I’m in SA this weekend and will be watching on TV with family, half crows half Essendon supporters.
The crowd supporters don’t seem overly confident due to a few outs, I’m not confident because of interstate umpires, but then again the umps have been called out for this recently… also we seem to start well which could silence the crowd.
I think they are the better side and should win, we will have to play out of our skin which is possible, I think players like Hurley, Hooker, Heppel, Watson should be nice and warmed up by now, plus Leuey should go a bit better this week too.
Really we have no excuses, if we are an average side we will lose, if we are a quality side we should win.
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We may even ‘stone the flamin’ crows. ’
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Not confident that we will win, I think Adelaide are a good side. I just hope we make a game of it. If we get within a couple of goals Ill be pretty happy.
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I am thinking we will put up a credible performance, but the reality of needing to come up after a hard slog in the wet 6 days ago, travelling and needing to quiet a hostile crowd - is all a big ask.
But I prefer an up against it scenario to an expected to beat the Blues in the wet scenario any day.
we will win
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I will not be shocked if we win, nor shocked if we get belted. I’m still not sure what this team can do so early in the season. I’ve tipped the Crows but I think we can really take them on. Looking forward to it.
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I wish our team was as big a pack of duds of triple premiers Hawthorn or top 4 for three years in a row Fremantle.
What a ridiculous comment.
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We have more to prove than they do. We will win.
This weeks banner is simple.
“We’re ■■■■■■”
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Mini final
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You just need the right sized stones!
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Hahaha very good!
That crossed my mind too. We are much better as the “hunter” than the “hunted”. We just seem to play with more freedom.
Another factor is Anzac clash next week, our boys will be fighting hard to keep their spots…
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This together with the fact there is a 10 day break, no need to leave anything in the tank in this game, should be able to freshen up well for the ANZAC game, a lot to play for on a couple of levels.
There will no doubt be some strategic omissions in the next game, lining up against the Demons 5 days later. I’ve got TBC earmarked as a likely in, to give Leuey a rest.
As far as resting other players go, and from a promotional point of view, this might be a good game to bring all the 10 suspended players in, or at least those not playing against Collingwood, with potentially all of them being available including Myers, and with Hibberd a chance to be selected by then and Melksham in their side too.
However it also would also probably be a good idea to rest Jobe, Kelly, Stanton and whoever else they can get away with while maintaining as good a team balance as possible. So whoever is on the cusp to be selected for the Collingwood game, should have a good chance of being selected against Melbourne.
Likely ins to be considered against Melbourne: TBC, Myers, Howlett, Hocking, Stewart, Franga, Jerrett, Dea, Hartley, Gleeson, Begley, McNeice, Smack and whoever else is showing form, but trying to avoid taking away all our pace.
Llyody has pumped up their tires!! We are on now.
Adelaide Crows leading the pack in 2017 and loom as premiership favourite, Matthew Lloyd writes
THIS season is shaping as extremely even, but one side is making an early statement on premiership favouritism and that is the Adelaide Crows.
After the first month of the season, the Crows couldn’t have been more impressive.
Two scintillating performances against the Giants and Port Adelaide under extreme pressure and one on the road against Hawthorn would have some clubs asking, what is the c.hink in the Crows’ armour in 2017.
Everybody in football knows that the Crows have the best forward six in the game.
Taylor Walker, Josh Jenkins, Tom Lynch, Mitch McGovern, Eddie Betts and Charlie Cameron are the complete package.
Don Pyke has coached Adelaide 27 times and they have kicked 100 points or more in 20 of those games.
In the same stretch Geelong is the next best with 14; nine clubs have achieved the triple figure mark nine times or fewer.
This forward group sets Adelaide apart and already this season the Crows have averaged 120 points a match, ranked No.1 in the competition.
Adelaide has lost just three games of football since Round 9 last year. The Crows lost to Geelong in Round 18, West Coast in Round 23 and to the Swans in the semi-final at the SCG, which ended their season.
In all three games, there was a common theme.
The Crows were smashed at the contested ball by three quality sides who hunted both the ball and the Adelaide midfield and came up trumps.
The Crows’ outside run was their Achilles heel last season so if they were beaten in tight — like they were in those matches — winning was always going to be difficult.
That area of the Crows’ game had to be rectified if they were to be a serious chance of making the big dance this year.
Pyke and his list-management team tried to bolster the midfield by targeting Carlton’s Bryce Gibbs, which didn’t eventuate, while they lost one of their own when Jared Lyons left for greater opportunity at the Gold Coast Suns.
Brad Crouch, Scott Thompson and Lyons were all constants in the midfield but they all lacked leg speed.
Pyke and his coaching staff have worked from within to give greater midfield responsibility to linebreakers Charlie Cameron and Rory Atkins who are in red-hot form.
Curtly Hampton, Wayne Milera and Riley Knight are being given every opportunity to cement their spot because they also add leg speed.
Rory Sloane is not the captain but he plays like one and he has been willing his side over the line in big moments week after week.
Sloane’s last two weeks against Hawthorn and Port Adelaide have been phenomenal. Coming into the season with no match practice and a fractured cheekbone makes his performances even more remarkable.
It’s a small sample size, I know, but Adelaide is ranked No.1 after three rounds in the contested possession stat — the same area that proved their undoing last year.
The Crows are averaging 16 more a match than their opposition and are ranked in the top four for all tackle and pressure-related statistics. If they keep that up, it will make them extremely hard to beat.
Ruckman Sam Jacobs was under pressure to hold his spot this year after not finishing in the top 10 in the club best and fairest in 2016.
Jacobs has started the season extremely well and along with Sloane and elder statesman Richard Douglas and David McKay, they look to be running on top of the ground in their quest to help put their side in the best possible position to achieve the ultimate success later in the year.
Speed of ball movement to create one on one opportunities in the forward line is critical in the modern game.
On the flip side, team defence all over the ground to slow down the opposition’s ball movement to then create turnovers is equally as important.
Adelaide is setting the benchmark in this area by creating an extra number in defence and then transitioning the ball out through the corridor and into an attacking play faster than any other side.
The Crows’ offensive and defensive ball movement has been exceptional and they have punished sides on the turnover more than any other team.
Having such good one-on-one players in Daniel Talia, Rory Laird, Brodie Smith, Jake Lever and the unheralded Kyle Hartigan and Luke Brown in defence allow for the midfielders to take a chance by running out to the open side of the field to turn a defensive play into an attacking one.
The Crows’ depth will be tested as we have already seen with Jenkins missing a couple of games and Mitch McGovern out for the next two months with a hamstring injury.
With the experience of last year’s finals series and the calming influence of Pyke, the Crows won’t get a better opportunity to win the ultimate prize than this year.
It’s the end of an era at Hawthorn, Sydney is on the ropes and with early inconsistency of other contenders such as GWS Giants and the Western Bulldogs, the Crows look capable of beating anyone and everyone if they continue to bring their A game.
Freo beat the Dees at the G, this may just be the week of upsets. Have a good feeling about the Dons tonight, we love being the underdog. Add to that a very fast side and Adelaide (right after the showdown), we may just have the perfect storm for a win here.
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What does that make last week then?
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Ive got about as much excitement for this game as every game last year with the top ups, and thats zero excitement.
Honestly just cant envisage any result from this game except an loss, and probably an ugly one at that.
Unless a congenital heart defect affects half the crows list pre game.
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Beautiful Simpsons reference
After last week’s game it’s very hard to try and predict what they will do today. Most likely will put in a good show. I am rooting for them to have a real crack at winning this against the odds and making up for last week. I think they are good enough and exciting enough to cause an upset but everything will have to go our way including FarkUmpires decisions.
Go Bombers!