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AFL Premiership Round 16
Adelaide V Geelong
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Friday Jul 16
AAMI Stadium 8:10 PM (Local Time) 8:40 PM (EST Time)
Adelaide Forecast Adelaide Radar
Ladder:
Season Win/Loss
Adelaide V Geelong
________________________________________________________
Friday Jul 16
AAMI Stadium 8:10 PM (Local Time) 8:40 PM (EST Time)
Adelaide Forecast Adelaide Radar
Ladder:
Season Win/Loss
The Story so far
Another year, another season at the top for Geelong. Searching for a fourth Grand Final apperance and third Premiership in four years, even the occasional loss no longer shatters the air of invincibility about this team. A year older certainly, starting to look a little rusty around the bows and stern, and a weapon or two in need of calibration, but a look beneath the decks quickly sets you straight on just how well the engine room is still running.
For Adelaide, the story is a little different. After the retirement of some old stalwarts, a new breed was conceived to work alongside the last of the old brigade, powerful and advanced. Sadly, it all went wrong. Strikes on the docks? Failure to properly integrate systems? Who knows for certain, but while it still may become one of the most powerful units around in the next season or two, right now they're still a few systems short of battle ready.
Line Ups
Adelaide
B:
HB:
C:
HF:
F:
Foll:
I/C:
Emg:
Geelong
B:
HB:
C:
HF:
F:
Foll:
I/C:
Emg:
Key Players
Adelaide
Tippett shoots for goal at Subiaco
Kurt Tippett
Starting to show some real form in recent weeks, Kurt Tippett is the battleship of the Crows forward line; an immense man, he has what is quite possibly the only weapon that can trouble Scarlett - height and reach. While the battlecruiser of Taylor Walker, and the Cruiser Squadron of Henderson and Dangerfield may lead a jaunty dance amongst their opposite numbers, Tippett putting scores on the board and forcing Scarlett to abandon his rebounding will be far more decisive.
Thompson emerges from beneath the pack to fire off a handball
Scott Thompson
The prime mover at the heart of the Adelaide midfield, after an injury-dogged start to the season Thompson has managed to put that behind him and has ceased running silent and deep. That he no longer has to shoulder the entire burden himself, with the growing form of Reilly and Doughty, the raw power of Dangerfield and the sudden but welcome addition of young grunt Rory Sloane, has also freed Thompson up and given him enough space to start extracting the ball in his classy way. Now comes the test - can he keep the form up, and have an impact on the game, against the best midfield in the business, while wearing the attention of the leagues second best tagger, the current mayor and future MP for Geelong, the Honourable Cameron Ling?
Geelong
Bartel gracefully patrols the midfield
Jimmy Bartel
Typically the destroyer in chief when it comes to Geelong versus Adelaide, there's little that Bartel has not achieved against the Crows lineup. Lacking the profile and the stats of Gary Ablett perhaps, but this dreamboat has done more damage to the Crows single handed than any Geelong player since God walked amongst us. Almost certain to be screened by one of Reilly or Doughty, what will happen this time around?
A new, and yet senior, opponent enters the field
James Podsiadly
Perhaps the newest element to this tussle, if the J-Pod is to have an impact on this game, which he might need to do if the Geelong midfield forgets their kicking boots, he is going to need to do something that none of the current crop of Geelong key forwards has ever really done before - get a hold of Ben Rutten.
The X Factor
Jason Porplyzia
The Porpoise has had a bad year. Although hardly alone in suffering from an injury plagued pre and early season, it's taken him a lot longer than others to find touch, and to adjust to the presence of a second quality tall in Taylor Walker in the forward line. After a spell in the magoos, he has bounced back with a pair of ok games ranging from half back through the middle and the forward line. Can he escape notice in the shuffle for long enough to regain some of that 2009 "AA spot stolen because the selectors were too gutless to not pick a dead set ordinary Judd and put Harvey in the position he actually played" form?
Brad Ottens
Is he fit? Will he be fit? Can he fit in a medium family saloon? Spending more and more time in dry dock as each season passes, he may be forced to test his fitness as the less capable Adelaide ruckmen try the best strategy available to them and work him around the ground.
Result
30 points to...
AFL Round 16 Adelaide V Geelong
