The opposition

[Killa]

Whilst media give us Collingwood as Premiers - and Geelong.

I watched some of the game Adelaide v Collingwood.

Adelaide cut Collingwood into insignificant little pieces with their precision, speed with ball and structure.

Collingwood could not get their hands on the ball.

Adelaide's only fault was their kicking for goal (a fault remedied against us).

Then came the rain in the second half, making the game an arm wrestle for territory instead of Adelaide's precision with the ball cutting thru the Colingwood lines as if they did not exist.

The end margin was 1 point (I think).

But, given the weather conditions of last weekend, Adelaide by 10 goals (at least).

Adelaide are a very well structured side, good tall options who can all take contested marks and then the skills at ground level (added to by the guy they lured home from Gold Coast).

I did not see much of the game last Sunday, but what I did see from Adelaide was an extension of the first half v Collingwood (except they kicked straight!)

The reason for this contribution is to benchmark St Kilda v Adelaide (and I do not know what Adelaide's injury list is, so this may be as good as it gets for them personnel wise).

Because I have a sneaking feeling Adelaide will be a, if not the, side to beat come September.

In terms of the little I did watch last Sunday, Marshall put a centre square tap directly to the lap of an Adelaide player, who was then immediately wrapped up in a tackle by Ross who was standing immediately BEHIND the Adelaide player.

This with 6 x 6 x 6.

My immediate thought was "there is the difference".

Adelaide had precision, run and spread.

Then targets.

Look at the player stats.

And I noted the Coach's comments re the second quarter (noting the goal after the siren by one of their ground level players).

[Devilhead]

When I look at the stats I see we had only 4 less inside 50s than them - 49 to 53 .... and they had 100 more disposals

Also they kicked 9.2 from 40+ out of which 6 goals were from 50 of which 3 were close to the boundary

[Teflon]

Yes they were efficient scoring which is a glaring issue we have
That did t scare me most
There were large periods of the game we just could not get our hands on the ball
The Crows precision by foot and skills generally left us for dead
1 touch no fumbles
Port did similar in patches …Crows for longer
I feel for 3 weeks now we have fumbled…looked devoid of confidence with the ball in stoppage situations
I read recently Crows made a decision after 2017 GF that the recruitment focus was skill ….skill…more skill….it’s starting to show
Any team can pressure- build a manic game plan, get really fit and pressure sides ….most top AFL sides pressure
BUT if you can pressure AND possess great skills by hand/foot ….you’re extremely hard to stop
I hope that’s the type of thinking we are doing..

[Devilhead]

So 100 more possessions against and large periods of the game where we couldn't get our hands on the ball yet only 4 less inside 50s

[Teflon]

So 100 more possessions against and large periods of the game where we couldn't get our hands on the ball yet only 4 less inside 50s

That’s true but as RTB pointed many of those entries were shallow and Crows rebounded and scored off them at Will

[Sainternist]

It’s depressing to think Adelaide will be powerhouse football club again soon. Geez! They only went into rebuild a few years ago, whereas it took us a decade to get one lousy finals berth. Mind you, Adelaide is a club that was started by a corporation (Toyota) and represents a town full of gimps, whilst rivalling Port Adelaide. I guess they get subjected to the old blowtorch far more severely whenever they flounder. But by golly, I hate them so much haha

[shanegrambeau]

It’s depressing to think Adelaide will be powerhouse football club again soon. Geez! They only went into rebuild a few years ago, whereas it took us a decade to get one lousy finals berth. Mind you, Adelaide is a club that was started by a corporation (Toyota) and represents a town full of gimps, whilst rivalling Port Adelaide. I guess they get subjected to the old blowtorch far more severely whenever they flounder. But by golly, I hate them so much haha

yes, we can only hope it is a false dawn for them and that their giant sling shot up the ladder will land them in warner bros coyote territory.

It is good to watch the oppo though so thanks for the OP

We have seen a change in the last fortnight.

We have a little respite now as Richmond or Essendon fight it out for 4 points, ditto Adel vs Bulldogs. All four of those teams are direct competitors and its nice to know they will take points from one another.

So again, we just have to re-group. The pressure is on and so, somewhat sadly, I don't think we'll get many changes.

[Scollop]

Sydney have a young list and they outperformed last year.

Maybe the same will happen with Adelaide, but finals are a different kettle of fish. It's not just the physical toll.

What they'll find in a footy crazy city like Adelaide is that the hype is at a different level

The mental toll and the ability to blank out noise (like the Saints bubble circa 2009) is crucial in being able to perform

Adelaide's list is even younger than Sydney so I expect their young blokes to need 2 years of finals experience prior to getting anywhere near winning a cup