Game Day Crows vs Crows trial match in Port Lincoln

[BunjiMac]

Rachele a bit quiet, which was perhaps the only disappointment.

Great to see the young midfielders looking solid but would love to have seen Soligo.

Dawson is currently our only proven elite midfielder, but the ability to surround him with the right balance of midfielders will be crucial to our success.

In an ideal world Curtin becomes the second big bodied skillful midfielder who could lead the first rotation.

Your then have Dawson (big) Laird (workhorse) Rankine (speed and xfactor) followed by Curtin (big) Berry/Crouch (workhorse) and Pedlar/Rachele (speed and xfactor) as your 2 key rotating midfield groups.

Obviously these groups will mix and match depending on opposition and ideally have even more people cycle through including Soligo.

As the older midfielders age you would probably see new combinations feature.

Dawson, Pedler and Rankine combo in the future would be incredible.

Likewise a Curtin, Soligo and Rachele.

 

[FR0GGY]

Unfortunately we a Dawson injury away from a disaster.

 

[Bearded Clam]

Laird to half back, simple. The one thing Nicksy hasn't really done is develop young guys enough in the middle. Rankine, Pedlar, Soligo, Dowling, Edwards, Rachele, Berry. Should be getting the push

On SM-S711B using BigFooty.com mobile app

https://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=91509
Its a big “thanks, but no thanks” from me on any ideas of laird going back to HB..

We have far better options that use the ball a thousand times better than Rory “kick it to the moon and back” Laird at half back..

Milera, jones, MM, Nank, Curtin, Hinge, smith… all far better ball users and players that can play that defensive rebound off half back better.

Laird either plays inside mid.. or he gets pushed out of the 22.

And his inside mid spot shouldnt be guaranteed either given the talent potential we have building..

He just doesnt do anywhere near enough damage to the opposition. Gets shitloads of touches but does little with them.

Massive burner of the footy.

 

[beartoo]

Unfortunately we a Dawson injury away from a disaster.

Wow, Froggy. Far too negative. We are certainly a much better side with him in it, but we'd win more than we'd lose without him.

On SM-A115F using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[ABAB]

BigFooty - Apps on Google Play
Its a big “thanks, but no thanks” from me on any ideas of laird going back to HB..

We have far better options that use the ball a thousand times better than Rory “kick it to the moon and back” Laird at half back..

Milera, jones, MM, Nank, Curtin, Hinge, smith… all far better ball users and players that can play that defensive rebound off half back better.

Laird either plays inside mid.. or he gets pushed out of the 22.

And his inside mid spot shouldnt be guaranteed either given the talent potential we have building..

He just doesnt do anywhere near enough damage to the opposition. Gets shitloads of touches but does little with them.

Massive burner of the footy.

I don't recall his ball use was that bad when he played there 5-6 years ago and made AA a few times but the game has changed a lot since then.

 

[FR0GGY]

Wow, Froggy. Far too negative. We are certainly a much better side with him in it, but we'd win more than we'd lose without him.

On SM-A115F using BigFooty.com mobile app

We’ve lost more than we’ve won with him….

 

[Multiballz]

But how is it trending?

Who cares, we're going to do better without him.

 

[50BC]

Yep I think 3 things happened

Matt finally changed his game style especially with ball in hand

Matt got super fit and sharper with his movement compared to 2020-2022

Matt came in and had Dawson next to him , I’d love to know how many times he fed Dawson as a %

I'd say the 3rd thing there is the most important, although I think it's clear the 2nd thing happened too. I'd suggest the first thing is more a consequence of the other 2.
Our inability to use Matt properly was primarily a list management issue, ie we didn't have an appropriate mix of midfielders. In old fashioned language, our midfielders were all centremen types and no rovers. That's why I'd love to see guys like Rankine get some genuine midfield time in real games.

 

[Eddie Murphy]

This you?

Who on earth watches a preseason intraclub of another club so they can reassure themselves they’re not finishing above their own team? Taking February premiers to the next level

 

[Golumless]

To be honest if Crouch performs like he did at the back end of last year, with his ball use and accumulation, and if Berry hits form this year with speed and decent disposal, I would be worried if I was Laird and Sloane

Why on earth would you be worried if you were Laird? Even a Berry at peak performance at this point of his development curve is just a poor mans Laird. We're hoping he's Laird two point oh.

If it comes down to one of Crouch or Laird getting flicked, it will always be Crouch.

 

[Cap]

If he does.. forward line will be pretty hard to beat.

Tex, Fogarty, Rachele, Thilthorpe, roaming Rankine, Pedlar, Keays and Murphy

As a long term Crows fan I am not liking this sense of anticipation your post implys.

 

[bigman]

This you?

Old mate posted similar in a couple threads over there, think he may need to relax.

 

[Golumless]

28 year old vs 30 year old, might not be that cut and dried into the future.

They're too close in age to really differentiate, especially when Laird is genuinely the better player. Not to say Matt doesn't have value, but his is padding out the inside midfield rotations with another reliable clearance winner to pair with Laird - which is something Adelaide is rather desperate for.

Even at the point we're seeing Laird decline, we're likely coming into it with the question of if we can replace both, not just Rory because Matt is 30-31 at that point and we're looking at a 23-24 Soligo, Pedlar and Rachele. We're also not at a point where we are building for the future because a 26 year old Dawson announced himself as that kind of midfielder you can build a proper flag push around. It's more a case of can we consolidate what we have into a genuine 'win now' push.

 

[Golumless]

If he does.. forward line will be pretty hard to beat.

Tex, Fogarty, Rachele, Thilthorpe, roaming Rankine, Pedlar, Keays and Murphy

That said, not much changes from last year, even with a confident Thilthorpe. After all, there isn't a whole lot of room to go up from 1st place. In fact, we should probably expect this sector to weaken in the next couple, what with Tex potentially retiring and hopefully one of Rankine/Rachele getting considerable midfield minutes.

 

[Golumless]

Unfortunately we a Dawson injury away from a disaster.

Absolutely 100% correct.

This a team built for Jordan Dawson. Whilst he's healthy, the sky is the limit, but an LTI destroys any chance of Adelaide making a deep run. No matter what happens in 2024, and no matter how good, i.e. Rankine becomes a star mid, Thilthorpe the next star CHF, whatever, changes that.

 

[KeaysyInTheBowlsy]

View attachment 1908132

Tex tells a great story about Stiffy replacing his protein shakes with Milo.

 

[spenze]

View attachment 1908132

Stiffy looks like he's just turned up to pre season...

 

[Crows I Am]

I thought Berry looked very solid in the bits of the stream I Saw,

Agree - Nicks "will back the senior boys in" early in season but really hope Berry gets a proper go to play inside mid at some stage as lets be honest, behind him there's not much ready to go to play Mid with Schoenburg injured other than raw kids.

If Berry keeps up his pre season form he will get games this year, he is just a bit limited where he can play. He is a great depth option at the moment if any of Laird, Crouch or Pedlar gets injured. But I can't see him displacing any of them in the round 1 side.

All good sides need good depth though so it is very handy having him there ready to go if needed (assuming he keeps the form going through the season)

 

[bigman]

Mate of mine had some free time today so went through the game in a bit finer detail, the first half anyway. There were a couple of small pieces of play not captured by the stream plus a moment here or there where the player was virtually impossible to distinguish (in particular a behind scored from the pocket by the blue team in the first qtr, he gave it to rankine but it could have been rachele) so it’s definitely not 100 percent accurate but it should be reasonably close.

First half stats (AF is fantasy score)

Rankine - 10 kicks, 4 hb, 1 mark, 3 tackles, 1 goal, 3 behinds, 1 free for, 63 AF
Sholl - 8 kicks, 6 hb, 4 marks, 2 tackles, 1 goal, 62 AF
Murphy - 7 kicks, 5 hb, 3 marks, 2 tackles, 1 goal, 1 behind, 1 free for, 56 AF
Walker - 4 kicks, 2 hb, 4 marks, 3 tackles, 2 goals, 2 hit outs, 54 AF
Crouch - 7 kicks, 5 hb, 2 marks, 3 tackles, 49 AF
Smith - 11 kicks, 2 hb, 3 marks, 1 behind, 47 AF
Hinge - 5 kicks, 4 hb, 4 marks, 3 tackles, 1 free against, 44 AF
McHenry - 6 kicks, 3 hb, 4 marks, 1 tackle, 1 goal, 1 behind, 1 free against, 44 AF
Strachan - 5 kicks, 3 hb, 1 mark, 3 tackles, 7 hit outs, 1 free for, 44 AF
Pedlar - 5 kicks, 1 hb, 2 marks, 2 tackles, 2 goals, 43 AF
Dawson - 9 kicks, 2 hb, 1 mark, 1 tackle, 38 AF
Keays - 5 kicks, 4 hb, 3 marks, 1 goal, 38 AF
Jones - 4 kicks, 3 hb, 3 marks, 1 tackle, 1 goal, 37 AF
Berry - 1 kick, 9 hb, 1 mark, 3 tackles, 1 free for, 37 AF
Thilthorpe - 4 kicks, 4 marks, 2 goals, 1 hit out, 37 AF
Parnell - 8 kicks, 2 hb, 3 marks, 37 AF
Cook - 4 kicks, 1 hb, 3 marks, 1 tackle, 2 goals, 1 free against, 36 AF
Hamill - 5 kicks, 3 hb, 2 marks, 1 tackle, 31 AF
Nankervis - 4 kicks, 5 hb, 2 marks, 1 free for, 29 AF
Gollant - 3 kicks, 1 mark, 1 tackle, 2 goals, 1 behind, 29 AF
Dowling - 6 kicks, 2 hb, 2 marks, 1 free against, 28 AF
Rachele - 5 kicks, 2 marks, 1 tackle, 1 goal, 1 free for, 1 free against, 27 AF
Edwards - 4 kicks, 4 handballs, 1 mark, 1 tackle, 27 AF
Curtin - 4 kicks, 3 hb, 1 mark, 1 tackle, 25 AF
Keane - 4 kicks, 2 marks, 1 tackle, 22 AF
Michalanney - 4 kicks, 3 marks, 21 AF
Borlase - 3 kicks, 2 hb, 1 mark, 1 tackle, 1 free for, 21 AF
O’Brien - 3 hb, 19 hit outs, 2 frees against, 19 AF
Taylor - 1 kick, 2 hb, 4 tackles, 2 frees against, 17 AF
Worrell - 1 kick, 2 hb, 2 tackles, 1 free for, 16 AF
Burgess - 1 kick, 2 hb, 1 mark, 1 tackle, 1 hit out, 15 AF
Himmelberg - 2 kicks, 2 hb, 1 mark, 13 AF
Gallagher - 1 kick, 3 hb, 2 marks, 1 free against, 12 AF

Top disposals:
14 - Rankine, Sholl
13 - Smith
12 - Murphy, Crouch
11 - Dawson
10 - Berry, Parnell

CBA’s (out of 18)

18 - O’Brien, Dawson, Berry
17 - Rankine
15 - Crouch, Strachan
9 - Rachele, Taylor, Edwards
7 - Pedlar
2 - Burgess

Unfortunately the third quarter is basically a write off because of the zoomed out camera + stream quality, while the uploaded replay is missing the start of the final term so stats weren’t taken down for it.

 

[The Perfect Stranger]

View attachment 1908132

Two of my favorites. Stiffy and McLeod running out of the back line in 2005/2006 was exhilarating football.

 

[WaynesWorld19]

Unfortunately the third quarter is basically a write off because of the zoomed out camera + stream quality, while the uploaded replay is missing the start of the final term so stats weren’t taken down for it.

Bickley stated at the beginning of the telecast ....the Coaches had requested cameras be zoomed out, to facilitate the review process & player positioning

 

[FR0GGY]

Bickley stated at the beginning of the telecast ....the Coaches had requested cameras be zoomed out, to facilitate the review process & player positioning

If the average fan can’t tell who is who, it’s too far away for the coaches surely?

 

[WaynesWorld19]

If the average fan can’t tell who is who, it’s to far away for the coaches surely?

It wasn't too bad a viewing on my 65" .....Coaches would be watching a lot in slow motion, stop & starting

 

[Sanders]

Yes, that's why he is the coach and we are just simpleton thinking we know more than him We don't watch and talk to M.Crouch closely during training sessions. It's like when he saw something in Thilthorpe during training so recall him and he had an excellent game the following week and that's why they earn the big buck as senior coach.

ChatGPT still has its flaws

 

[Sanders]

View attachment 1908132

Stiffy still at his playing weight