List Mgmt. The Great Crouch Predicament

[Viva la Mattner]

After last nights it’s plain for all to see the Crouch Bro’s aren’t taking us forward
What do we do with them....

- Keep Matt and let Brad walk?
- Trade Matt along with letting Brad walk?
- Re-sign Brad and back them in

I’m for letting Brad walk can become a great compo pick
Effectively can give us 2x top 4 picks along with the GWS 1st

Trying to get Hately back too would help, adds size , strength and poise to our mid
Hately, Jones, M.Crouch, Sloane and our top draft picks looks much better then Sloane , M.Crouch, B.Crouch

 

[Sidthehat]

Did the 6x6 change hurt them more than any players in competition? Other than motivation, cant see why they could compete with any midfield in competition until last year and now get smashed by any.

 

[Viva la Mattner]

Did the 6x6 change hurt them more than any players in competition? Other than motivation, cant see why they could compete with any midfield in competition until last year and now get smashed by any.

Thier lack of 2 way running has been severely exposed
Both a poor mans Scott Thompson ATM

 

[Greenac]

Clearly a duo that can do well in a good side but not ones to fight in the trenches when the going gets tough.

They are basically robbing others of vital minutes and prolonging our suffering as we won't have the requisite quality around them in time.

Trade both while they have some value.

 

[glengowan]

There was a moment last night where the ball was there to get and Matt stood back and didn’t go in and get it.

I think it’s a coaching thing.

He is the best in and under we have, but they all can’t be that type of player. I think Matt has been asked to change his game from being the instinctive getter of the ball, to adjust to being slightly outside as well.

Sloane and Brad can play slight outside games, but Matt is purely in and under and is bloody good at it.

For this year at least, I’d be fast tracking as many young kids through with Matt as the main man in there and Sloane and Brad playing less on-ball time and more up forward or outside.

With the predicament the Crows are in, I wouldn’t be in a rush to sign either brother long term or for overs as it’s clearly not working.

But, I think they are poorly coached/structured and that’s not helping.

 

[kulak]

Matt >> Brad. Wins the same share contested but uses it much better. Doesn’t have the injury history.

I do think a really non-competitive year will lower both of their stocks. A full year from Brad and he’s a chance to get us end of first round compo, but any kind of groin etc flare up and he will be into Rockliff end of second territory.

 

[Golumless]

Did the 6x6 change hurt them more than any players in competition? Other than motivation, cant see why they could compete with any midfield in competition until last year and now get smashed by any.

It's more they just don't gel at all. To get Crouches and Sloane to be able to compete and function properly, they've always needed to be paired with a big-bodied midfielder (i.e. Greenwood, or CEY).

The second we've removed that, at any time, they get torn to shreds.

We do need to remove one of them from the mix, and bring in size and pace. Unfortunately, trading Greenwood looks like a shocking decision considering. Personally, I'd be fast-tracking O'Connor.

 

[jackster83]

Matt isn't prepared to get his hands dirty now he no longer has (peak) Jacobs giving him silver service. He stands there waiting for someone else (usually his brother) to feed him the ball. He either has an attitude adjustment and starts burrowing in, or he continues to play like a poor man's Sam Mitchell, in which case, we trade him.

Brad is the better player but just has no composure whatsoever. Capable of awesome passages of play, but lacks footy smarts and polish, and can be selfish and undisciplined at times. If we were a good side, I'd keep him, but the question marks over his durability mean I'd probably look to let him go.

Collingwood (eventually) got better by shipping off the selfish players on their list, even though a number of them were AA, B&F winners, etc. We probably need to do the same.

 

[Scorpus]

When you look at our list profile, I think we can only move on one.

Sloane is 30, and if both Crouches leave, where does that leave our midfield in two years? Do we really want to see a midfield of just 24 year olds and under, most of which have barely any pure mid experience? With essentially Wayne Milera the most experienced?

Matt Crouch is the proven better player. His issues seem fixable, we know he can be a ball winner and his disposal is reasonable. Brad, on the other hand, will never regain his pace and without it he's just a bog average mid with substandard skills.

I'm comfortable keeping Matt and moving on Brad

 

[Thetrader15]

Matt just doesn't have a defensive bone in his body. He doesn't push back or run hard defensively, and his one sidedbess is being found out.

I'm in the trade boat now. I think he has more value to other teams than us. A pick in the teens is a good result.

Brad us one of the few who defensively runs (Sloane too), and he's scrappy, but tries hard.

If we get a start of first rd compo though, I'll drive him to the airport

 

[Golumless]

When you look at our list profile, I think we can only move on one.

Sloane is 30, and if both Crouches leave, where does that leave our midfield in two years? Do we really want to see a midfield of just 24 year olds and under, most of which have barely any pure mid experience? With essentially Wayne Milera the most experienced?

Matt Crouch is the proven better player. His issues seem fixable, we know he can be a ball winner and his disposal is reasonable. Brad, on the other hand, will never regain his pace and without it he's just a bog average mid with substandard skills.

I'm comfortable keeping Matt and moving on Brad

I would say that's the best path. It's also easier to move Brad on at this current time with him being out of contract.

Matt is definitely fixable. It's really just a case of getting him on the inside more and building a capable midfield around him. Like Scott Thompson, he's not a star, but a good foil to more damaging players.

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Why do our players keep getting worse?

This isn't an isolated Crouch issue

 

[SugarShane]

Put them in the Laird basket. No real care where the ball ends or intent to improve our game situation up as long as they get the disposal counted on the stats sheet.

 

[dylan123]

Why do our players keep getting worse?

This isn't an isolated Crouch issue

Yeah kind of feels like our players don't have the will/want to improve like most elite sports competitors do - or at least from what we're seeing of them.

Like it's really hard to say how either of these two have improved any aspect of their game in the past couple of seasons when they should be hitting their very prime. They're not alone at Adelaide and I don't know where we look. New HC, new midfield coach etc so it's not like one individual has told these guys to play a particular way as they're likely gone.

Someone like Matt needs to get back to doing what he does best in the inside and really should have been working on building a proper tank so he can start to add more defensively in recent years.

Brad is someone we hoped would turn into a game winner, maybe a bit of a goal kicking midfielder. Instead there's rarely any highlights from him at all, he just handballs it to his brother.

Really disappointing to see the lack of progression in both of these two in recent years given the talent they have and the expectations many of us had where they'd be.

You're not wrong though, it's certainly not just these two. You'd have a hard time naming guys that have truely broken out as players for us in the past couple of seasons which is really alarming.

 

[TryAnHit]

Is crazy a midfield of sloane / crouch x 2 can get crushed in clearances

 

[Golumless]

Why do our players keep getting worse?

This isn't an isolated Crouch issue

It's probably every player who played in the 2017 grand final.

Probably a case of buying into the hype, having a really selfish culture around the club fester (Matt Crouch calling for the ball outside of the 50 from McHenry was disgusting), poor coaching and structures etc.

Nicks has got a huge job ahead of him to reverse that.

 

[Interloperer]

Is it that they are entirely reliant on players rubbished and disposed of for not being the Crouch brothers?

or is it that the team is currently atrociously coached and nobody could possibly play well in the current situation?

 

[Danger in Texas]

Keep Matt, move on Brad. We can't have a midfield post-Sloane that is so inexperienced that it gives shades of Carlton circa 2015-17. It's even starting to look like it a bit now

I'd argue right now that Brad has greater league-wide value. Get the first round compo for him (if Frawley can get it, so can he), and keep Matt as a leader around the club during our rebuild

 

[lamby]

It's more they just don't gel at all. To get Crouches and Sloane to be able to compete and function properly, they've always needed to be paired with a big-bodied midfielder (i.e. Greenwood, or CEY).

The second we've removed that, at any time, they get torn to shreds.

We do need to remove one of them from the mix, and bring in size and pace. Unfortunately, trading Greenwood looks like a shocking decision considering. Personally, I'd be fast-tracking O'Connor.

In every other club the Crouch brothers ARE the big bodied players- inside mids.

Where WE are getting smashed is pace!!! We have none! Another slow plodder is NOT what we need.

 

[Golumless]

In every other club the Crouch brothers ARE the big bodied players- inside mids.

Where WE are getting smashed is pace!!! We have none! Another slow plodder is NOT what we need.

Brad yes. Matt no.

Matt is a fantastic inside midfielder (well, was, though we're having a hopefully fixable regression) however he's been successful despite his size, not because of it.

You name any area, we're getting smashed in the midfield. On the inside? Despite the experience we boast, we're last in differentials with clearances. Pace? Very little, though we have the players on the list to offer this. Work rate? Right now we look like a team who have been broken by football, not enjoying it.

The only time in the last 3 years a midfield lead by Brad Crouch, Matt Crouch and Rory Sloane have not been humiliated at the coalface is when they have been paired with a Greenwood, or a CEY. Size is a point of difference and one our midfield lacks. Whilst I am ok with letting either go, letting both CEY and Greenwood go was a mistake.

 

[kulak]

Keep Matt, move on Brad. We can't have a midfield post-Sloane that is so inexperienced that it gives shades of Carlton circa 2015-17. It's even starting to look like it a bit now

I'd argue right now that Brad has greater league-wide value. Get the first round compo for him (if Frawley can get it, so can he), and keep Matt as a leader around the club during our rebuild

They changed the rules after Frawley.

Revealed: What it takes to earn first-round free agency compensation

Clubs now have a rough idea of how free agency compo is decided

www.nmfc.com.au

 

[SuperBashBros]

I think some posters here are dead right about him being told to change his game. He has said it himself a while back on FiveAA that hes working on his outside game.

I say he goes back to digging his head in and getting out those handballs to the likes of Smith, Jones and even his brother.

Its his natural game and what got him an AA jumper.

 

[whitey_1975]

Trade both. Tank hard.

 

[CrowsB4hoes]

 

[Murray2503]

Would trade both. Just hope they have good years to increase their value. Will be a win win for player and club for them to move. Nothing against them personally but they are not the right players structurally for a developing club. Speed, good disposal and two way running should be what our midfield needs to become. Both will be not around for the next flag and their value will only decrease. The time is now.