Thoughts on the Geelong game

[jenny61_99]

Absolutely amazing game. I've got to make sense of my hastily scrawled notes before I put anything in depth. But just to kick us off:

• A GREAT team effort tonight.
• A great effort by the Coach - loved to see his nurturing of the young guys on the bench and his absolute passion as he came off the ground.

Back with more soon.

 

[Twist_of_Lemon]

the young guys on the bench

I love Maric's barracking from the bench after a goal.

 

[Damp Squarie]

Johncocks tackle on Ablett was SENSATIONAL

The crowd had my telly vibrating great support!!!!!!

Great 4 quarter pressure was cool:

Reillys job on Ablett magnificent

 

[taylor_walker_13]

It was ****ing AWESOME

 

[spexau]

Probably the best game of footy I've watched in a looooonng time. Played our hearts out and really took the game on. Henderson was superb. He's so fast and agile and can't be caught. Hats off to Reilly too.

 

[James23]

Changed my tip to Adelaide when I heard the rumour Ablett was out

Ricky Henderson, superb game.. the commentators were labelling him a carbon copy of Walker, but with speed.. which is a pretty good call

Davis down back, so reliable and composed.. if we leave him at CHB we have a future AA.

Taylor Walker, Friday night footy, kicked the important goals, certainly stamping his name on the competition.. Love the passion

Johncock, so clean with his possession

If we play like that for the rest of the year, we'll play finals no doubt

 

[LT80]

I cant remember the crows playing so well, the young players all stood up, they are going to be a serious premiership contender in the years to come with the young team we have. The crowd was excellent the 19th man really helped tonight. Craigy coaching from the bondary is a very big plus.

 

[Crows I Am]

Didn't get to see the first half but our pressure from on Geelong when they had the ball in our forward line was awesome, they couldn't get an easy possesion and turned it over quite a few times resulting in shots on goal. The young guys were awesome. Hendo and sloanes goals in the last were both rippers in the context of the game.

Very promising signs for the next few years

 

[Dogga]

Henderson's run down of Wojcinski...magnificent.
Walker. The Man.
Vince. Stay off the pi55 and stop chasing sheila's - this is what u can do.
Stiffy. AA back pocket if had not missed so many with injury.
Sloane. Brave as they come. So clean below the knees.

Compare that with the first 3 qtrs against the Roos 8 weeks ago. You can't, no comparison. Performances like that re-inforce why I love this club.

 

[Blues_Man]

Nice win
Thought Stiffy was excellent running off half back .
Umpires were giving the Cats everything in the first half and the Crows did well to hold them..and then surge ahead .

 

[StillCrowing]

An absolutely massive effort from the boys tonight. That match will be remembered for a long, long time.

 

[brucetiki]

WE'RE BACK, WE'RE BACK!!!!

Best game of the season (right down to the perfect conditions), and did we come to play or what!!! Despite Stuart Wenn doing everything he possibly could to get Geelong over the line, we were able to overcome some disgraceful umpiring and knock off the top cats!

That has to be the upset of the season!

Oh boy I'm so excited right now!!!

 

[adelaidecrows]

I watched neil craigs interview and I thought he looked emotional. You dont often get to see neil emotional in front of the media he is usually fairly robotic and cliche. it looked to me like he has alot of enthusiasm for the current squad and I think the performance of the youngsters in such an important game blew him away. I think he had a tear in his eye, he was that happy.

David has to be nominated for the rising star. over the past month he has arguable played on the best forward and has towelled them up each time. If he doesnt get it its because Sloan or Henderson stole it from him.

How can the crows not be hard at the ball when they have not just Dangerfield but Sloan absolutly looking to hunt the ball at all costs. its inspirational and it must be infectious.

I beleive the crows wont lose a player now to the gold coast. no player would want to willingly leave a squad that is pumped to go places.

Doesnt Henderson just belong. The man is a natural and he along with Walker and Tippett look set to just tear opposition defences appart.

I also wish to question how could geelong allow 60 inside 50's? Are the crows midfield hugely underestimated due to perhaps a lack of perceived star power.

Any how I am pumped. The rest of the big 4 would have sat up after tonight and thought shit I dont want to play the crows. That I have no doubt. I garuntee they will be praying they dont make the finals.

Think about it, the crows injuries are disapearing and we have Bock, Knights and Porplyzia to come back in. Scary prospect considering how well our side is playing with out them in it.

 

[Jetwa5h]

My first thoughts were wow how good was that, then were are we going to fit Bock and Porps

edit:forgot about Knights

 

[smoovy]

- Firstly unbelievable atmosphere tonight. There were a few spare seats, but another 10,000? WTF?
- Reilly, best game for the club, certainly as a tagger. Curbed Ablett until the last qtr when Ablett went forward.
- VB, starting to come around to the captaincy if he keeps delivering like that. Had him as BOG before halftime.
- Johncock, BOG - no one tackles Ablett like that
- Davis, solid, solid, solid
- Henderson and Walker...explosion in my pants
- Jaensch, thought he was quiet, found out what its like at the top level. Will be better for the run but in hindsight Porps may have delivered more.
- Vince, best game of the year, just pipped by Stiffy for BOG.
- Stevens, wow, you do some nice work then throw it away with some howlers. He should never be allowed to transfer play by foot.
- Dangerfield, contributing but not starring yet. Wish he kicked that goal in the 3rd where he ran along the goal line. It was orgasmic.
- Umpiring - worst and most blatantly biased half (1st) I have seen for some time. Evened up in the 2nd half. Tippett was r*ped everytime the ball went in his area. Quite often he is fending off two defenders and I think the ump has a tendency not to pay it thinking he doesn't deserve to beat two opponents.

 

[dplggr47]

Jaensch's tackle on Ablett (holding the ball) was also superb, because we all know how well Ablett is able to break a tackle. Johncock's tackle on Ablett also excellent. some great goals by Hendo, Walker, Danger, Sloane, etc. also great to see intensity from all players and not just the usual Danger/Sloane. Walker and Henderson were superb. Reilly did a great job on Ablett. Stevens was also good as loose man in defence - reads the play well and is a good contested mark). our backlines really stood up well tonight...and our midfield matched it with Geelong's all-star midfield...and our young forward line were amazing.

best game i've seen in a long time, and also tipped the Crows to win by 10 tonight.

 

[TubbsFarquhar]

WOW!!!! One of the best performances I've seen for a while!

Not one Crow had a poor game in my eyes, everyone played their role. Vince was sensational, please play like that every week. Reilly played his best game for the club and Stiffy's tackle on Ablett was the icing on the cake.

Atmosphere was awesome as well! The crowd was the most vocal it has ever been.

Great victory.

 

[davos44]

First of all, what an inspiring win tonight by the boys.

Neil Craig pumping us up at the end of the game made my bay go absolutely troppo. Great times!

I loved the work of Vince around the ground, him and McKay were the perfect compliment for the Hardball gets of Thompson, Sloane and Danger.

Taylor Walker really stepped up as big Tip was being triple teamed, him and Hendo were the difference between the two sides in the end.

Graham Johncock.... Enough said.

They all did a good job, except for Symes... seemed a bit out of it and coughed up too many aerial contests.

 

[Bockchoy67]

One of the greatest wins in our history. Yes, you can talk about the two premierships, the prelims and semi-finals, but this ranks right up there. We're a young side with a disastrous start to the season, with several kids who had never stood toe with one of the greatest sides of all time in Geelong. We were coming against the best midfield and defence in the game and for us to not only get in front - but to hold it - was just outstanding. I am incredibly proud of the blokes today. Tonight was a very special night for the Adelaide Football Club.

Pressure. Pressure pressure pressure. Drop it off at any stage and the next thing you know the Cats have kicked three in a row. Our attack on the ball - and on the man in possession - was as good as I've seen from the Crows in a long, long time. We were coming up against absolute guns and yet we never took a backwards step. The Cats are so classy and well-drilled with moving the ball out of defence yet countless times tonight we forced them to turn the ball over, purely because of our pressure at the ball-carrier. Our new forward line with speedsters like Jaensch and Henderson have added so much for our ability to keep the ball in and never let the opposition run it out with ease.

I was getting very concerned when the Cats got those two quick goals in the last quarter. I felt like we were going to unravel and let the occasion and pressure get to us, but we held our nerve and that was the most impressive part of tonight. For kids like Walker, Henderson and Sloane to slot crucial goals was fantastic and a real sign that they won't take a backward step. We've got a very exciting future ahead of us and it's because we have players with confidence, dare and a little bit of arrogance. It's exactly what this club needs and why we will be a thread over the next few years, barring another poor run of injuries like we had this year. But I don't even think it was just the injuries. We expected our form to continue from last season but, as the likes of Fremantle and Hawthorn show, you start from scratch every year. It seems like we're finally realising just how hard you have to work to win, and tonight's win really proved that.

Player thoughts:

Bernie Vince - Welcome back young man. That's the performance we were looking for. 32 possessions and 5 clearances is a fantastic return from a kid seriously out of form a few weeks ago. This bloke was getting big numbers earlier in the year but constantly wasted them and just didn't look interested. He really turned it around tonight - the last couple of weeks showed a change in attitude, but tonight showed just why he's so important to us. I think it'll be a case of having to wait until next year for Bernie to progress into the player he should be (same with Porps) but tonight was a great step in that direction.

Simon Goodwin - Having an OUSTANDING last five or six weeks of footy. Racking up disposals at will and just looks sharper than he has for a while. Playing like a man possessed and the decision to retire at the end of the season is allowing him to play with a real freedom and desire to got out on a high. Another 29 touches and so classy with both his work under pressure and his delivery out of defence.

Johncock - FREAK. So underrated by the majority of football 'analysts' who refuse to ever mentioned him when talking about the best defenders in the competition. This bloke's ability to both negate and attack is just phenomenal and is such a cool head under intense pressure.

Stevens - Much maligned (and, more often than not, for good reason) but boy has his last few weeks been good. Cut off so many of Geelong's forward entries and his reading of player is up there with best in our side. Unfortunately he does make crucial errors - both in disposal and giving away frees to the opposition - but I couldn't have asked much more of the Swing Man tonight.

Thompson - Not as prolific as previous weeks but his ability to extract the ball in congestion - as well as get long clearances - is so vital to our work at stoppages.

Van Berlo - Better this week. Kicked a very important goal and racked up touches AND for the most part used the ball well. Did some very classy things and it's good to see him maintaining decent form.

Mackay - Boy is it good to have this bloke back. Isn't as prolific as some of the other mids in our team but his use of it is elite. His run and carry adds so much to the speed of our game and I love having him in the side.

Henderson - Another 20+ touch and multiple goal game from the kid. Just an outstanding effort. Dropped a few sitters but for the most part was very composed and is just so quick. His opponents don't realise just how fast he is for a tall bloke and his pressure on the ball-carrier adds so much to our forward line. Amazing goal in the last quarter.

Douglas - Solid game. Now that our other mids are improving, he isn't getting quite as much of it as he was a month ago but still adds a lot to our run and carry, plus he's a clearance machine with another lazy 5. Just needs to tidy up that disposal, it really hurts us sometimes and he's barely above 60% efficiency these days.

Reilly - Credit goes to the lad for turning his game around and his job on Ablett was OUSTANDING. But can he ever kick a goal?

Dangerfield - 18 touches is a higher-than-average return and his pace was once again a feature tonight. Didn't quite work for him all the time but I thought he did quite well tonight considering. Attack on the ball was once again fantastic but what else do you expect from Patrick.

Jaensch - Absolute hard nut who loves the in-and-under stuff and his mix of defence and offence really makes him a valuable weapon in the forward line. Didn't get a goal but it's his other work that he him a real contributor tonight. His ability to hit the target also makes him so damaging when he has the ball.

Walker - Lacked touch early but once he got that goal in the second quarter he was excellent. Finished with four, looked very lively and boy are his hands great to watch when he's on song. Goal from the boundary was vinatge Tex and his ability to nail that last goal under intense pressure was a credit to the bloke. He loves the big stage and this was the biggest he's been on yet. Very exciting to see him stand up.

Davis - His reading of the player is phenomenal for someone so young. Absolutely brilliant at 1-on-1 contests and disposal by foot is fantastic for a such a tall bloke. Just needs to watch opponents getting sizeable leads on him.

Sloane - You little ripper. Not a huge game by disposal count but his hands in close are so good to watch. His ability to nail those two goals, including the match-winner, shows how much character this kid has. Didn't let the pressure get to him and stood up when it counted. Love him.

Tippett - Not his night tonight but a fair bit of that can be credited to the umpires. Thought his attack on the ball and ability to create a contest was crucial in scoring several goals. Shows that you don't have to have a big night of possession and goals to have an impact as a forward.

Griffin and Maric - Both battled well and had some beautiful taps. Follow-up work was promising. Thought Maric looked off his feet later in the game and made some poor errors, but was such a tiring affair that I can't be too harsh on him.

Symes - Not a huge game and I thought we tried too often to hit him on the wing under pressure. Does add a lot to our side though and thought he was pretty composed tonight whereas last year he would've coughed it up in crucial moments.

McLeod - Losing his ability to run-out games but he's been gone for a while so I'll let it be. Thought he was lively in the first quarter but slowly evaporated after that. Such a class act but can't let himself go to ground too often, he doesn't have the recovery anymore to be doing that.

Such a great win.

 

[Dandy_GO]

They all did a good job, except for Symes... seemed a bit out of it and coughed up too many aerial contests.

He was a bit up and down, but there was one 30 second patch in the 3rd quarter on the half forward flank where he showed his value. Busted through a pack of 3 or 4 geelong players at top speed, dished off the ball, an then, when it was turned over a few seconds later, managed to get it to the boundary when it looked like Geelong were away. It was a superb bit of play. But yeah, not BoG but certainly did his part.

 

[sbenno]

Glorious win, simply glorious.

Amazing, I feel privileged to have been there.

 

[Vantz]

Great effort by the boys this week

 

[footy4ever]

OMG where's the 'Jizzed in my pants' song when you need it? Classic game.

 

[DirrtyBee]

**** Yeah!!!!!

 

[smoovy]

Douglas - Solid game. Now that our other mids are improving, he isn't getting quite as much of it as he was a month ago but still adds a lot to our run and carry, plus he's a clearance machine with another lazy 5. Just needs to tidy up that disposal, it really hurts us sometimes and he's barely above 60% efficiency these days.

Good point here. He does give his own skills enough credit...if that makes sense. I have noticed that he tries to do too much with his kicks in trying to hit the perfect low daisy cutting stab pass. He needs to throw this out the window and just let the ball come more gently of his boot and let the leading player run on to it.