Sydney v Adelaide pre match discussion

[cruiser]

The Crows are frighteningly good. They are destroying Geelong. The game next weekend is an opportunity for the team to show its true Bloods' spirit and lift big time against a seriously good opponent. This game can be the turning point in Sydney's season - one way or the other!

[ugg]

Adelaide

So, any ideas on how to beat them?

Forwards
Ricciuto and Burton are wreaking all sorts of havoc in the forward line. Ricciuto has caused headaches for the opposition's usual fullback due to his mobility but Barry would be a good matchup for him. Craig Bolton to pick up the dangerous Burton while the third tall defender, be it Vogels, Richards or LRT will pick up Hentschel.

Midfield
Goodwin and Edwards would both be in the All Australian team if it were selected today. Kirk and Ablett to close them down. The lesser lights like Mattner, Bode, Doughty and Reilly should not be underestimated as well.

Defence
Rutten and Bassett have done well on Hall and O'Loughlin in the past. Hall needs to snap out of his slump. We won't win if he doesn't kick his usual 3 or 4 goals. Will need to stop McLeod from controlling the ball rebounding from halfback. He will possibly start on Davis, and Nicky D must be vigilant whenever we turn over the ball.

Ruck
Can't afford to go in with 1 ruckman in this one. Biglands and Maric and very competent in their tapwork and while LRT did very well against Freo, I think it will be a different proposition against these two. He may be required in defence in any case.

Wildcards
McGregor and Stevens are two talls who can be used at either end of the ground.

[Go Swannies]

IT is really worthwhile reading Terry Wallace's article in the Hun:

http://tinyurl.com/ztlp5

about why Sydney are still the team to beat for the flag. It's an in depth piece. We had exhibited woeful skills for the past four games - at least most of the effort was back last night.

Interesting that Wallace's Tigers seem to be achieving what we failed to do last week - wallop the Pies. I bet Roos is at the Crows game today and is giving some thought into the method by which the Tigers beat the Crows.

[NMWBloods]

I don't think most of the effort was back last night at all.

[cruiser]

Adelaide now have 171%!! That should be illegal.

Last year we played West Coast at the SCG around this time, when WC had lost only one game and were looking unbeatable and WE WON!

The year before we played St Kilda at the SCG around this time, when they were undefeated and looking unbeatable and WE WON!

History. Can we do it again?

[swansrock4eva]

I think it was the year before that and we beat Brisbane when they were "unbeatable" too. We have a habit of playing to the level of our opponents - if they play crap, we play worse, but if they play well, we can switch it on and make them look like amateurs. I'm hoping we can switch that on next week, because if we can't, we could finish the game very red-faced!

*fingers crossed*

[ugg]

Adelaide have conceded 844 points in 13 games. All the other teams have conceded over 1000. That's an unbelievable statistic. I guess the only way to defeat them is to restrict their own scoring. Richmond did it by preventing them from having possession, I think we may have to do the same.

[ScottH]

The good news : they missed a lot of easy shots.
The bad news: They got the rest.

Adelaide were awesome, ruthless even.

They run hard, support each other. They took a lot of contested marks. Won the hard balls.

Time for Sydney to step up several rungs to beat them next week.

[Glenn]

Goes without saying that Sydney needs to be switched on from the opening bounce till the final siren, otherwise it could get very very ugly

[hammo]

We have a terrible recent record against the Crows so I am not confident at all.

However we do usually lift for the big games and I wouldn't be surprised if the players will be out to make a statement over the next 2 weeks.

If we win the next two we'll be premiership favourites in a fortnight.

[cruiser]

Originally posted by hammo
If we win the next two we'll be premiership favourites in a fortnight.

Exactly. Just two wins... Its like a pre-finals finals.

[Gary]

We have zero chance unless we can reduce our current error rate. Vogels proved that he should have played earlier...increases our variety at both ends, but not enough to make the difference against the Crows. Can't work out what Jolly was doing at ball ups most of the time, & unless we can find a way to win clearances disaster beckons. Well done LRT.
Liked Moore's hand passes but a few possessions doth not make a player at this stage. Again, he should have been given earlier ops this year. Some one mentioned Richards as an option for next week...was that a joke?

[cruiser]

Originally posted by Gary
Some one mentioned Richards as an option for next week.

They have been suitably banned from RWO.

[barry]

The good thing is that Adealide wont be able to play that open expansive game they did today, at the SCG.

I'd give us a good chance if we had a 2nd ruck option. If doyle's fit, he must come in. Too much to ask LRT to back up against the flag favourites.

[liz]

Wish we could swap the home/away mix of our next two games. West Coast are almost unbeatable at Subi but they don't seem to like travelling to Sydney and I reckon we'd be a decent to good chance against them, especially if we can wind the form guide back a month or so.

I think we'll struggle to beat the Crows anywhere, but I also think our chances of beating them at AAMI would be almost as good as at the SCG - ie small but not zero.

As the games stand, form indicates we'll lose both. Swap them around and we'd stand some chance of winning one and certainly no less chance of winning both than we do as they stand.