Rnd 4 Match Day Thread Adelaide Crows V Sydney Swans. 19.10pm (ACST) Adelaide Oval.

[bloodspirit]

A great game and some illuminating comments and analysis. I particularly agree with Doctor, Maltopia, wolftone and liz.

Bring on the Weagles.

[Mel_C]

Ted was pretty good last week. Not so much this week, but the Swans defence was under pressure for most of the night. They didn't get the protection from the midfield that they've enjoyed for the first three weeks, and Adelaide used the ball reasonably well coming forward, at least for parts of the game.

He's the best we've got in that role right now, and I don't think he was the reason we lost. Our midfield was ever so slightly down on their ball handling skills and weren't able to make the most of the great pressure they did apply. That's where the game was lost in my eyes.

I agree about the midfield. There was more fumbling and erroneous handballs than usual...particularly from Kennedy and Parker.

With regards to Towers I think he needs to have more faith in himself and instead of handballing he should keep running forward and back himself.

I am going to stick up for Mills. He is young and he will learn. I love his courage and how well he reads the play to take those marks. The turnover where his kick missed Lloyd, he actually motioned to Lloyd to run in that direction but Lloyd moved the other way. Did anyone see the huge spray Mills received earlier in the game from Laidler? Was that because of a bad kick out?

[Maltopia]

For us to win Smith needed to keep Betts quiet. Didn't happen.

Betts' four goals:

One was for the dubious 15 meter call where Rampe didn't have much opportunity to dispose (Rampe tried to fend as he was tackled and then got his arm pinned). Great skill by Betts to kick that goal so full credit to him. But I don't think you can blame Smith for that one (unless he did the short kick - can't recall who it was).
Second goal - can't recall
Third goal - push in the back
Fourth goal - we were throwing the dice to try and come back from four points down in the last 90 seconds of the game so had an attacking spread.

Smith is not one of the players I would be saying had a bad game. Plenty ahead of him who played far from their best!

-Ted, Towers and Papley were very sub-par.
-Macca wasn't great, but he had the 8 tackles and that great kick in front of Franklin where he ran onto it, scooped it up low with one hand and ran into an open goal (great stuff).
-Mitchell had a fantastic first three games (and unlucky to miss coaches votes last week I thought), but didn't play anywhere near the ~ $700K+ per season some are saying he will be offered to go elsewhere at the end of this season.

[CureTheSane]

McVeigh is still on my watch list.
I think he's kinda done, and have been saying so most of last year. Really hope he proves me wrong.

McGlynn added a bit. Run and drive.
Heeney was a star.
Ted had a pretty forgettable day. Made to look less bad because Rample did well covering for him.
Papley played his first game at the elite level and has a way to go.
Mills on the other had showed he could match it (at times) and will continue on his merry way
Can I say that Buddy was average when he kicked 4? I think I can.
Hate him up the ground and my fear is that he doesn't posses the skills to create much in the forward line consistently.
Nankervis was ok I guess.
Kennedy, Mitchell and Parker weren't as they have been
Grundy was ok, probably had an average game.
Hanners, Jack and Cunningham were great
Laidler didn't have the impact he normally does

[barry]

Tippet had a pretty ordinary tone in the ruck

[Levii3]

Ted was good last week because he played on Patton Teddy will get crushed if he has to play on Riewoldt Kennedy Cameron or Tom Lynch (GCS)

[Doctor]

McVeigh is still on my watch list.
I think he's kinda done, and have been saying so most of last year. Really hope he proves me wrong.

McGlynn added a bit. Run and drive.
Heeney was a star.
Ted had a pretty forgettable day. Made to look less bad because Rample did well covering for him.
Papley played his first game at the elite level and has a way to go.
Mills on the other had showed he could match it (at times) and will continue on his merry way
Can I say that Buddy was average when he kicked 4? I think I can.
Hate him up the ground and my fear is that he doesn't posses the skills to create much in the forward line consistently.
Nankervis was ok I guess.
Kennedy, Mitchell and Parker weren't as they have been
Grundy was ok, probably had an average game.
Hanners, Jack and Cunningham were great
Laidler didn't have the impact he normally does

I don't think it's as bad as all that but I do agree with you on Cunningham. I forgot to mention him and he has been consistently pretty good through the first month of the season.

[i'm-uninformed2]

One thing with McVeigh. I know the expectation has been to play him down back as he's seen as a good kick, which he is. But he's better with a fraction of space when he can use his smarts

That's why I'd play him half forward as the guy who can get on the end of some run and make the right choice going inside 50. He was better last night in the second half playing that role and the game against Hawthorn that we won last year was a great example of him in that role.

Given that last kick is still sometimes our undoing I reckon it's where he can extract the most value from him these days.

[Beerman]

Can't believe the criticism of Mills I'm reading...

He had one of the great 'game 4' games you'll see. He threw himself into contest after contest, and won most of them, had 23 possessions, played well beyond his rookie status.

I think there's a lot to love about Mills, but some of his decision making is suspect. He's got skill, but the stuff he gets away with in the NEAFL isn't going to fly against a top-4 team in the AFL.

It's not the first time either - against Carlton he picked off a Swans player between two Carlton players inside the defensive 50. It might work some of the time, but it's going to cost a lot of goals. Did you see Rampe & Laidler ripping into him? My guess is that he's not following instructions.

[Hotpotato]

Enjoyed every minute of this ripper game
Two very good sides going flat out at it for 2 hours, they would have to be tired this week .
Home ground cauldron in Adelaide has to be worth 2-3 goals ... So to lose by 10pts ....
A really excellent showcase for the code . No wonder we miss it in the off season .

Light work this week hopefully to freshen up for West Coast .

[elastic]

In Mills' defence he has been given a lot of responsibility taking the kick ins. The coaches have obviously decided to fast track him as much as possible. The experience will be invaluable.
I did find it interesting though when Laidler and Rampe? reacted after the kick in. He probably won't make that mistake again.

[liz]

In Mills' defence he has been given a lot of responsibility taking the kick ins. The coaches have obviously decided to fast track him as much as possible. The experience will be invaluable.
I did find it interesting though when Laidler and Rampe? reacted after the kick in. He probably won't make that mistake again.

Maybe the fault in that instance lay with Rampe for standing too close as a target. Mills can only kick to what he has on offer. If the team tactic is a short kick to the pocket, surely those players making position have as much responsibility as the player actually kicking?

[CureTheSane]

I don't think it's as bad as all that but I do agree with you on Cunningham. I forgot to mention him and he has been consistently pretty good through the first month of the season.

Didn't mean to sound doom and gloom.
Overall the team played really well, and opposition players did a good job on some of ours, just like some of ours did a good job on some of them.
My comments were really nit picking.
I probably wouldn't make many changes.
Ted might have a few worries if Talia was fit, Towers may have a few sleepless nights.
Hard to be too critical after the way both teams played.

Lots of comment on Facebook slamming some Swans and umpires etc.
Kind of surprised me that supporters are so blind to an amazing spectacle where there had to be a winner and a loser, and unfortunately it was us.
Walk a mile in a Collingwood supporters shoes I guess

[Ludwig]

After watching the replay, I find it hard to be too critical of any of our players, including the ones I previously made some negative comments on.

Ted and Reg lost a few one on one contests and I never like to see that happen, but it happens to even the best defenders. I don't know what happened to other players dropping back or into holes in front of leading targets, but it didn't seem to happen that often and they both had to fend for themselves against some very good forwards. It's worth noting that Ted only had 78% game time, which is low for a key defender. He looked tired at times. Perhaps he's still building his fitness base after an interrupted preseason.

The criticism on Mills is unwarranted. For a first year player he doesn't make that many mistakes and I can't remember a first year player given as much responsibility as he's been given. He's a tremendous mark of the ball and has a powerful kick. Heading down the same path as Heeney, and that's the path to stardom.

Papley could have been a hero if he had nailed one of those 2 4th qtr snaps for goal, but he didn't. He's going to be a good player, but he's going to have his ups and downs like most rookies.

Towers is making progress and I want to forget that he's only a 20 gamer. He just seems to fall short under pressure, whether it's taking that critical mark, making that clean handball or slotting that snap on goal. I don't know if I want him dropped or give him more time in the midfield where he might be able to use his pace to break from the packs. I'll leave it to the coaches to decide.

[Scottee]

Aliir is very athletic but his defensive work might not be good enough yet. He's getting good at chopping off leads - the classic 3rd tallish defender. The only problem at AFL level is that the good sides will put someone on him to make him accountable. It would be interesting seeing him play on a wing.

I don't think he'll come in against West Coast, but if he keeps up his consistent reserves form, it would be fun to see him get a chance against one of the lesser teams to see if he can bring something different to the mix.

Agree on Alii LIZ. West Coast game is too big for an experiment, but he shows a lot of promise. Like you I have been intrigued about his potential on the wing.

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