Season 2023 - Adelaide

Football Discussion Non Essendon Stuff
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Adelaide

Coach – Matthew Nicks

2022 –

Points For – 15th
Points Against – 14th

Top 5 Best and Fairest

  1. Rory Laird
  2. Jordan Dawson
  3. Ben Keays
  4. Taylor Walker
  5. Brodie Smith

2022 Rising Star Noms

Josh Rachele

Ins – Izak Rankine, Max Michalanney, Billy Dowling, Hugh Bond

Outs – Luke Brown, James Rowe, Billy Frampton, Ben Davis, Ben Turner

My Prediction

Adelaide has been stockpiling young talent for a couple of years now and the pressure will come on Nicks this year to start the move up the ladder. This year they need to show something more and not be propped up by performances by their old campaigners.

The back line is boring. Doedee is a good player and Butts will hold down the last line of defence. Then you are still looking at Smith off of half back and probably Worrell or Jones on the other flank with Dawson cementing himself into the midfield. It is uninspiring and boring. They will be hoping it gets the job done but teams would fancy their chances if they have more than two decent forwards.

Laird, Dawson, Keays and Berry is a good start in the middle and they will be hoping Sloane can get back to where he was preinjury… or more likely hoping he can get back to where he was pre-preinjury.

The forward line still needs Taylor Walker to keep his mouth shut and kick goals. He was good last year but he is only going to get less reliable. They will be hoping Thilthorpe finally clicks and by the end of the year they would be wanting to start building the forward line around him. Rankine is a hell of an addition and could be anything (could also be absolutely nothing, just depends on the week). McAdam and Rachele are a very good small forward combination and things look set for the future up forward.

The ruck is a nut job but can tap a ball. He wasn’t stellar last year but would expect some bounce back this year. The coach is in some level of trouble and will be coaching under pressure for large parts of the season.

I don’t know really what to make of the list. There is young talent sprinkled through it but there is deficiencies in every area as well. I certainly think they are a better team than last year and their young players should improve to make them more competitive. That combined with home ground advantage will lift them at least a couple of spots. I think they sit in the 11-12 sort of range.

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Bottom 6 team

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I was bullishish on their rebuild two years ago, but it all seems to have gone awry.
Needed to trade for a genuine quality mid.
Another year in no man’s land, for mine.

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Bottom 4, probably similar to us but think we win a couple more than they do

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Dogshit.

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Agree on that. The Crows are not a patient club historically when it comes to coaches, and it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if he got sacked mid-season if they were 2-9 at the turn. Fourth season in charge, definitely would need to see some tangible improvement.

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Their forward line will light it up at times. It’s a seriously exciting forward group now and features guys who just know where the goals are.

Rachele Walker Keays
Thilthorpe Fogarty Rankine

And if that was proving a touch too tall then McAdam can come in for whoever is contributing less out of Thilthorpe or Fogarty.

Their challenge each week to their midfield will just be, work your as$es off to at least just break even and get it into our forward line.

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Best 22 (Fox Footy)

B: Josh Worrell, Jordon Butts, Max Michalanney

HB: Brodie Smith, Tom Doedee, Chayce Jones

C: Jordan Dawson, Rory Laird, Mitchell Hinge

HF: Izak Rankine, Darcy Fogarty, Riley Thilthorpe

F: Josh Rachele, Taylor Walker, Shane McAdam

FOLL: Reilly O’Brien, Ben Keays, Sam Berry

I/C: Nick Murray, Rory Sloane (acl), Jake Soligo, Harry Schoenberg

EMG: Paul Seedsman (Concussion), Matt Crouch, Lachlan Murphy, Wayne Milera

Sloane back from a ACL this year, I just feel crows have lost their sense of purpose, like us, what do they stand for, seem lost post camp issues.

They will be bottom half of the draw again guess 12-16th. They might win more games than last year, would be hoping too at home. Still a development side. But would get a few upsets.

I would let Sloane and Walker retire this year, they have been good club servants, except for Tex’s offield issues.

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Most anonymous team in the AFL. Reckon I can only name 5 players on their list.

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That’s too many.

Who was that highly touted GWS player they coaxed into walking to the pre-season draft? Has he even played a game?

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Hately… not many

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There’s the big Texan, and…

Hmm

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Theres the racist one too, Taylor Walker? So that’s two…

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I expect Adelaide will continue to be the barometer so far as, if we’re below them, we’re having a dud season.

They SHOULD improve but they remind me a lot of Essendon in that their young players simply don’t look certainties to take the next step. Rankine is a good addition but like others have said, he can be a star one week and unseen the next. Looks like the wrong investment for Adelaide who on paper have a pretty poor midfield and already had quite a bit of forward line talent.

13th is where is I expect them to finish, which would be a failure from their perspective.

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I get what you’re saying but they are a very dour, meat and potatoes team. Nicks is absolutely full on with his players about doing the fundamentals and defensive acts and it feels like they’ve got a heap of those tough nut but limited skills type guys now that needs to be complemented with some brilliance. That’s where Rankine makes sense to me for them.

He’ll obviously get a little more latitude because he can do things that the meat and potatoes guys can’t but by the same token, the penny appeared to have dropped for him last year at the Suns in terms of running hard both ways, loving applying tackles and just his overall fitness levels.

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Fair point. I think it could go either way.

Rankine could be the flair that Adelaide have been looking for to balance their team, or he’s less effective because the meat and potatoes midfield can’t get the ball to him often enough.

Admittedly, I’m not so knowledgeable about the younger kids they have on their list, so perhaps that’s where the classier ball users will come from.

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Unless they have an amazing leap of form from some of their kids I just don’t see it. Lot of absolute plodders not up to it in their reserves

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I reckon that’s exactly why they are getting Rankine, to be a classy ball user. Aside from Dawson and Seedsman (and it appears he’s basically finished), they don’t have too many.

I imagine he’ll play stints in the midfield and as a high half forward delivering the ball inside 50.

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Rankine is definitely a POD player for them. Whether he justifies the price tag, and also being back home he doesn’t get complacent and comfortable given he’s got the big contract, are his main issues. The talent is there, and he started to put it together on a more consistent basis. If he can continue that trend upwards the Crows have got a good one…

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