Lucifers Hero

Much of the dialogue on this thread has 'saviour' written all over it and the salivating is a bit OTT! He plays his role very well but he isn't the major cog in the Crows defence. So I'm not sure he is a Key Position Player. He might be one day but not right now. Will he be the defender we need to play on Brown, Daniher, Moore, Hipwood etc? I am a little cautious in assuming he will be. TBH I am skeptical of the $850K being bandied around. That is the sort of money paid to a match winner and I don't see Lever being a match winner. Don't get me wrong. I am glad we are chasing him. But I hope we don't pay overs in $ to him or trade value to Crows.

That list is not up to date. Go to this thread for all contracts:

They are not our problem - only Vince has played regularly this year and he has said he is happy to play games at Casey next year if he stays. It may make people feel good to delist 10 players but it is only tweaking around the fringe and will not fix the bigger problem. The bigger problem is a game plan which does not currently match the players we have and a huge lack of player smarts and disposal skills. If our coach is flexible he can fix the former, the latter takes more than one season.

That is not surprising since most of the team have had only a few preseasons. I think those guys are giving it their all but do need to conserve energy. Many of them should have been rested at some stage during the year. The best coaches have a game plan that suits the players they have. Then develop it in tandem as the players develop. That is what Roos did at Sydney - he didn't have stars; he had a tough team and had a defensive game plan to suit. It may not have been pretty but it worked. Clarkson did the same and is still doing it. He wanted a precise disposal team and gradually recruited that type and developed his high possession, pin point game plan accordingly. This year he lost a lot of his speed and accurate players, he modified his game plan accorndingly. Goodwin has a game plan that does not match the players he has right now. It doesn't match because most have poor disposal skills and because many have not had enough pre-seasons to sustain a crash, bash and run style. Goodwin's game plan may be the one that wins a premiership but he doesn't have a team to carry it out right now. He needs to recognise his plan is part of the problem. He needs to modify it to match the team he has now. Then develop it in tandem as the players develop. To do otherwise risks the players loosing belief in the game plan.

On the Marngarook footy show last night Jetta and Harmes were asked about how the dees were handling the pressure of getting to finals and if they get there playing in them. Jetta said the leaders were encouraging players to 'embrace the pressure'. That phrase has Jordan Lewis writ large over it. Lewis has gone up a gear over recent weeks but now his best work may well be off field getting our excitable lucifers into the right mind space!

They have the same manager so doing the contracts at the same time makes sense. Also, 2 years is the initial renewal term for a recent draftee. Hunt, Petracca, Brayshaw etc had 2 years on initial renewal. So Oscar got the standard 2 years. The club wanted Tom to sign a long-term contract as he was in hot demand. He declined. He signed for 2 years as it takes him to 8 years with the club ie he has Unrestricted Free Agent status. Tom had seen so many false dawns that even if blind freddy could see the direction we were going there was still serious doubt. I don't see any signs of a brotherly bloc. But I will leave it at that as I have no more facts to offer.

That seems to be the view on the Match Preview thread - we will soon know.

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2017-08-24/keilty-upgraded-to-senior-list Congratulations to Declan on being upgraded to the Senior list. A sign that he will play this week? Where is @Drunkn167? I bet you and the family are absolutely rapt!

In a recent podcast Jason Taylor didn't sound enamoured with this years draft. He didn't comment on 2018 draft but by all accounts it is a seriously, seriously talented draft. So, that would be a serious upgrade benefiting the Crows. Would prefer to keep 2018 picks intact if we can.

No! What makes you think this? Tom and Oscar are in totally different contract positions. Tom is an UFA next year so he will be looking at all his options, regardless of what happens with little bro. And, Oscar is more than good enough to earn a contract in his own right without being carried on big bro's coat tails. There will be other clubs coming at Oscar next year! It is really important to sign Tom up asap to avoid a UFA media beat up in 2018. Last time he signed for only 2 years because he wanted to see how the club progressed. He has his answer. I think he will stay on a long term contract. He wouldn't want to bail now. ...Hopefully, this doesn't derail the Lever thread to a Mcdonald thread but felt it important to ask for clarification on the 'Macdonald brother bloc' theory before people start giving it credence and I wanted to show why they are in completely different contract positions so are not interdependent.

I can see the attraction of Frost to the Crows. They don't have a fast-running-take-the-game-on defender. We have Hunt and Frost. Both have one speed, more or less in a straight line with poor composure. Both players need to improve those 3 elements of their play. But I think a team can only really afford one with those deficiencies in a side. So we keep Hunt and Crows get Frost and both keep working on their deficiencies. If we get Lever and let Frost go it would suggest the club is confident of re-signing Oscar and Tom.

Lever quits his Adelaide radio show spot. http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-08-21/lever-pulls-out-of-regular-radio-spot Sure sign he is leaving the Crows. Seems down to a two horse race: Dees and Pies. Given the pies don't know who their coach will be and its list is all over the shop, it is hard to see they have the nod. Conclusion: It must be the Dees...!

Good article. Thanks. Sounds like Clarrie can add wisdom to what he has learnt this year: ' "I deleted most of my social media so I don't have to worry about it too much now," Its a smart move - he doesn't need the distraction and the media hysteria thrown at him this year. Let his football do the talking - and right now it is shouting

@Drunkn167's bro, Declan Keilty has been re contracted for another year on the rookie list. Big men sign on for 2018 season By the reports that his bro has given us he has worked very hard. Congratulations to Declan and thanks Drunkn for keeping us up to date with his progress.

Do you have a source on the $1.5m, FT? Lewis was initially offered a two year deal which became a three year deal with the 3rd year (2019) based on certain triggers. So 2019 is not guaranteed. And there are ways of extending a players longevity eg not taking the long haul flights to WA, NT etc. Let the young guys do that. And, not many players play at their peak in every game. They all wax and wane during a season. We don't need him to play every game in a season. TBH, I would rather Lewis be fit and fresh for crunch games and finals.

Clarrie is n the Team of the Week, again: Took control of the stoppages with seven clearances, and also contributed with six tackles and 32 possessions, which went with an 81.3 per cent efficiency rating. Phenomenal performance. He also gained votes from Coaches and sitting 6th on their Leaderboard. Most 2nd year players are tiring, but not our Clarrie! An incredibly consistent season. Looks set to win both the Bluey and Best Young Player awards this year!

If that is true it makes young Jake a liar - he denied it on air in Adelaide. The most practical time to have 'met' was in Darwin. Maybe a casual beer with mates (eg Petracca) after the game in someone's hotel and the likes of Goodwin and Viney walk in and say 'hi' and have a 'get to know chat'. Maybe that is a 'meeting' to a journo but not a 'meeting' to young Jake. For now I'll give him the benefit of the doubt as after Scully I detest blatant liars.

Updated version of article: http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-08-08/it-never-happened-crow-lever-denies-meeting-dees From original article: IN-DEMAND Adelaide star Jake Lever has denied reports he met with Melbourne officials. "I never met with Melbourne," Lever told radio station FIVEaa on Tuesday. "That's a rumour I just laugh at. "It never happened." I do not detect any spin, hedging or camouflage in Lever's comments. And, he doesn't seem the type to outright lie. He isn't coming to the Demons. Sad that he laughs at the rumour/prospect of coming to our beloved Demons. I hope that isn't typical of the players we may be targetting. Edit: the updated article gives a slightly different angle on what he said. He seems will entrenched in Adelaide with a weekly radio spot.

Really? That is a bit personal. I always contribute to such posts with my own opinions and comments which I think are quite articulately expressed! So not sure what you are complaining about!

David King has lost his marbles! He suggests we trade Jesse for Lever!! Don't know why some media folk make such complete fools of themselves! https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/media-watch-the-move-that-could-help-the-dees-land-jake-lever-the-mcg-tells-smokers-to-jog-on/news-story/fe0078efb26fcb8e45a222ce0ab7595c

Accidentally quoted this but can't find the 'delete' post button

He plays for Melbourne and we don't sell newspapers nor are high value click bait! The Vic media plays to the big membership clubs and we ain't one of them, yet! Look at this: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/essendon/top-afl-forwardhalf-pressure-numbers-revealed-in-the-drill-podcast/news-story/ccfa5915beec1bedf0b446e0a486b268 That story is all about Tippa at Ess and Rioli and Castagna of Rich as the 1st, 4th and 5th ranked players for forward turnovers and scores from them. And who were 2nd and 3rd for both measures? None other than our very own ANB (2nd) and Jeffy (3rd)but barely a word said about them. Many of our players are underrated in the media until they can no longer ignore their elite performance eg Jetta. The article also shows what an asset ANB is for us who still goes under the radar a bit (even on this site). Its really poor by the media that very deserving players get so little exposure.

Pick 12 which we gave to Geelong for Beamer

His team mate, Tom Lynch did exactly that two years ago when there was strong talk he was leaving (and if I recall the Dees were a long way down the track with him). As soon as the Crows blinked and gave him the term and $ he wanted, he couldn't sign fast enough. After the Crows blinked Lynch said: “I’ve got a young family ...I’m happy to stay at the Club – the intention was always to stay here at the Adelaide Crows". Its a game players and managers indulge. Maybe Lever is touring a few clubs...didn't his father recently connect with the bulldogs? To me Lever is still a young player with potential. Yes, potential to be elite (like many other players in our team) but doesn't really have runs on the board so I'm not yet as enamoured with him as some DL's . I would be reluctant for us to pay an 'elite' level trade value to the Crows or pay Lever an 'elite' level contract. If the reported $850K p.a. the Bulldogs are offering is true then I would walk away from the table. The only Dee player earning more than that would be Hogan (maybe Viney). Lever has a lot to prove before he gets to that level in my book.