Tales from the Henley Beach Cafe: CROWS 2020 RUMOURS

[Betts are off]

Thanks for that.

What was Faith's bet? That we wouldnt go after RT?

Something like Riley would get to pick 8 or give Crow till I die a bottle of Penfolds.

Anyway, he did not honour that bet, whatever it was

 

[Crow till I die]

Something like Riley would get to pick 8 or give Crow till I die a bottle of Penfolds RWT.

Anyway, he did not honour that bet, whatever it was

thanks for the moral support...look i think if others had been around at the time I put that bet to him, they would have jumped on board too to take the same bet with him - no way was Thilthorpe ever slipping to our pick 9 in the draft.

I think our knowledgeable friend Sanders has a good handle on who FAITH might be masquerading as on these boards these days

 

[Golumless]

Oh sh*t, we're miles ahead of Hawthorn. That's barely a VFL quality list.

And not to sound too optimistic, but we certainly were a lot better than last for the last couple of months of the season. Pretty much every stat pointed towards a reasonable improvement once Nicks could actually get some of his system being played.

We're probably around 12th to 15th.

Never, ever trust late-season form. Not until it's backed up. After all, it's always possible we jagged wins from teams that had mentally checked out of the season.

I'd have Hawthorn ahead of us at the moment, but they're in no-mans-land until Clarkson leaves. There is still an ok group there. It's definitely a team we should be able to get past in the next year or two, however I expect next year is a tad too soon.

Listwise, we're deservedly rated 18th coming into 2021. A couple of solid midfielders in a group that got weaker (seeing Brad Crouch was in our top 3 mids, if not the best midfielder we had at the end of the season), a very good ruckman in ROB, a key forward on the decline in Tex, a gun midfielder who needs a bounceback year in Sloane, and a dependable as ever Talia as our core players. Then it gets really young, and really inexperienced, really quickly. The best case for me is we're rated in the bottom 4 for list strength come 2022, not outright bottom.

I'm becoming more and more optimistic with where this club is going, however, if you get offered 4 wins and 17th place in 2021 now, take it and run.

 

[hey shorty]

Never, ever trust late-season form. Not until it's backed up. After all, it's always possible we jagged wins from teams that had mentally checked out of the season.

I'd have Hawthorn ahead of us at the moment, but they're in no-mans-land until Clarkson leaves. There is still an ok group there. It's definitely a team we should be able to get past in the next year or two, however I expect next year is a tad too soon.

Listwise, we're deservedly rated 18th coming into 2021. A couple of solid midfielders in a group that got weaker (seeing Brad Crouch was in our top 3 mids, if not the best midfielder we had at the end of the season), a very good ruckman in ROB, a key forward on the decline in Tex, a gun midfielder who needs a bounceback year in Sloane, and a dependable as ever Talia as our core players. Then it gets really young, and really inexperienced, really quickly. The best case for me is we're rated in the bottom 4 for list strength come 2022, not outright bottom.

I'm becoming more and more optimistic with where this club is going, however, if you get offered 4 wins and 17th place in 2021 now, take it and run.

I think we're going to be ahead of Hawthorn this year already, by how much I don't know but I'd be disappointed to finish below them

 

[DJ75]

Never, ever trust late-season form. Not until it's backed up. After all, it's always possible we jagged wins from teams that had mentally checked out of the season.

I'd have Hawthorn ahead of us at the moment, but they're in no-mans-land until Clarkson leaves. There is still an ok group there. It's definitely a team we should be able to get past in the next year or two, however I expect next year is a tad too soon.

Listwise, we're deservedly rated 18th coming into 2021. A couple of solid midfielders in a group that got weaker (seeing Brad Crouch was in our top 3 mids, if not the best midfielder we had at the end of the season), a very good ruckman in ROB, a key forward on the decline in Tex, a gun midfielder who needs a bounceback year in Sloane, and a dependable as ever Talia as our core players. Then it gets really young, and really inexperienced, really quickly. The best case for me is we're rated in the bottom 4 for list strength come 2022, not outright bottom.

I'm becoming more and more optimistic with where this club is going, however, if you get offered 4 wins and 17th place in 2021 now, take it and run.

Not really.

Tex and Talia aside, we still have;

Lynch 30 yo 150+games
M Crouch 25 yo 125 games
Sloane 30 to 200+ games
Smith 29 yo 180+ games
Laird 27 yo 160+ games

That are all key players. I think we forget Smith and Laird especially in terms of age and experience levels.

Then on our list we also have
Seedsman 29 yo 100+ games
David Mackay 23 yo 200+ games

and of course
Gibbs 45 yo 300+ games

Our core team still has a lot of experienced players. Too much if you ask me...

 

[hey shorty]

Not really.

Tex and Talia aside, we still have;

Lynch 30 yo 150+games
M Crouch 25 yo 125 games
Sloane 30 to 200+ games
Smith 29 yo 180+ games
Laird 27 yo 160+ games

That are all key players. I think we forget Smith and Laird especially in terms of age and experience levels.

Then on our list we also have
Seedsman 29 yo 100+ games
David Mackay 23 yo 200+ games

and of course
Gibbs 45 yo 300+ games

Our core team still has a lot of experienced players. Too much if you ask me...

You're clutching when you put Crouch in that lot, 25yo is barely mid-career for him.

That's only 7 players out of 22.

 

[cleanhands]

thanks for the moral support...look i think if others had been around at the time I put that bet to him, they would have jumped on board too to take the same bet with him - no way was Thilthorpe ever slipping to our pick 9 in the draft.

I think our knowledgeable friend Sanders has a good handle on who FAITH might be masquerading as on these boards these days

I wouldn’t put my house on it though

 

[Southerntakeover]

Kristof was so confident that Kosi Pickett would not go first round that he told Faith he would change his name if it happened. Then Melbourne reached for Kosi at pick 8 from memory.

Kristof honored the bet and became Mego Red

Didn't he say that he would stop posting, then pretended his arm was twisted to stay by popular demand?

 

[maxlilly]

Alex 5.0 ???

I was thinking the same thing, definately a pattern there

 

[GROTTO]

I was thinking the same thing, definately a pattern there

Well lets face it, first time poster in 2021 and posting like he has been on this forum for years and is angry.

There is only one person that fits that criteria.

Alex_Is_On_Fire

 

[Jumboprince]

Yeah, I changed from Kristof to Mego Red when Kosi Pickett got selected so early in the draft.

I could change it back, I guess ... It hadn't really occurred to me?

No, keep it as Mango Red

 

[Sanders]

Alex 5.0 ???

you forgot to carry the one!

 

[Scorpus]

Not really.

Tex and Talia aside, we still have;

Lynch 30 yo 150+games
M Crouch 25 yo 125 games
Sloane 30 to 200+ games
Smith 29 yo 180+ games
Laird 27 yo 160+ games

That are all key players. I think we forget Smith and Laird especially in terms of age and experience levels.

Then on our list we also have
Seedsman 29 yo 100+ games
David Mackay 23 yo 200+ games

and of course
Gibbs 45 yo 300+ games

Our core team still has a lot of experienced players. Too much if you ask me...

Crouch, Sloane, Gibbs, and Laird with Mackay and Seedsman on the wings, Talia and Kelly in defence and Walker and Lynch up forward

Now that's a strong core of experience I can get around. Top 4 looming

 

[WaynesWorld19]

I think we're going to be ahead of Hawthorn this year already, by how much I don't know but I'd be disappointed to finish below them

And also ESS

 

[GROTTO]

And also ESS

Dons and Roos will be rolling out the tanks this year. Its going to look disgusting.

 

[WaynesWorld19]

Dons and Roos will be rolling out the tanks this year. Its going to look disgusting.

In descending order:
CROWS
SYD
ESS
HAW
NORTH

 

[GROTTO]

In descending order:
CROWS
SYD
ESS
HAW
NORTH

I havent fully sat down and thought about this. Crows being ahead of Sydney would surprise me though.

I think Sydney with a healthy list is still ahead of us IMO.

I also think a lot depends on how this year plays out, its all up in the air. If the Crows get 11 home games, they should win a few and plus a couple of AWAY games as well.

 

[WaynesWorld19]

I havent fully sat down and thought about this. Crows being ahead of Sydney would surprise me though.

I think Sydney with a healthy list is still ahead of us IMO.

I also think a lot depends on how this year plays out, its all up in the air. If the Crows get 11 home games, they should win a few and plus a couple of AWAY games as well.

Who are SYD's KPP Spine ? .....who's their #1 Ruck ?

IMO we'll be ahead of them

 

[Scorpus]

IMO North has the worst list in the league. Their forward stocks are absolutely atrocious and they lost Shaun Higgins

4

Shaun Higgins

Age

33

Ht

184cm

Wt

89kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

20.4

5star

K

10.6

4star

HB

9.8

5star

M

3.9

4star

T

3.2

5star

CL

2.4

4star

D

21.8

5star

K

10.3

4star

HB

11.5

5star

M

2.3

2star

T

3.6

4star

CL

3.0

4star

D

12.0

3star

K

7.2

3star

HB

4.8

4star

M

2.8

3star

T

1.8

4star

and Ben Brown

50

Ben Brown

Age

28

Ht

200cm

Wt

101kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

10.7

3star

K

7.7

3star

HB

3.0

3star

M

4.8

5star

T

1.2

3star

G

2.2

5star

D

7.9

2star

K

6.3

3star

HB

1.6

1star

M

3.7

4star

T

0.9

2star

G

1.0

4star

D

8.0

2star

K

4.6

2star

HB

3.4

3star

M

4.4

4star

T

1.4

4star

G

1.2

4star

who were their two best players.

Essendon have a somewhat decent list but for whatever reason it hasn't come together. Can't see them below us.

Hawthorn and Sydney both have weak lists, similar to us. However both still have some great players and their lists didn't get worse over the off season. I'd have both in the pack with us, but probably slightly better. Hawthorn also have the best coach in the league.

I'd have us 17th

 

[Golumless]

I think we're going to be ahead of Hawthorn this year already, by how much I don't know but I'd be disappointed to finish below them

I wouldn't be. Hawks are just going to exist for a year and finish 12th-15th. There is enough reliable experience to prevent a real implosion, but also you know the year is going to be wasted even before it begins for them. They might even bounce upwards a tad if it is Clarksons last year at the club.

We don't have that luxury, we're going to be very inexperienced and inexperienced brings inconsistency.

Not really.

Tex and Talia aside, we still have;

Lynch 30 yo 150+games

M Crouch 25 yo 125 games
Sloane 30 to 200+ games
Smith 29 yo 180+ games
Laird 27 yo 160+ games

That are all key players. I think we forget Smith and Laird especially in terms of age and experience levels.

Then on our list we also have
Seedsman 29 yo 100+ games
David Mackay 23 yo 200+ games

and of course
Gibbs 45 yo 300+ games

Our core team still has a lot of experienced players. Too much if you ask me...

You do need experienced players in a rebuild, and really, 6-8 in our best 22 is likely a good spot in our situation (noting the evergreen Luke Brown slipped by). After all, the issue is when you look a tad lower. We only have two players in that 50-100 game bracket coming into this year and really one of them should be replaced in Jake Kelly, seeing McPherson is just a better footballer. Then it drops off, even more between 30-50 games with only 4 players in that group. with the list of players who could be joining Milera and Kelly being Murphy, ROB, Doedee and Keays. I would say only two of them are very likely to be guaranteed a spot next year in our best 22. There is a serious dearth of quality players in this range of experience at Adelaide.

I am very hesitant to call either Lynch or Smith key players, more in that both have never hit those heights here. Both (+ Brown) have been pretty solid additions to that group of "reliably good footballers" good teams have in abundance in the previous decade for us. We're firmly stuck with that group though, this year.

 

[Golumless]

Dons and Roos will be rolling out the tanks this year. Its going to look disgusting.

Yup, and we have a much bigger and much more shiny tank compared to both clubs.

 

[GROTTO]

IMO North has the worst list in the league. Their forward stocks are absolutely atrocious and they lost Shaun Higgins and Ben Brown who were their two best players.

Essendon have a somewhat decent list but for whatever reason it hasn't come together. Can't see them below us.

Hawthorn and Sydney both have weak lists, similar to us. However both still have some great players and their lists didn't get worse over the off season. I'd have both in the pack with us, but probably slightly better. Hawthorn also have the best coach in the league.

I'd have us 17th

North are also officially in rebuild mode. They are a certainty for the spoon. They will roll out their tanks for the entire season. They know their best chance to rebuild is with decent picks. In a perfect world they would be shipped to Tasmania to give them the license.

I agree Hawks and Sydney still have great players on their list, something we dont have at all. We have players with some potential, but they are not great, yet.

 

[Mr_Moogle]

Never, ever trust late-season form. Not until it's backed up. After all, it's always possible we jagged wins from teams that had mentally checked out of the season.

Out of our late season wins in 2020, the GWS game was the only one I found encouraging. They had the momentum in the late stages of that game but we managed to grind them down with some decent team defence. A decent ugly win. I don't really rate our wins against Carlton and Hawthorn as highly even though they were enjoyable games to watch.

 

[Golumless]

Out of our late season wins in 2020, the GWS game was the only one I found encouraging. They had the momentum in the late stages of that game but we managed to grind them down with some decent team defence. A decent ugly win. I don't really rate our wins against Carlton and Hawthorn as highly even though they were enjoyable games to watch.

I rated the Carlton win but that's more to do with us outplaying a team on the road as a young group, with a then 7 gamer in Sholl getting the BOG (and Schoenberg/Himmelberg having a big impact). Those wins are worth their weight in gold, and really, it cemented Sholl as one who could have a very bright future in this league.

Hawks was just nice to see the team win, and get a bit of optimism in the group.

 

[GROTTO]

Out of our late season wins in 2020, the GWS game was the only one I found encouraging. They had the momentum in the late stages of that game but we managed to grind them down with some decent team defence. A decent ugly win. I don't really rate our wins against Carlton and Hawthorn as highly even though they were enjoyable games to watch.

I would have traded our Blues and Hawks win for a win v Cats last year.

We pushed the Cats hard too.

Our game v the Pies was good too.