Adelaide v West Coast & Port v Collingwood

Better get a thread going for this week’s games!

Adelaide are up against West Coast on Saturday afternoon at the Adelaide Oval. The game is already a sell out and Adelaide fans will be expecting their boys to get the job done convincingly. A few fans are getting a bit ahead of themselves by already talking finals, but personally I think September is still a long way off and hopefully internally at the AFC they are taking the same careful approach.

Port vs Collingwood in what is an interesting matchup. A real danger game for Port as they went into their week off in very average form, so it will be very interesting to see whether they return with any renewed energy and vigour.

Discuss….

Crows by 28
Port by 33

i think it is a case of if Adelaide have turned the corner they'll win, if the Jeckyll & Hyde form of earlier in the season fronts up well you know the result, for me Adelaide by 29 points, as for Port if they are the real deal they should win as i believe they'll have a couple of players coming back, presuming they do Port will win, if they don't come up then Collingwood may get them but Port for mine by 15 points

West Coast by 16
Collingwood by 5

Crows by 30 odd
Power by 10 ish
 

Righto,

Time to squeeze a quick post in about the games this weekend!

I think Adelaide will get the job done comfortably on Saturday against the Eagles. They are a different side now that the line up has settled a bit and I believe consistency issues are now behind them.

The team will also take a hell of a lot out of last weeks fighting win against Collingwood and I think they will be pumped up again and super keen to keep the momentum this week in front of their home crowd. Adelaide by somewhere between 5 - 10 goals.

Port Adelaide on the other hand, well if I was a fan I'd be a bit worried. I've got a bad feeling about this week. Collingwood off another loss at the MCG, not a great prospect. It all hinges on how Port comes back from the week off and whether it will give them a second wind for the run into finals.

I'm afraid I think there will be a Collingwood win this week in a close one, about 10 points the way of the Pies.

Lynch dropped Ginge, what are your thoughts?

Personally I think we could have 'carried' him until he found some form, but I understand why the decision was made. Podsiadly is doing the job better at the moment, I just hope Lynch can find some form in the SANFL and find his way back into the team before September rolls around. If we end up participating I think an in form Lynch is crucial to us making any sort of impact.

Grigg also made a big impact in the last term when he came on last week, and deserves to stay in the side. Really forced their hand a bit, which is good. A good side needs that sort of competition for spots. I reckon he'll start this week and Wright will get the subs vest.

Thompson in for Adelaide and Cox out for WC also, all good things for Adelaide.

If Adelaide has any ideas about finals it must win this and win big. Without Cox, Jacobs should dominate and set up the midfielders.

Port game is a toss of a coin. Collingwood aren't in good form but neither are Port. Cloke may be the key. If the umps give him special treatment after last weeks sooking then he could cause big problems for the Power defence. If the Pies lose then it is almost goodbye finals as the teams just above them in the 8 will be a game and percentage clear with easier runs home. Much as I hate tipping the Pies I think they will just win this,

Adelaide will rip West Coast a new one. 84 points.

Port will need to pull one out of the bag here, I hope the last two weeks has seen some real soul searching and renewed focus. Drop this one, drop Sydney next week and we could be sitting 7/8th.

Collingwood will clearly be up for this, but I like Port's forward half against the young 'Pies defence, as Adelaide's forwards did, out smarted the young 'Pies.

I don't however like coming off the bye, many sides struggle to get "up and about" after the bye, I will be able to tell by the 10 minute mark if we are "on". I hope, man I hope we are.

Port, just. 8 points.

Thompson no certainty to play.
Talia also in doubt.

Urgh.

Well that didn't go as planned.

A fair few Adelaide fans going into absolute meltdown tonight on social media - but I actually don't have a lot to say about what Adelaide did wrong.

To me today was more about West Coast and what the did right. Apart from the first 10 minutes they played what I would class as almost the complete performance.

They were exceptional. Their ball movement was so quick, they ran their arses off, and they delivered to their forwards with perfection. They played like a top 4 side, which begs the question - where have they been all year?

As for Adelaide, well out defence was stretched before Talia went off, so after that we were really up against it. We were flat footed, and our tackling was very frustrating, just didn't do enough to pin the ball in. Movement forward was definitely an issue again too, just didn't lower the eyes or kick to the advantage of our forwards often enough.

Positives - Tex is staring to find touch. Brad Crouch is just all class, hard to believe he's a second year player. Brodie Martin continues to get better with every game, bloody tough little street fighter he is.

All in all I had a really enjoyable day today. It was a beautiful day, took the missus to her first game since giving birth to #2 and on her birthday, # 2 also came for the his first game. In the end there's a lot more to life than the score at the final siren.

bayman wrote:i think it is a case of if Adelaide have turned the corner they'll win, if the Jeckyll & Hyde form of earlier in the season fronts up well you know the result, for me Adelaide by 29 points, as for Port if they are the real deal they should win as i believe they'll have a couple of players coming back, presuming they do Port will win, if they don't come up then Collingwood may get them but Port for mine by 15 points

despite a couple of players going down the Jeckyll & Hyde syndrome continues

We were pathetic, dont deserve to make the finals

sapaul wrote:West Coast by 16
Collingwood by 5

Not too bad. I'm available to give you next weeks X Lotto numbers   

Well, that went well, didn't it?

Adelaide continues to be unpredictable, might have blown a finals shot with that performance.

Port continue to slide, gave away any (slim ) chance of a top 4 spot and will now finish in the bottom half of the 8, probably be lucky to finish 6th and get one home final.

I'll wrap it up more later, pretty cheesed off with it all right now!

Righto, after a bit more time ponder the game and taking in a few ‘expert opinions’ on the radio and in the local rag I have a few discussion points:

1. West Coast were exceptional – I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, apart from the first 10 minutes that was the complete performance from West Coast. I’m not saying this as an excuse, as yes, Adelaide did let them play their own game to a certain extent, but the post match wash up after a loss always seems to focus on what Adelaide did wrong when some days the other team just plays an irrepressible, unstoppable brand of football. That was West Coast on Saturday. That said…..

2. Adelaide are slow – Rucci has identified it in the tiser today and I think he is right. Adelaide are slow. We’ve got plenty of solid mids who can win a footy, but not enough lightweight speedsters to whip it away once it is won. The balance isn’t right at the moment I don’t think. I have some real concerns about Scott Thompson for this very reason. He’s a proven ball winner, but he is slow. Very slow – and he’s not getting an quicker. If he’s not the one farming the ball out then we are one down on the spread. When we don’t have the footy, he’s just not quick enough to match up on a loose man or pressure the ball carrier.

3. Adelaide’s transition from defence to attack is a massive problem – The speed factor has a lot to do with it. The lack of a link man with a big tank also hurt us on Saturday, our only option when things got clogged up on the exit from defence seemed to be Sauce, which most weeks is fine, but not this week when he had Natinui standing next to him. I still think Lynch should’ve been kept in and carried until he finds form. He’s too important to drop to the 2’s. He’s horribly out of form so may not have had any impact had he been picked, but I would rather he was in with a chance of finding form than in the 2’s personally.

4. Adelaide lack mongrel – Roo said this on the radio this morning and I think he is on the money. The ‘crowbot’ mentality still lingers a bit I think. There just doesn’t seem to be enough players willing to hit the contests hard and ‘do it for the love of the jumper’ when the going gets tough. Sloane does it pretty much every week, Walker does it when he gets the opportunity, Brodie Martin is an unsung one who does it, Dangerfield (although not for a few weeks now) but after that it falls away pretty dramatically.

5. Adelaide are still immature – the bottom line is Adelaide are still an immature outfit, from Dangerfield and Sloane right down to the fringe. As such performance still relies heavily on confidence, which is still too easily shaken when sustained pressure is applied. Cue poor disposal, poor decision making, and ultimately erratic form and results. The encouraging thing is that I believe we have the skills and our best will eventually be good enough. Consistency is the key though, and I’m afraid that will only come with more experience across the whole playing squad. Time to put the lid back on Adelaide fans, cause we’re a while off it yet unfortunately. Success will come though, I am still confident of that.

Great summary, GN.

I think that nails it. I've long thought they need a bit of 'mongrel' and they certainly need more 'voice' leadership. The perceived lack of that leads to mental fragility, which leads to poor decision making, which leads to losses.

The other part of their mebntal fragility is that they don't seem to 'get up' for games they think they should win. In those games, or when they think they're in a winning position, they often switch off and have to fight back again in games they should have put away.

This is mental fragility and complacency, rating themselves higher than they really are.

I think several of them lead by example on the field, but there are many mentally fragile players also.

I remember running water for West in a game at Unley years ago.

West were fighting back in the last quarter and either hit the front or got within a goal.

I was struck by the voice and leadership of some of Sturt's senior players at the time as they organised their team and directed them.

I wasn't surprised that Sturt kicked two or three goals and won.

Just to re-iterate what you're saying R&B, I think one thing we have learned this year is that Nathan Van Berlo is far more valuable that anyone realised.

Even I thought 'we can cover him' when he went down over pre-season. I was thinking about his general ability, what I failed to realise is that he also provides on field leadership and maturity that we severely lack, particularly as other senior players reach the end of their careers.

In terms of the current on field issues at the AFC, my feeling is that the real problem lies in the fact that their best 22 is around 1 ½ players short of where the club needs to be. This has been influenced by the loss of Kurt Tippett and the recruiting bans that have prevented the club from recruiting a first string player in each of the drafts since then. I have seen Adelaide play some very good footy this year and suspect that the key to success lies more towards list management than actual player development for a number of lads in the group.

Yea I would agree Ben. The top 10 - 15 players are starting to settle now, but from there on we are still very green. We need to run deeper.

The next couple of drafts are crucial. We desperately need our 1st and 2nd round picks to be right on the money. Need some quality players with pace, and some with height if possible.

I didn't see the game, but I think Ginger you have nailed the reason why Adelaide were never going to be a threat this season. All of those issues have been fairly easy to spot this season. I think many Crows fans dared to dream after a good win here and there, but some of those issues you have mentioned aren't fixable during the season. I still question the coach, but he needs better equipped personnel at his disposal to form a better judgement.