.
The other must is that Cameron, Milera, and Hampton all must get rotated through the middle, regardless of anything else. All day in the middle? No. But some decent rotations. Be damned that they're young and raw - they all have serious pace and we must play them for a decent string of games. What I am utterly fed up with is how we play-and-drop rookies as soon as they have one bad day out; they will not bl00dy improve playing like this.
While this is not exactly etched in stone, I think most of our clearance mids are, in general terms, inside accumulators. It may not be quite as black and white as that, but I'd say that very few of our blokes truly carry the ball away from the stoppages (cleanly) and hit blokes on leads....or chase down opposition ball carriers that are on the spread.
Look at this way, how many times do we see our blokes crash and bash, then simply slam a hacked kick forward....if they do manage to get their hands on it? All this happens for one reason, and one reason only - lack of genuine leg speed away from stoppages.
When we go into Trade week and the Draft, ideally I'd like to see us secure two established, elite Mids - no question about it. But if we're going to prioritise one type over the other, we absolutely must do something to address our #1 Achilles Heel for years now, and that's genuine leg speed (or lack thereof), above all else. Look at this way, if we do manage to secure an elite in-and-under-grunt type, he'll likely have to replace either Sloane or one of the Crouch brothers, and I just cannot see that happening. There's also the other benefit of lightning quick whippets - they can damn well chase if we don't get the pill first.
The other must is that Cameron, Milera, and Hampton all must get rotated through the middle, regardless of anything else. All day in the middle? No. But some decent rotations. Be damned that they're young and raw - they all have serious pace and we must play them for a decent string of games. What I am utterly fed up with is how we play-and-drop rookies as soon as they have one bad day out; they will not bl00dy improve playing like this.
Rear Admiral
Club Legend
I very much like this re-jigging. Of all the commentators that give the most honest, accurate, no bullsh*t assessment of different teams and what's needed, it's Tredrea in my books. And has been for some time. He can walk the walk, and shows no bias in his comments.
Can I ask when/where you heard Tredrea mention this?
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Freo had 6-7 debuts last year but 3-4 had a debut in that infamous port game.
Seems the crows need a good inside mid and a gun winger.
Freo have pick 3 but were in a dilemma. Use pick 3 on Todd Marshall who is a key forward.
The other option is Sam Petrevski Senton. He is similar to Graham Johncock: 180 cms, 80 kgs can play inside mid, wing or on a half back/forward flank.
Oh and he has pace and kick with both feet.
- Thread starter
- #460
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Of course its a real question. Some people here think our defence is perfect and needs no work. Thats rubbish. We have a number of positions that can be improved on in defence.
I have examples of how thats correct.
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Haha loyd calling Hartigan a wingman on the wash up of adelaides season. Seriously terrible journalism. Imagine him calling Gibson a wingman.
People are forgetting that Smith has been tried in the middle and didnt perform.
Same with Laird.
Both are AA quality in their positions, ******* leave them there.
Why not try Betts in the back pocket?
Same with Laird.
Both are AA quality in their positions, ******* leave them there.
Why not try Betts in the back pocket?
Every defence in the league has weak links,in general the quality and so so players isnt that bad, we could get a better player than hartigan but he is servicable, Lever has more improvemnet in him laird is great and smith is great, tahlia speaks for himself and I quite like Cheney he offers both defence and a bit of run and carry, its actually fairly well balanced, you could bring n Hanpton or Wigg I suppose they are very creative players or even convert say a CEY in to a HBF whom size would be great down there but he is also moves well
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- #466
You want to put our 70+ Goal kicking excitement machine into the back pocket ?
CEY's disposal is still in question and imo wouldnt trust him in defence just yet. He has the size and the athletiscm but his skills is not what I would want from a half back flanker let alone a defender.
Agree with the rest though. Lever is developing nicely. Laird, Smith and Talia are stars. Cheney to be replaced by Wigg or Doedee over the next few years. Hampton to play more games with a uninterrupted preseason.
He's taking the piss
Definitely flattened towards the end of the year. But being forced outside so Thommo can retain his inside role doesn't help. Working a system around Thommo is costly for individuals as well as the team. With 10% less TOG and less stoppages, Brad still had 2 more effective touches than Thommo on Saturday. Once Thommo is gone, there'll be a couple of players step up with more time in there. Crouch is definitely one, Lyons would be another, but that's looking doubtful.
Dont disagree, but if you feel like that about CEY he will be 24 next year, there probably isnt much point with him, he probably needs to be cut or traded whilst he has some value.
Hampton is one that has played over 50 games of AFL footy so if he cant break into that team, again a bit of a waste on the list, he was unlucky this year with injury although when he came back in looked smooth
I dont dislike Cheney I think he has a lot more mongrel and is far more desperate than the likes of Hampton, Wigg and Doedee who needs to develop a lot more before getting a gig in front of the two Ive mentioned also he is probab;y after Levers position with his size and build.
Lever is the third tall if needed with Tahlia and Hartigan the two KPB lever sits where that he can pay tall if needed but generally plays on that third medium / Tall player. If he was playing against the crows he should stand Lynch although generally the crows put Cheney on a player like that because of his desperation at the contest
Not sure this is correct. Without culture change, there will be a new breed of players being rewarded with gold passes. Regardless of form, can you see Sauce being dropped? The issue isn't the players, it's the coaches and I'm not yet convinced we have a desire or the necessary personnel to change.
Maybe he's been out clubbing with him
He's not at that level but there's an element of truth to it.
Since his knee injury he 'picks and chooses' his contests, feels for the opponents body too often, and stays down a lot more than he should.
I love Tex but he needs to refocus his style, he is certainly not inherently soft though
Great post, it is so bleeding obvious why can't the numpties in charge see it?
Is it because we base our opinions solely on game day performance whilst the coaches get influenced (far too much) by other factors - how they train, prepare, leadership qualities, good bloke factor etc.
So simple to beat us, opposition setup a couple spare behind the stoppage to mop up our around the corner clearance kicks or they win the clearance, spread and our mids can't keep up resulting in an unpressured kick into their f50.
CEY should have played all season and Thommo should have retired. At least we would have known one way or the other if the kid was going to make it - 2 games what another waste of a season. Our selections were so poor all year.
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