Round 6- Gold Coast v Adelaide: No Sun, No Alcohol But Crows Shine
The day begins umpiring school footy at PAC, dash to Salisbury where the Adelaide Uni team affectionately known as the bastards have a comfortable win where Paddles misses several easy goals. From this day forward to be called Butch in honour of Port Power’s John Butcher. I make my way back to Bob Neil Number 1 to watch Uni play Henley in a bizarre game of footy, while also
Henley are far to good it is not helped due to serious injuries, Uni have only 17 players on the ground from early in the 2nd quarter. I had the pleasure of meeting PB and The Avenging Eagle, over from WA for the eagles clash with the power (fantastic to meet another member and put a face to the Knackery family). Ad Uni President Michael Dadds (almanac writer as well) asks me to do a hospital run, Nick Gill (ex crow) has fractured a collarbone in 3 places, understandably is a ghostly white colour and feels faint. Luckily he doesn’t collapse I didn’t fancy my chances or Sharls of catching him. Ted Langridge’s finger is a mixture of Neil Kerley and Fred Chocka Blochs, there are 4 ladies in wheel chairs from netball injuries, I say to Langers great place to meet ladies, they can’t run away from you! Brodie Borg has been discharged from the RAH after numerous tests re coughing up some blood hopefully Bjorn is ok (Brodie had recently taken a hanger which has been on The Footy Show).
I am able to now watch the Crows where we have got on top of the Suns, it has been a tumultuous week for the Suns with 4 players suspended by the club for drinking alcohol. I admit I am an each way bet on this one, as now a non drinker myself I do see the benefits from abstaining completely but also old school enough to know the benefits from bonding over a few beers so players becomes mates not just team mates. Many a sporting team has had home truths come out and things fixed over a few beers, drinking in moderation really is the key.
Sam Jacobs is on top in ruck and is continuing his fantastic year with Goldstein and Sandilands also playing well it looks like the ruck may be the hardest and most controversial spot in the All-Australian team yet again. Eddie Betts is again showing us all what an elite player he is, so clean with his hands and the only criticism is he is as usual too unselfish (Weeks, the astute one, points out Betts is a better pack mark than Walker which is a fair call). Rory Laird (son of ex black Dean) is polished and intercepting in the back half and continues to establish himself as a very good AFL player. Jake Lever makes a very promising debut looking assured and comfortable at the level (hey Michelangelo how ’bout an article how the the Cats ignored him at pick 10), Tex Walker has run around working hard up and down the ground which he must do as he is far better on the lead than trying to outbody and wrestle opponents. The Crows Tom Lynch a player who seems to divide opinion and is much maligned, as always gets on his bike and provides a option as the link man. Jake Kelly is developing by the week and may well make the pies regret not picking him as a Father-son selection. Grigg with his elite left leg has his moments while Dangerfield as always provides a few special highlights. For the Suns, Saad is excellent with his disposal a highlight, Jarred Harbrow and Dom Prestia get plenty of the ball although Harbrow in particular chooses the wrong option on occasions. Kolodjashnij continues to improve and is gradually developing into one of the better rebounding defenders in the competition. The Gold Coast’s Tom Lynch is ok, not an easy game for commentators with a Cameron and Lynch on each side. Charlie Dixon beats the premier defender in the competition Daniel Talia on several occasions, no mean feat to end up with 3 goals. The Suns are missing Ablett and O’Meara desperately which is fair enough you take the premier two midfielders out of just about any side, and let’s be real Ablett is the best player of the comp, out of any side and see how they go. The Hawks without Hodge and Lewis against the Giants show that. Talk around the footy traps is also about the Gold Coast, Richmond and Carlton lacking leadership reflecting in their ladder positions. It is an interesting discussion point. The crows go to
4 wins and 2 losses with a spot in the 8 and finals still a realistic goal. Gold Coast slip to 1 win and 5 losses with a first finals appearance shot to pieces. Is Rodney Eade past it? Should they have stuck with Bluey McKenna? New blood, all relevant questions.
Thanks to Phil Harper re tickets greatly appreciated by the Adelaide University FC and for Payneham folk I am reliably informed Willy,Big Carl and Louise all wouldn’t have got a game for the Suns with the no alcohol policy! Go the Crows.
Adelaide 18-11-119 def Gold Coast 11-12-78
GOALS:
Adelaide- Betts 5, Walker 4, Dangerfield,Lynch 2, Grigg, Sloane, Cameron, Jacobs, Thompson
Gold Coast- Dixon 3, Hall, Sexton, Harbrow, Shaw, Lemmens, Nicholls, Miller, Lynch
BEST PLAYERS:
Adelaide- Betts, Jacobs, Laird, Kelly, Lever, Dangerfield, Lynch, Sloane, Walker
Gold Coast- Prestia, Saad, Dixon, Kolodjashnij, Harbrow
Another enjoyable read Rulebook and pleased to see the obligatory dig at the Tiges. Must admit we deserve it!
The Bastards I think that is my favourite football team in the history of ever.I also liked how you talked about other people who have written in the almanac.Dad it was a pretty good article.I also order you to write more about my (new fav team) the bastards.
Another good read Book. Sounds like a tough day at the office for Blackjack and The Showgirls. Good point made regarding leadership at GC in particular. Can’t help but think that the whole booze issue may not have occurred if there was good off field leadership in the group. It’s worth noting that the GC team that played yesterday was younger than the first ever team they put on the park in 2011 and the Crows win should be put in perspective based on that. Happy to take the 4 points though!
don’t know how you find the time to write the articles, but keep them coming. Terribly scrappy game with lots of errors but winners are grinners :)
It’s extraordinary that a seasoned coach like Michael Malthouse allowed a player of Eddieeeeee Betts calibre disappear from Carlton’s list. Arguably other than D Jarman, Eddieeeeee is the standout recruit within the short tenure of the Adelaide Crows in the AFL. Was on the Gold Coast last week and their was little sun nor shine; twas a little cyclonic.
its was great to have the crows back the winning ways ,tex walker bakck with his kicking boots ,eddie betts kicking five but overall a great perfomace by the crows
I love your story
Great read Rulebook! I am outstanding however to see no comments about the most important part of this article – the blacks hospital list. I do wish to correct you however by saying that the blood discharge was from coughing it up, not urinating. Overall though, great read, even for a game with not much interest.
Might be a spot for Vickery now that Gill has gone down.
Hope that you didn’t pinch too much of Boz’s ice stash, I’ve heard that he is rather protective of same.
Crows didn’t beat much and should have won by more, too wasteful and will pay for it against the better teams (whoever they are, who knows this year?)
Let me guess, PB is punching over his weight with AE.
Another great write-up, great to see a really good return from Betts so far this season, definitely a stand-out so far this season. The Suns without Ablett just does not work, and they definitely missed O’Meara too.
Thanks for keeping me in the loop and always giving me something to have a chuckle over.
The Bastards need me to return I think!!!!!
Fair assessment mal, but they probaly should have won by 10 goals. At times their disposal is still poor but wasn’t punished by a side that was lacking the experience to do so. Still a win is a win.
What can I say Eddie Betts 5 goals great performance ,although i believe we should had beaten them by a lot more.I think we need to pick a game up a little if we want to stay in the eight
Great to see Eddie Betts prove to the comp that he is worth all the money crows paid for him
Thanks folks,Eddie Betts continues to go from strength to strength as a elite player in the competition and Neags spot on he has been just as much a loss for the blues as he is a asset to the crows both Eddie and Sauce are moving closer to the great man
D Jarman as the crows most valuable recruit in the crows history.Pagey great point about the age of yesterday’s side re the Suns comes back to recruiting in the 1st place not picking some experience like,Duigan,Puopolo Spurr etc was a massive mistake and it would have helped re leadership as well.Swish yes I think we would take,Vickery
now ahh,Boz still as weird as ever.Brodie glad your feeling better,apologies re my error will get fixed mate.Campbell yep Ablett and OMeara would be missed by any side.. Thanks Lisa
Great article rulebook, lot of very interesting points. Think weeks is spot on about betts, his body work in marking contests is spot on. any chance we’ll see Laird in a blacks Guernsey in the future?
Swish – The Avenging Eagle has finally wished up. She is leaving me for Adam Simpson.
Great to see Rulebook in his natural environment. He is like Matt Priddis – the hardest working man in footy. Uni Blacks seemed a great club. Shocking day with injuries and got flogged by Henley. But I never heard a bad word from player or supporter. The club, the contest and the Blacks community are winners even when the scoreboard lies.
Wised up.
PB, can’t believe you haven’t pumped out a report on the Weags’ big win yet.
You’ve picked your weekend well.
Gild Coast backtracking when this season they were tipped to go forward. Still happy the Criws have a 100% record though
Malcolm- I reckon a forty point win is about par given the week both clubs had. A highlight was the work and form of the two Jakes- Kelly and Lever (that’d make a good film title).
Thanks for that.
Thanks for the ticket Rulebook. I went to the Suns-Crows game and there was certainly plenty of alcohol consumed in the crowd. Surprisingly, I didn’t see any runners taking cocktails to the players as did happen back when I played for the Soothsayers in 1989. The Soothsayers won the A9 flag that year against all odds as the team we beat hadn’t lost a game for two and a half years. I believe this was due to the unbelievable team spirit created over a few drinks.
Malcolm
Don’t know you find time to write these articles in your busy schedule. What a range of footy games you get through in one day. I thought I was doing well watching Norwood, one Uni side and then the Crows on TV.
I think the Crows Tom Lynch adds a lot to the side with the enormous amount of ground that he covers and then gets forward to be a goal kicking threat to opposition teams.
Great call on levers debut, he was very composed in the secdond half and good to see some legitimate newcomers coming through.
I got up early in London to watch the crows game on espn, we started well but to be honest we really had a poor second half if you consider the opposition, no disrespect intended but we just trod water.
Regarding richmond, they don’t have decent leadership at any level, Cotchin has only gone backwards since he was installed as captain, is it time they gave it to Martin? he might be a ratbag, but he has some sh*t about him and could be what they need. Walker has done a great job at the crows, richmond need pull something out of the box because they are seriously underperforming
Another comprehensive coverage of grassroots to AFL ‘Book. Throw in your selling of raffle tickets & umpiring; I really think you really do need to look in the mirror and ask yourself “What contribution am I making at the Blacks? Am I really doing enough?”
If the Crows can find a mid fielder call Jake we should be good to go as may need to cover Sloaney this week.
As for the Blacks – the best 15 goal loss you will see. The boys really battled it out against the top team & deserve an easy week on the track. Im all for a 5 man bench in the future.
pics from Saturday at http://www.digital.smugmug.com –
Great work
NIce one Rulebook. But given the line up that the suns had they could have almost opted to send out the Southport Sharks as they may have done about the same. Perhaps even better seeing Nathan Bock may have had some inside info. Betts is certainly a great recruit but he’ll need to continue in the same vein fora bout another half a dozen years at a similar level to be thought of in the same vein as D Jarman IMHO.
Not sure why there’s any diatribe re Tom Lynch, other than his ducking into the contest. Nice player. Clever. Does little wrong. In our best 18 by panels.
Penners Betts body positioning is brilliant and a lesson for every 1 re size wise that is positioning and timing being the key elements,happy to have Rory’s dad Dean a grey for now.Great to meet you PB the hospital run was interesting to say the least and
Swish PB is batting well above his weight the avenging eagle is definitely a number 1 draft choice.Smack yep happy to keep the 100 per cent success rate Mickey both Jakes showed considerable promise.Piggy the elite level forgets how important bonding and actual mateship is the soothsayers had that by the truck load.Milts and
DL thank you,Saturday’s are a tad busy.Jacko agreed in all honesty it was just a win but still take it and leadership( or lack of)is vital and is being spoken of freely around the footy traps re the clubs lacking and no doubt, Cotchin and Murphy are not naturals and have gone backwards as players where a Nick Maxwell excelled.Jags agreed it is a way to go but Betts is making inroads.Half woman I am a Lynch fan many are not which surprises me,thanks folks
I hope the Richmond players don’t read your reports as they could be fired up for round 19.
Lever looks the goods and risking an early pick for a re-co player could be a good move.
AS the only club playing four games against the strugglers from Queensland the Crows should easily make the eight.
Fantastic read love your astute observations
I repeat Rulebook Eddie Betts best Crows recruit ever
Lots to ponder here OBP.
Very thought-provoking report.
I wonder what’s going on inside Gold Coast Footy Club.
I wonder if anybody knows.
I think I must have been the only one because I didn`t think Tex did as well this week. He could hardly run and didn`t chase so I`m wondering if hes playing with an injury. love your write ups Malcolm always very interesting.
Nice as always Book. Without trying to sound like a scratched record, T Lynch is the most “important ” player on Crows list… is the conduit to break thru the hardest line in footy… the half forward line. With a GC injury/suspension list greater than China’s population, Adelaide should be unhappy with anything less than an 80 point flogging in that game. And Charlie Dixon is a gun when fit… put him at Hawthorn and he kicks 60 snags this year.
I can also feel a new hashtag comin on! #leverfever
I’ve just realised that Tom Lynch reminds me of John Klug (in a good way)
All very sound analysis, Rulebook. Hope Nick Gill has a speedy recovery. I am definitely in the pro-Lynch camp. He is our most important link player forward of centre. I am also very firmly in the pro-Grigg camp – every possession has value.
Danny injuries could well decide the crows season losing Sloane could tip them over the edge.SL greatly appreciated.Raj Betts is gaining we can’t forget D Jarman re big games and in particular GFs.OBP it is interesting whether this season is going to be the blip on the Suns radar or in history be a basket of a club we wait and see.JT a lot of people are questioning tex re his body he does seem to be struggling.Jamesey and
Browny I am on your side re the importance of Lynch.Swish yes re work rate,Klug more capable of doing something unorthodox and brilliant than Lynch I reckon thanks guys
Enjoyable read sounds like,Ad Uni FC had a shocking day . A comfortable win yes we hoped it would be a thrashing but it must be remembered how many injuries the crows have as well.Betts easily best small forward in the competition his balance and skills are second to none thanks for sending on,Malcolm
Good article Malcolm. I wonder if Jake Lever is related to Sean Lever, who was from the Geelong FL and coached Cobden to back to back flags in the Hampden League in 1997 & 98?
Good read, look forward to more articles in the next few weeks. Go you crows.
That’s the Book we know and love. Great article. ‘”Drinking in moderation really is the key” – where was that pearl of wisdom 20 years ago at the Havelock?!
I still think JPod was one of our better players last year and apart from thinking Walsh has made some necessary tough calls we still seem to struggle with converting inside 50s and a free-ranging CHF like Podsiadly could be that missing link (and I’m not referring to his long arms and mildy sloping brow). Could still kick 30 goals for us and take his 8-10 marks in the front half.
John totally agree,Betts is a incredible player.Luke I will find out re Lever.Thanks Brent.
TC Ashwood c Marsh b Lillee 0 re drinking responsibly 20 yrs ago thanks SOL.
Jason alas Podds is another member of the crows incredibly long Inj list
Thanks guys
Well said, Book. Mention of Neil Kerley’s fingers reminds me of the time back in the 1970s when he came to our school to do a coaching clinic. He put his hands up and stretched his fingers out to illustrate how one should mark the ball in front of one’s eyes. There was not one finger out of the 8 that pointed in the same direction. Even the thumbs looked like they had been through a metal press. Neil was never going to be a concert pianist. While I am writing this I am thinking of the one thing that I remember from that clinic. Neil said “When you’re doing kick to kick, don’t kick it to the pack. That’s the lazy way out. Put it out in front of them and make them run for it.” Good advice.
Thanks Bizz it would be interesting to compare Kerls and Chockas fingers ! Sound advice by Kerls it would have been a big thing as a youngster for Kerls to take a coaching clinic. At Norwood High we were utterly privileged to have Allan Killigrew coach us in year 11 in 1979,the hot gospeller was a fascinating man and a brilliant coach .
Sounds like you had a big day Malcolm, as we did on the Gold Coast, good report and you are totally correct in regards to the no alcohol policy, Go The Mighty Crows.
A good summary as always Rulebook.
Always take 4 points on the road but it was an ordinary game to watch. Crows played well in really short bursts and did enough, don’t think they would get away with playing like that against Freo or Swans or Hawks.
Positives – Lever looked like he had time, right from his first touch. Kelly continues to improve. Talia was probably just beaten on the day but the rest held up OK. Betts and Jacobs continued their good seasons.
With Sloane out for 6ish it is a great chance to play Grigg and Lyons for an extended stretch of games and see if they are going to make it. Hard to get a read when they are in for 1 or 2 games, maybe as sub, then out again.
Really enjoyed Tex Walker’s comments when interviewed after the game and talking about his hanger, he said something like, “recently I haven’t been able to jump over a tally ho paper”. Country boy gold.
Thanks Willo what has been impressive so far re the crows has been there depth having had a horrendous injury run . I really hope Grigg is give a decent run as he has a elite left leg which we definitely lack.Lyon is neither a yes or no vote at this stage let him decide his destiny