#AFL Round 5, Sydney Swans v Adelaide Crows, 7:50pm 20/04 SCG @sydneyswans #AFLSwansCrows

[Velour&Ruffles]

Excellent calm analysis as always Liz (although I was too frustrated to agree with the "highly entertaining" assessment).

[707]

The voice of reason Liz.

Centre square clearances killed us. We just have top get that right, we can't have that much ball pouring non stop into the backline and expect to win. It happened last week against the Dogs but we won, it happened again tonight and we lost.

The defenders did a great job against the tsunami of ball coming in and other than Betts, Crows have one of the best forward lines in the AFL. Calls for Smith to retire are badly misjudged, he's not flashy but he's a gem - still!

Sinclair did a good job against one of the leagues premier ruckman, Heeney was magic other than kicking for goal, Marsh has earned another couple of games on that performance.

Umpiring was touchy and inconsistent and I don't want to mention the score reviews but we seem to get dudded on flimsy evidence every time.

The forward line was completely dysfunctional and delivery in was poorly thought out. I will watch the replay without emotion to more closely observe it all.

But we could well have stolen that game. Sky isn't falling but we need our skyhooks to get into form very soon.

[Foreign Legion]

For those of you at the game last night you missed some vital information that was shown to TV viewers - about every 17 milliseconds. I am not sure why it was not just displayed as a permanent watermark.

CROWS PLAYERS MISSING
B.Robran
R.Ebert
S.Kernahan
C.Bradley
G.Cornes
M.Blight
G.Dietrich

None of these blokes played for Adelaide but they do if you believe the Multiverse theory.

Now you understand the enormity of their effort as we clearly were at full strength.

[SeanM]

Like the bulldogs game we were lucky to be that close at half time. Then really dominated most of the third quarter. We probably needed to kick a few more goals when we were on top but instead finished the quarter down by 9 points.

Last quarter the game was there to be won by whichever team could take their opportunities. But we missed our shots but also struggled to get entries into our forward line for most of the quarter.

It reflects our season. We have been down across the team. And even in the games we have won there have been long periods where we have lost control.

I know there is a meltdown in losing to their second string midfield. But in previous seasons we have had poor games against bottom sides and been dominated in the first half. Then Kennedy or someone else will turn it on and undeservedly win the game for us.

Not sure what the solution is. Whether we make big changes or just write it off as a bad game. I am coming around to the idea that we may need another tall marking target. And may need to regenerate the midfield. But I worry that on the messageboards there is not the patience for younger midfielders like Ronke, Florent or Dawson to have quiet games. If we introduce some younger midfielders against Geelong/Hawthorn and they don't have an instant impact.

[Nico]

The voice of reason Liz.

Centre square clearances killed us. We just have top get that right, we can't have that much ball pouring non stop into the backline and expect to win. It happened last week against the Dogs but we won, it happened again tonight and we lost.

The defenders did a great job against the tsunami of ball coming in and other than Betts, Crows have one of the best forward lines in the AFL. Calls for Smith to retire are badly misjudged, he's not flashy but he's a gem - still!

Sinclair did a good job against one of the leagues premier ruckman, Heeney was magic other than kicking for goal, Marsh has earned another couple of games on that performance.

Umpiring was touchy and inconsistent and I don't want to mention the score reviews but we seem to get dudded on flimsy evidence every time.

The forward line was completely dysfunctional and delivery in was poorly thought out. I will watch the replay without emotion to more closely observe it all.

But we could well have stolen that game. Sky isn't falling but we need our skyhooks to get into form very soon.

Our centre clearance work has been deplorable for a decade. My hobby horse for that long. We don't seem to have the players with quick reaction time. Why we bother with Hanners in there has perplexed me for years. Very slow to approach the footy and takes a week to dispose of the pill. We get beaten in this area by the weakest teams. It makes it so much harder on the defenders who must on the edge every time there is a centre bounce. I can't agree with Liz on Hayward being in the midst of the action. He got beaten one on one too easily and doesn't put his body on the line. His build is very slight and I doubt he will hit the heights that some on RWO predict. He constantly drops chest marks and flies for pack marks up forward instead of staying down. Maybe one day we will have a small with the nous to sit off the back of the pack in the forward 20. Adelaide always had someone in that spot when we went forward and we had the whole forward line going for the mark.

[Bill Posters]

What the hell was with the score reviews? Papley's shot the goal umpire signalled a goal and didn't even ask for a score review. They reviewed it anyway and I thought the video was inconclusive at least. But they overturned the goal!

I can't remember what the other one was.

[waswan]

Play Alir cant keep talking about his 2016 form as a defen Dee r then bring him in as a forward

As far as being a bit underdone have a look at half our star midfielders

Jones is frustrating but looked to be the only one last night creating run behind the ball

Sinkers never plays two good games in a row would be good to switch him with Cameron
Gives us other option outside of Buddy

Buddy good but rarely does a fake lead to open space every time he leads its for the ball
Other forwrds clear space as well

Mcveigh the only one woth clean hands again

Kennedy getting the medal for mr unaware how many times dod he get tackled when he wasnt expecting contact

Need Ramps running which is why you put alir in defence no ramps doesnt have to lock down

Hannas to play as an outside wingman wasting himself crashing packs

I think thats it

[Kafka's Ghost]

Equally frustrated

OH my goodness...that was an incredibly frustrating and hard game to watch. Just home from the SCG and my blood is still boiling. Some thoughts...
* Our midfield...so lauded and yet our big names are seriously out of touch. JPK, Hanners, Parker, Jack just having next to no impact around the ball. After the Crows 'B Grade mids' ripped us a good one, I shudder what may happen at the Cattery next week.
* The coaching - to continually allow Crows to have 3-5 loose men in our forward line up until final 5 minutes was baffling. The number of times we kicked to an outnumbered contest was disgraceful.
* Missing Naismith and Reid really showed tonight....we do not have a marking option for the quick get out of trouble kick long down the line, someone to at least bring the ball to ground. When Naismith was rucking, Sinclair could provide that role but currently as the sole ruckman he is too busy and puffed chasing his man all around the field. I thought Allir last week actually provided the 'get out' option quite well and yet dropped tonight. We also need another lead up forward desperately...is McCartin ready for a debut? Something needs to change.
* Lastly the umpires...so consistently inconsistent it was abysmal. Same 2 out of the 3 umps that poorly umpired the Swans v Port game too. Free kicks paid to Crows were not paid to the Swans. 4-5 goals for them from direct free kicks. Nothing ever changes here so why am I surprised??

Now onto next week, the Cattery. This will go two ways...either a fighting, back to wall 6 point win or we'll lose by 10 goals. Nothing in between.

Spot on with these comments. Kennedy, Parker and Heeney had 6 disposals between them in the first quarter, all handpasses. Despite that, we were in the game with a chance throughout the last quarter, with four set shots missed. Last week the Crows paid for playing injured and underdone players, after a six day break. Are we guilty of the same thing? We have also had two consecutive six day breaks. Last night it showed.

[Foreign Legion]

The most worrying thing is that there is not much in the Reserves. We are winless with a poor percentage in the NEAFL. I think Aliir should be played (when match fit) as he gives us flair which we sadly lack in the backline.

Ronke looks OK I suppose - he is well balanced but would need to play 2 more great games to get a look in. Really pleased for Marsh as he deserved a shot and played pretty well - he is a good kick. Just wish Cameron would stand up in the reserves - he has a bloody great chance but is yet to take it.

[dimelb]

I read through the thread after getting back home this morning. I can only agree with all those saying the worst problem is the senior midfield, and I don't know how we solve this. Is the problem physical or mental? Who knows?

I also joined lustily in the booing off of the umpires at half time, and I have only done it once in my life as a spectator before, during a match against the Powers a few seasons back. The pursuit of consistent umpiring is like the quest for the holy grail, but the most I could say for last night's display is that it reminded me of Monty Python. Nevertheless, they were not the main problem.

Our next most obvious shortcoming is the lack of Sam Reid, (not to mention Tippo and Naismith). It was good to see Gary Rohan back on deck, and he should stay there, and but we are badly in need of a second tall. Dean Towers had a good game, but we need someone to be an almost permanent target in the forward 50. I get the impression that there's no-one in the Ressies who's quite up to scratch; can someone contradict me?

It is easy to criticise the defence but I thought they battled manfully against horrendous odds. They deserve reassurance, not blame.

[rickmat]

Not the end of the world and certainly not a disgusting performance. What worries me most is that we lack an alternative forward once Reid became injured. Dawson was one I would have played but again, another quad injury. I feel coaches must bite the bullet and play Cameron as he is a very good mark and goal kicker as was shown when he first came over a year back. He can give Sinclair a breather. The other issue is we have too many fly for marks both in defence and attack, check out last nights match, Crows play smarter than us, much smarter.
Is there something wrong with Hannebery, just seems like he has lack of gut busting run on the outside of packs.
But it is early and no need to panic, keep calm, keep faith with the process. NEAFL Team has only played one game and hopefully there will be prospects like Ling, Ronke and Dawson {when fit} who will put pressure on those not performing.

[Ludwig]

Our centre clearance work has been deplorable for a decade. My hobby horse for that long. We don't seem to have the players with quick reaction time. Why we bother with Hanners in there has perplexed me for years. Very slow to approach the footy and takes a week to dispose of the pill. We get beaten in this area by the weakest teams. It makes it so much harder on the defenders who must on the edge every time there is a centre bounce. I can't agree with Liz on Hayward being in the midst of the action. He got beaten one on one too easily and doesn't put his body on the line. His build is very slight and I doubt he will hit the heights that some on RWO predict. He constantly drops chest marks and flies for pack marks up forward instead of staying down. Maybe one day we will have a small with the nous to sit off the back of the pack in the forward 20. Adelaide always had someone in that spot when we went forward and we had the whole forward line going for the mark.

I don't know if our centre clearance work has been deplorable for a decade, but it's not very good now. We haven't adjusted to the fact that we have a subordinate (as opposed to a dominant) ruckman. There's no movement by us at the stoppages. Like we're waiting for the ball to just come to us. We also let runners come through outside of the stoppage unopposed, making for an easy F50 entry for the opposition. We need to play the stoppages defensively. I even noticed that Jacobs let Sinclair take some of the hitouts without contesting and Adelaide still came away with the ball. Sinclair has played well, but I don't know if it's helping us win games.

Hanners is way off his game and needs to take time in the reserves to complete his rehab. He's little use to us in his current state. He's only 27. Let's get him right so he can complete his career in style.

KJ isn't contributing much this year either. I'm not sure if it's worth keeping him the side. I think Newman can make a bigger contribution playing a similar role.

I agree with Nico that Hayward is not offering enough at this stage of his development. But I do think he has a lot of talent and once he builds up his body strength he'll be a fantastic player. I think both Hayward and Florent will be in the top ten to come out of their draft year. I think Ronke could be a viable alternative.

While Reid is out injured we need to bring Aliir into the team, even if he hasn't demonstrated any form warranting a call up. We simply need another athletic tall marking option on the ground. I'm not even sure where we should play him. For one, I would substitute Aliir for Towers as our 2nd ruckman now that Towers is good enough to be in our best 22 without playing 2nd ruckman. Better to let Aliir work his way back into form than Hanners or KJ, who really look a long way off.

The 2nd half move of Mills to the midfield should become permanent. If Aliir plays defence, Marsh can move to the wing. He probably plays that position better than key defender anyway.

[Meg]

we have too many fly for marks both in defence and attack, check out last nights match, Crows play smarter than us, much smarter.

Yes, that was very noticeable last night.

[Auntie.Gerald]

I haven?t seen our midfield pushed around so easily

When I say ?push? I mean literally Adelaide were pushing our midfield players away from the ball......Hannes in particular I saw pushed several times when he was chasing the ball - pushed way more then what has been permitted in seasons past

Now two things for me.... ....firstly this has been a growing pattern of less regulation around the contest this season and I felt Adelaide took it to the max last night and succeeded

Secondly given this has been the trend this year especially ie that u get more value pushing a player into areas u want them ......well quite frankly we need to be more professional and make sure we move the opposition / direct opponent away also whenin the contest otherwise we will not dominate the contest

[Markwebbos]

I appreciate Liz's cool head, but I do think we have some serious medium term problems.

Number 1 is a lack of AFL standard tall players. We only had 3 genuine talls in our team last night - Reg, Sinkers and Buddy, everyone else plays tall for their height. We lacked a number 1 ruckman, a second tall defender and a second tall forward. We've got a number of players running around in the NEAFL including Aliir who clearly aren't deemed to be good enough yet. Hopefully Melican comes back next week and that solves the defensive problem. We really really need another tall forward / ruck not just to give us another avenue to goal other than Buddy (who they appeared to have triple teamed with Talia, McGovern and another, so 8 defenders at times last night), but also for the get out of jail down the line kick out of defense. I hate seeing us play that way, but it's our go to backs-to-the-wall, safe option. Last night I think we spent almost the entire first quarter hemmed into our defensive 50 kicking long to a marking contest on the wing, only to have one player (Sinkers) able to compete and being outmarked over and over again. If your game plan relies on that tactic, then surely you need to have the player(s) to execute it or change the tactic.

I also think having a makeshift ruckman, no disrespect to Sinkers who's doing a pretty good job, is having a negative impact on the performance of our mids. Perhaps the "fab four" or whatever they are called aren't so fab when they don't have Naismith tapping the ball to them? What do others think about the significance of this? Surely they can adapt to sharking the other teams taps as Richmond do so well? It's been suggested somewhere today that Parker / Kennedy / Hanners are too slow and the speed of the game has overtaken them. That doesn't explain losing so many centre clearances or stoppages. I do think Francou going to Adelaide and Dew leaving could be more a factor than people realise. If Parker, Hanners and Kennedy are too slow, what do you do with them? I'm all in favour of giving Heeney, Mills, Towers, Florent more time in the middle. Not convinced by Papley, Hayward, Hewett (who always looks slow despite his composure). I would actually love to see Rampe have a go in the middle.

Our ball movement, particularly coming out of our defensive 50 was poor / Adelaide did a great job of shutting the exits. It reminded me of the Swans v Saints game maybe two years ago where the Saints kept switching the ball back and forward across the ground trying to find an opening before messing it up and turning the ball over. That was us last night. Without the ball Adelaide prevented us moving the ball and for the majority of the game they were able to clear the ball out of defense with ease.

We used to be one of the top tackling teams and apply a lot of pressure, that seems to have fallen right off this year, but not been mentioned.

Also at our best we've always had a player that can run and carry the ball out of defence, a Kennelly, Shaw type. I think it would make us much harder to defend against if we had some line breaking runners in defense, of the Sam Murray type, particularly now that we clearly can't kick long down the line (see above). Jones did seem to have a crack at playing that role later in the game, even if he did bite of more than he could chew sometimes. That's one argument for getting Aliir back in, if he can find the necessary form.

In conclusion:

I'm praying Melican comes back next week.
We should bring in another tall forward, even if it is an underdone McCartin / Cameron / Aliir
Do we have anyone that can run the ball out of defense without stuffing it up? Aliir would free up Rampe more but we could do with someone really fast.

I'm really worried about Hanners. Agree it might be worth giving him a spell in the NEAFL to get his fitness and confidence up. He really looked like he wasn't enjoying himself last night.

I'm sure Kennedy will come good soon enough. Kieren Jack looked slow last night which negates having him in the team. And there was that moment where Hayward was one on one going for the ball, got outmuscled and it came back for a Crows goal, but I still think he's worth persisting with. Florent has really take a step up in the last 2-3 weeks, perhaps Will will too very soon?