1 hour ago, Devil is in the Detail said:

Already did 20 bucks at 61/1

Dont think Sloane will outpoll him this week..

Pretty [censored] poor from the crows player who did not go in to give Sloane a hand. No chop out nothing.

Poor leadership 

6 hours ago, DemonOX said:

Has anyone heard any reports on Truck?

He was hobbling badly at the end of the game and did seem to have cramping but also looked like his knee was a bit sore. 

Just severe cramping Ox

5 hours ago, chook fowler said:

Frost returning to the backline has been huge. His dash and good ball use have set up many forward moves and also allowed TMac to go forward which was the match winning move IMO.

Is T-Mac a better forward than back chook?  Difficult mobile match up deep and reminds me a weeny bit of Cameron, albeit a tad unco.

2 hours ago, titan_uranus said:

I've now been able to watch the replay.

We made Adelaide look completely ordinary. That sentence is remarkable in itself. 

Our pressure was exactly where it ought to be, and was there for the entire game. We knew what we needed to do, we stuck to it, and it worked.

We also, finally, made the most of our dominance and converted it into scoreboard pressure, a huge problem so far this year.

Our backline played really well, helpfully supporting the argument against the proposition that our backline "leaks like a sieve". And it didn't stand up against any old side, it stood up against the competition's strongest forward line, at their home ground.

With that pressure, that direct ball movement, and that clean use of it going inside as we had this week, we are capable of beating anyone. The season is in our hands.

The stats are there for anyone to look at. We did have Adelaide kick 5 in a row. IN every other game we have had quarter blowouts. Not sure why you are looking for an argument against that fact.

Yes the backline played well but OMac's intensity is still bad. Jetta and Hibberd were simply incredible. Salem was very good and even Wagner, who I am not a fan of, played some very good footy.

The defence collectively was outstanding and, as you say, against a side that had previously averaged 127 points

 

52 minutes ago, Skuit said:

The other one was definitely on Nev though. Sucked into the contest for no good reason and left Betts alone with a heap of space in a dangerous spot. However, I think it may have given him a necessary wake-up. 

He backed his judgement and it spilled to Betts. I don't nessecerily think it was a mistake. It doesn't always go your way.

7 minutes ago, Rusty Nails said:

Just severe cramping Ox

Thanks Rusty. 

Fearless football on show and who needs a ruckman? 

All things being equal we're back on track for some September action. 

Whilst we're in the midst of footy's version of that Seinfeld episode where we do the opposite, we could leave T-Mac forward when it suits and possibly play Hogan at CHB (in bursts) when he returns.

Vince should be used as a tagger whenever applicable and when Gawn returns, we'll be even better.

Our combined midfield is now quite capable of dominating games (as we saw last night)  Petracca in there adds another dimension. 

Exciting times ahead.

Edited May 14, 20178 yr by Macca

Jacobs had 70 hit outs and the crows were the best clearance/contested ball in the comp and we smashed them out of the middle. 

I still can't wrap my head around how that's possible beyond Jacobs taps were average and our mids read the ball a lot faster than the crows 

2 hours ago, Demon_spurs said:

I'm glad you have been able to watch the replay, I'm having all sorts of problems with AFL.com this week, but the video just won't load atm....Anyone else having this problem?

 

1 hour ago, binman said:

Yes. Fair dinkum, jusy hopeless. 1 billion plus for tv rights and they cant get a bloody website right

Pretty sure there's no free replays on AFL.com this year, if you want to watch it you gotta pay for the live pass.

45 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Pretty [censored] poor from the crows player who did not go in to give Sloane a hand. No chop out nothing.

Poor leadership 

On that note, did you see that no umpires went in to give Bernie a touch up? They are bruise free.

41 minutes ago, Rusty Nails said:

Is T-Mac a better forward than back chook?  Difficult mobile match up deep and reminds me a weeny bit of Cameron, albeit a tad unco.

His unco-ness works to our advantage in the forward line as opposition get caught off guard not knowing what the hell he's gonna do which opened up the play on at least 2 occasions last night 

2 hours ago, Demon_spurs said:

I'm glad you have been able to watch the replay, I'm having all sorts of problems with AFL.com this week, but the video just won't load atm....Anyone else having this problem?

Had this problem intermittently all day. Lucky I've got the flu with nothing better to do but wait till it came good. Which it would for a while then back to the scheisenhaus as we say in the old country.

After getting all my uni work done a little earlier than expected tonight, I’m going in for the replay now. Giving the first half a miss though, as I want to get to bed at a somewhat reasonable hour and I don’t really want to watch those awful umpiring calls again...

3rd Quarter:

• Good tackle from Weiderman in the first 30 seconds of the 2nd half, and another from him 1 minute later
• So glad Hunt didn’t break his jaw going in like that on Sam Jacobs, but he knocked the ball loose and we gained possession to get the goal that sparked the run
• Clearance by Petracca and quick entry gives us a 1-on-1 which McDonald marks and goals with the first of his floater goals
• Mark of the night from Bugg after Frost sprints through the middle and we have loose men in the forward line; this means our two-way running from defense to offense was superior to Adelaide's defensive running
• Adelaide’s structure 1 kick their offensive side of the play fell apart in the 2nd half; they were obviously shitscared of our offensive tackling pressure and wanted to neutralise contests in our forward-50, but the ball just kept coming back in because they didn’t have any marking targets outside our f50
• OLIVER!!!
• Tom McDonald’s ability to make a contest as a forward and then gather the ball at ground level and hit up Pedersen with a 15.1m kick (who goaled) was fantastic; short marks inside 50 have been something we can never seem to get but TMac figured it out
• One of Bernie’s greatest strengths as a tagger is that opponents know he’s dangerous if he gets the ball; Sloane was obvously scared of that so he couldn’t be totally offensive all night
• Hannan did enough to earn his spot
• Watts needs to learn how to extend his arms and take a mark in his hands
• That Frost/Jetta/Salem tag-team goal saving defensive job with 4:30 to go in the 3rd quarter was something special
• Soft free to Garlett running back, but again our offensive running is superior to Adelaide's
• Watts was spare man in defense when Jenkins took a sliding mark and goal; OMac was his direct opponent but Watts didn’t position himself correctly to influence that contest
• A great contested mark from Tyson (sticking the boot out if you don’t mind) leads to a Petracca-to-Viney goal; I loved Tyson’s increased physicality in the 2nd half
• Jayden Hunt be like: “Ooh! FOOD!!!"
• Vince is like: “Slow it down Jonesy! There’s a minute to go!”, and Jones is like: “Yeah, I know mate. I’m the captain for a reason."
• TMac’s tapdown to Kent was superb; Kent bangs it in and Garlett takes an all-too-easy mark in a 1-vs-2 situation; love those last minute goals (when they go our way of course)

4th Quarter:

• Salem’s tackling pressure and silky disposal is a wonderful combination
• Kent is just barely best-22; he needs to kick on soon or he’ll be trade-bait
• That deliberate rushed rule is a joke
• Does Kent run hard all night or is he a junk-time specialist? Either way I like players who kick goals
• Wagner’s disposal reeks of “OH CRAP I’M PLAYING AFL FOOTY” but his tackling is top-notch.
• Oliver’s tackling pressure is beautiful; he’s basically the perfect inside footy player
• Again Adelaide’s two-way running is found wanting when compared to ours; they have absolutely no-one forward while we have a few back, and a good chase from Hannan stops their flow forward
• Watts is turning into quite a capable negating backup-ruckman, and his ground-level ability is far superior to full-time rucks like Jacobs and Co.
• Oliver, Kent and Hannan combine for a junk-time goal; make of it what you will
• Petracca is a bleedin’ bull!
• Yep. He’s a bull.
• Weiderman goes ok; he’s still very raw and shouldn’t be in the team ahead of Pedersen (if Gawn is fit), but he’ll be something one day I think
• I’d pay a lot of money for Clayton Oliver to teach me how to handpass a football like he can

Edited May 14, 20178 yr by Chook

2 hours ago, Watts the matter said:

Just on this, Petracca is 2nd in the league for goal assists. Oliver is 10th.

Wow.  Both are seriously impressive young footballers.....and they both are Demons. ?

1 hour ago, binman said:

Yes. Fair dinkum, jusy hopeless. 1 billion plus for tv rights and they cant get a bloody website right

Took Telstra six months to determine that my Internet line was faulty!  Complacent 

6 minutes ago, Abe said:

Jacobs had 70 hit outs and the crows were the best clearance/contested ball in the comp and we smashed them out of the middle. 

I still can't wrap my head around how that's possible beyond Jacobs taps were average and our mids read the ball a lot faster than the crows 

Fantastic planning and execution, and must not forget to pay tribute to Pedo too who helped make Jacobs' hit outs less than effective. 

7 hours ago, Rafiki said:

Hi mate, check your pm

Would love a PM as well if you have a spare moment Rafiki.

16 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

His unco-ness works to our advantage in the forward line as opposition get caught off guard not knowing what the hell he's gonna do which opened up the play on at least 2 occasions last night 

No complaints from me Dr. I don't think even he knew which way he was going to head in one goal there

Just had a look at the Adelaide big footy post Mortem on game. Gee they seem to be a little upset about the result. I think a demonlander has infiltrated their post game chit chat. He / she said " It's a comforting feeling when apathy replaces passion" 

Love it !!!!! 

1 hour ago, Rusty Nails said:

No complaints from me Dr. I don't think even he knew which way he was going to head in one goal there

Thought he did it brilliantly. Feinted to handball laterally to Garlett in space, totally wrong footing both defenders, then jagged back n to his right foot and easy goal.

He'd know exactly what the defenders would & wouldn't want him to do in that situation. The beauty of playing him as a forward from time to time.

Love Tmac playing forward, he's a good mark and in the forward line he's only got one thing to aim at.

Didnt know much about Hibberd before he came across but I do now, he and Salem are two of the best attacking defenders in the game.

Gotta love Bern, doing what he does best.

Isn't it good that Jones doesn't have to be a one man midfield anymore.

North next week, one more problem to cross off the list  

 

1 hour ago, Abe said:

Jacobs had 70 hit outs and the crows were the best clearance/contested ball in the comp and we smashed them out of the middle. 

I still can't wrap my head around how that's possible beyond Jacobs taps were average and our mids read the ball a lot faster than the crows 

I wonder whether one of the coaches (my guess would be Craig Jennings) worked out where Jacobs puts his taps, and he's just very predictable. Most ruckman have a preferred way of tapping, especially if they're easily winning the hit outs. I don't think it's coincidence that while we broke even in the around-the-ground stoppages, we absolutely smashed them in centre clearances. Centre bounces are probably a lot easier to analyse. 

Edited May 14, 20178 yr by Akum

2 hours ago, Rusty Nails said:

Is T-Mac a better forward than back chook?  Difficult mobile match up deep and reminds me a weeny bit of Cameron, albeit a tad unco.

Too early to tell but looks like a competent swing man at least. It gives some flexibility which is needed. Can compete in the ruck as well.

2 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Pretty [censored] poor from the crows player who did not go in to give Sloane a hand. No chop out nothing.

Poor leadership 

Sloane is their leadership. Not much Tex can do while he's up one end wondering how many rings Frost is going to run around him. 

 

Agree though, surely after 15 minutes you start blocking and sticking up for your best mid, especially after it just happened the week before. Sloane is such an inside/outside gun, the rest of their midfield is no-names that live off him. These 2 weeks have put big dent in the Crows campaign. @McQueen was right after all that North exposed a glaring weakness. 

Just watching the replay again. Have a look at this for an aggressive stoppage set up that I noticed (sorry can't resize this anymore).

Wagner is pushing up just outside the stoppage in front of Betts and Jetta provides cover behind him (Adelaide are attacking to the left of screen). 

As you can see, Adelaide have a number on the outside at the other side of the contest, but if they won the stoppage forward of the play, Jetta would provide cover for the kick over the top of the stoppage. Or if that outside Adelaide player won possession off the back of the stoppage, he'd have to use it really well, as a Melbourne midfielder charges at him to close down space. Pretty unlikely. What's more likely is if we lose the clearance, it would result in a dump kick inside 50, where we should be able to neutralise. This is worst case scenario for us as long as we don't make errors around the ball and stick our tackles.

As it happens, Wagner and Betts got sucked into the contest and Jetta ended up getting it out the back and making a really good decision as he had time and options across half back on his side.

This is just one example of many that show how well drilled and coached we are as a team nowadays. Everyone knows their role. 

The other thing about this aggressive stoppage set up is that it makes the opposition have to play around you so brilliantly, merely just to get an inside 50.

Edited May 14, 20178 yr by A F

Watched the replay.

A few random thoughts ...

I thought Wagner was ok.

We got a good run from the umps ... for once !!!

Frost was good.

I liked the taps rather than taking possession and getting caught.

Didnt overdo the handball. 

Got the ball into the forward line quickly.

Playing with JKH  was playing one short. Kent is so much better