The Adelaide Midfield

[southerncross]

I was watching the Crows dismantle the Hawks last night and it really was an awesome display. It's not like this team has many outstanding talls but their midfield run and commitment really is first class.
When you consider they have the likes of Edwards, Van Berlo, Thompson, Riccuito, McLeod, Goodwin, Knights and Rielly as the key drivers of the team it appears that they have built their game primarily around midfield dominance.
They also play a very disciplined brand of footy as well.

We often write off a loss because we don't have the strongest key forward or defenders but it might really be that that we haven't got a strong enough midfield and disciplined game plan.

Thoughts?

[Go_Dogs]

In my opinion their midfield isn't any superior to anyones, but they are a very fit bunch who work extremely hard each way. They run end to end with the ball and clog space, their pressure skills are excellent and they can move the ball well on their good days. This is mainly accomplished through following the structures and running harder than the opposition so you can create contests with more players around the ball at either end of the ground.

I liked what the Hawks were trying to do with the handball, some long, sweeping ones that were there for players to run onto and pierce the Crows zone through the corridor, I thought it was a good tactic, although too often they messed around once too many times.

Craigy has imo the most disciplined team in the AFL, I only rate a handful of their players as being 'stars' but they have a lot of hard working second tier talent players who can work hard and do a job every week, it's like a little army of terminators.

[Dry Rot]

Wish we had their tackling coach. And their commitment to it.

[Go_Dogs]

I don't necessarily think they tackle any better than us, more so pressure, numbers at the ball and around the contest, through the corridor etc.

[Bulldog Revolution]

Wish we had their tackling coach. And their commitment to it.

I agree,

I think we will get there as our players bodies mature further - Eade spoke on 3 aw yesterday and said that he felt our pressure skills had been good around the ball etc, but our work 40metres off the ball had to improve.

If you want to see how far we've come I suggest you watch the Mothers Day Massacre that Rohde coached when Freo belted us at the dome by 90 points.

The only positive to come out of that game was IMO Matt Boyd really looked an AFL player

[Bulldog Revolution]

In my opinion their midfield isn't any superior to anyones, but they are a very fit bunch who work extremely hard each way. They run end to end with the ball and clog space, their pressure skills are excellent and they can move the ball well on their good days. This is mainly accomplished through following the structures and running harder than the opposition so you can create contests with more players around the ball at either end of the ground.



excellent assessment - Spot on!

I actually hate the way Adelaide play and I'll be disappointed if they win it because I dont like their flooding game plan - probably partially because we cant seem to beat it. But partially I dont buy into the hype around the scientific coach craigy

[southerncross]

I don't necessarily think they tackle any better than us, more so pressure, numbers at the ball and around the contest, through the corridor etc.

But thats they key thing around their disciplined approach. I don't mind watching them because they contrast our midfield a fair bit.
I also don't think the tackling aspect that is often highlighted is that important. We can improve of course but it's not like we are bad at it.

The thing is that they can often strangle another team like they did last night in difficult conditions and then back it up with a similar effort in dry conditions.
They seem to use the ball so well in all conditions plus all their midfielders are physically strong.

The other part of the Crows that I want to discuss is that they KPP aren't really standout players. We often cry about the lack of quality talls we have after a loss and yet the Crows are effective with their talls mainly playing a more minor role.

Do we place too much emphasis on our lack of talls?

[Mofra]

They seem to have a completely different set-up to us. Their midfield extends to the wingers & flankers, and they often set-up a 40m zone in front of the opposition ball carrier - offering their opposition two options:
a. Kick long, most likely to a contest
b. Play around with it & try to get a clear possession

Neither option is particularly high percentage, which is why clubs struggle against them.

I don't think that is a viable style of play for us as Eade seems to have instilled a more instinctive style of play based on fast reactions & making space, not shutting down space.

On the down side, we seem to get sucked into running forward of the ball. Whilst some "looser" style players can turn it into an artform (Eagleton is brilliant at finding space, and Gia's ability at providing an option at HF is underrated, despite being in the top 3 in the AFL for assists), younger guys sometime get caught out on the rebound.

Our clearance rates are improving (especially compared to last year) but most of this is probably due to two players lifting their inside ability - Cooney & Boyd. I'm not sure if too much is due to our midfield set-up, as we still seem to stand too close to the centre circle for my liking.

[Bulldog Revolution]

The other part of the Crows that I want to discuss is that they KPP aren't really standout players. We often cry about the lack of quality talls we have after a loss and yet the Crows are effective with their talls mainly playing a more minor role.

Do we place too much emphasis on our lack of talls?

There talls are better than people think - put Bock and Rutten in our side and we would really notice the difference - the whole complexion of the side changes with two versatile key position players

Plus McGreggor, Perrie, Basset etc are not brilliant footballers but they are experienced, play a role and give it their all - all are great at making contests and bringing the ball to ground for their runners to take it away

[Bulldog Revolution]

They seem to have a completely different set-up to us. Their midfield extends to the wingers & flankers, and they often set-up a 40m zone in front of the opposition ball carrier - offering their opposition two options:
a. Kick long, most likely to a contest
b. Play around with it & try to get a clear possession

Neither option is particularly high percentage, which is why clubs struggle against them.

I don't think that is a viable style of play for us as Eade seems to have instilled a more instinctive style of play based on fast reactions & making space, not shutting down space.

.

Good assessment - Eade clearly has a different vision for us, built around pace - otherwise last years draft of Stack, Lynch, Harbrow, Hill etc seems an odd one. Any key position player for us has to be quick otherwise he will play another small.



Our clearance rates are improving (especially compared to last year) but most of this is probably due to two players lifting their inside ability - Cooney & Boyd. I'm not sure if too much is due to our midfield set-up, as we still seem to stand too close to the centre circle for my liking.

I think Gia, Darcy and Street deserve acknowledging for combining to give us some of our better clearance footy also. Gias been underrated and these injuries look like being the making of him. Darc has been inconsistent but provided some great quarters e.g Freo. Streety is extraordinarily underrated.

[Go_Dogs]

The Crows tall players are very interesting, with many of them more work horses than excellent footballers, but again, with the discipline and style of play they just need to be able to to their job, create contests, lead up create space and those sorts of things. It would be scary to imagine the Crows with a top line gun forward, they'd be a pretty good side I'd think.