I think he works well when put in there as a circuit breaker after a few clearances have gone against us. He's too important to our intercept and transition game to move from the wing too much.
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We still have one area of game we need to improve.
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Golumless
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Yup, which is why I said Matt Crouch
After all, he's the most productive player at clearance on our list who isn't named Rankine.
Golumless
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No one is too important to move from wing to inside mid.
Golumless
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However it's a misconception to think we don't need clearance. This team has shown a few times it can be be made uncompetitive there, and that's the way to beat us in a tight game.
Port did it, Brisbane did it and Hawks did it. We desperately need more in our inside game.
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Golumless
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Last edited:
I think its important not to panic when it comes to our midfield.
Being totally reliant on that aspect to win a game causes problems of its own, the Bulldogs most likely wont make finals with one of the all time great midfields.
Geelong lost Holmes in the Prelim last year and they basically fell to pieces.
Suns are too reliant on Rowell and Anderson to win the game for them.
The national AFL media have also acknowledged that defence win premierships and we ended up 2nd (due to bad umpiring!), but we are 3rd in attack.
I'm sure Brisbane is worried about their attack, Collingwood their reliance on aging stars back and forward, Geelong their soft run and how Brisbane and GWS took them to the cleaners.
I agree
The average stats still show that most of the finalists are in the same boat as us when it comes to their midfields and clearances:
Centre - Crows = 9th with 12.0 (Cats = 4th with 12.8, Frem = 5th, Suns = 7th, Lions = 8th)
Stoppage - Crows = 5th with 26.8 (Lions = 1st with 28.1, Suns = 2nd, all other finalists are below us at 10th to 14th)
1st Possession at Stoppage - Crows = 10th with 41.4 (Suns = 3rd, Lions = 4th, all other finalists are below us at 11th to 16th)
1st Possession to Clearance - Crows = 4th (76.5%) (Suns = 2nd, Lions = 3rd, all other finalists are below us at 7th to Pies at 16th)
We are still top in:
Post Clearance CP
Post Clearance GB Gets
Cont Poss
Cont Poss % (40.6%)
Intercepts
GB Gets
We are 2nd in:
Crumbs
Hard Ball Gets
And 4th in Loose Ball Gets.
I'm not sure the clearance game is all that the so-called experts crack on about.
We are also there or there abouts compared to the other finalists and that is all that matters - not what Norf did to us on the weekend in clearances (mind you we still won playing against 4 extra men and not getting out of 2nd gear and clearly playing a no injuries or suspensions game - except if you name is Laird - lucky bastard).
We also won 18 games and finished a game clear on top with this so called weakness.
The game has evolved much since some of these commentating dinosaurs played it and clearances by midfielders are no longer the "be all end all" - at least statistically!
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