Zaka close to most improved for mine and is legitimately our 2nd most important midfielder. Continues to impress. @riolio will be super happy with his trade value.
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I might be imagining it, and super-imposing my own opinions as an overlay, but I almost see him âresign himselfâ to make the tackle, and then commit.
He was certainly smart to hold off on his contract, thatâs for sure.
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Oh I agree, he doesnât look like he wants to tackle⌠But when he does, they always stick.
We desperately need another quality midfielder. Merrett wouldâve obviously been handy however he alone wouldnât have changed the result.
Who knows how weâre going to get that for 2018 though. Either a miracle trade or someone like Parish or Langford just explodes to become elite.
So any player who get tackled now just has to make sure his head touches the ground and he will get a free kick!
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there were far more vicious sling tackles by crows players, also Tippa got sat on 4 times in a row.
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Nothing will be worse than picking Howlett as a small forward. Ever.
What about Hocking as a small forward?
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A disappointing but predictable result. Adelaide are a good team and, to be honest, weâre a bit of a way off.as yet. Yes, we could have done with Hartleyâs height last night but he hasnât played well for a few weeks.
The real reason we lost is they dominated the midfield most of the time, they moved the ball quickly and accurately and we did not apply enough pressure. We seem to run out of puff after 20 minutes in each quarter and allow our opponents to score junk time-goals far too often. We didnât get much from our small forwards: Walla did a few good things, Collyer did little except kick a goal late in the game and Green did vey little. Yes we did miss Zerrett and Raz. Sadly, we wonât get the latter back this year.
Good things: McGrathâs game on Betts - seven touches, one behind, no goals; Hooker rediscovering his goal-kicking; never giving up. Had we beaten Brisbane at home, Carlton the first time and Sydney, weâd be sure to be playing final . Now it looks like we wonât.
We MUST recruit a good mid-fielder (preferably two) and some more run. Weâve got to get some players who can put pressure on opposition midfielders.
Thereâs a fair bit to do before we are a genuine contender.
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NatRat as a ruckman? In a final?
It really felt like a strange result as I felt with some of our surges at different times during the game had us able to stay in the game for most of the night.
It seemed like the final 43pt margin felt more like a 3-4 goal loss, but upon reflection, it actually should have been a 10-13 goal loss given the amount of scoring shots (33-20) and inside 50âs (62-47) that the Crows generated.
Also the Crows missed a number of absolute sitters last night, the Lynch one being a standout along with a couple from Jenkins and McGovern.
Hookerâs goals were all from on or outside the 50 arc that would normally at best be a 50/50 chance but all went through, fortunately for us, much like Johanissen did against us two weeks ago.
Stewartâs set shot long range goal in the last was also at best a 50/50 chance that just happened to get nailed.
This game should have really been a lot uglier statistically on the scoreboard than it actually showed and we were very lucky that our percentage didnât take a massive battering.
But it also doesnât help when they start a game with a goal that they shouldnât have got too after Gleeson punching the ball into McGovernâs lap for them to be paid a mark 20 mtrs out directly in front.
Still though, I believe that the result may have masked far deeper problems with our list as many have alluded to in this thread already.
We just cannot compete with highly skilled midfields of the top teams that have clean, quick and slick transference of the ball with the type of midfield we currently have unfortunately.
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Draft picks plus Francis or Langford
Josh Green in the middle at times during the last two weeks? No endurance or pace over longer distances. Bring Mutch in. Comments!
Draft picks are fine, except we get No 8 or 9 - thatâs before the AFL give their misbegotten lovechild Gold Coast a couple of priority picks because theyâve done so badly despite all the money and priority picks theyâve already had.
So much for a âlevel playing-fieldâ!
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Weâve played a 32yo star past his best and a bunch of 26-28yo B and C-graders in our midfield all damned year because theyâve supposedly been the fittest and best options, but the joke is theyâre actually not that good or that fit. Just as we all knew 6 months ago.
The 32yo is, surprisingly, pulling the pin, after being carried for big chunks of the year in hopes of re-finding some form. And between him and Myers/Howlett, none of our younger midfielders have had a reasonable crack at it.
weâre 6-7 goals off the best side, which I donât think is too bad going, but this midfield with Myers/Watson/Howlett/Leuney isnât taking us any further and (if anything) weâre further from knowing what our 2018-19 midfield looks like than we were last year. Which is criminally short sighted.
Throwing all our eggs into the returning players basket is a possibly catastrophic miscalculation. Not to mention, totally predictable.
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if we do that under 3 coaches over 5 years Iâll give it to you, but not yet.
Would like Mutch in but not at the expense of a quick player.
Mutch for Howlett seems logical.
As much as we need his pace Colyer needs to be dropped. Begely for him.
Which has nothing to do with why they arenât match fit.