Number Crunch: How the once free-scoring Adelaide Crows have had their wings clipped in season 2018

A YEAR ago it wasn’t a matter of how many goals Adelaide would kick but who would kick them. Now the Crows are having trouble scoring at all. See how drastically the goals have dried up up in this week’s Number Crunch.

Eddie Betts has kicked just 18 goals this season — 16 fewer than at the same time last year. Picture: Will Russell (AFL Media/Getty Images).

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A YEAR ago it wasn’t a matter of how many goals Adelaide would kick but who would kick them.

The Crows’ mantra was “leave your ego at the front door’’ with a share and share alike philosophy where Adelaide was so powerful and prolific that its all-conquering forwards appeared to get just as much joy from dishing out goals to teammates that they did from kicking them themselves.

“As a forward six, we knew that if you leave your ego at the front door and if you want to be a part of this group you have to be very selfless and play your role and that’s what we’re all about,” Crows forward Tom Lynch said of the AFL’s highest-scoring unit before the grand final against Richmond.

“It’s obviously important that we’ve been able to play together for a number of years now and get that continuity, which builds consistency.”

Andrew Capel's Number Crunch - Failure to launch

Last year Adelaide averaged more points for the season (107.8) than any other team and seven times kicked more than 20 goals in a game.

The Crows boasted three of the competition’s top 11 goalkickers, with pocket rocket Eddie Betts bagging 55, captain Taylor Walker 54 and his key forward sidekick Josh Jenkins 45.

After round 12, Adelaide’s average score was a whopping 118.8 points and it had reached the 20-goal mark six times.

What a difference a year makes.

After round 12 this season the goals have dried up.

Adelaide is averaging just 87 points – 20.8 fewer than last season and a staggering 31.8 points less than it was at the same stage of the year.

It has yet to kick 20 goals in a game, with its highest score of 19.11 (125) coming against bottom-placed Carlton in round seven.

Don Pyke’s men last year ranked No. 1 for points scored (107.8 per game), goals per inside 50m (27.5 per cent), marks inside 50 (14.6), points from turnovers (70.4) and points differential form turnovers (+21) and second for scores per inside 50 (50.1 per cent) and scores launched from defensive 50 to inside 50 (21.6 per cent).

This year the scoring numbers have dipped alarmingly.

Adelaide is seventh in scoring (87), 16th in marks inside 50 (8.9), 11th in scores launched from defensive 50 to inside 50 (18.2 per cent), ninth in points differential from turnovers, sixth in scores per inside 50 (46.1 per cent) and points from turnovers (55.8) and fourth in goals per inside 50 (24.7 per cent).

Tellingly, the Crows’ leading goalkicker, Jenkins with 20, sits equal-17th in the league.

He is the only one of Adelaide’s top six goalkickers after round 12 last year to have booted more goals this season.

Josh Jenkins takes a shot at goal. He is Adelaide’s leading goalkicker in 2018. Picture: Sarah Reed

Crow Eddie Betts after missing a goal against Fremantle on Sunday. Picture: AAP Image/Richard Wainwright

Jenkins had booted 16 at the same stage last year.

Betts and Walker (34 and 31 respectively in 2017) have kicked just 18 goals this year, with both men missing games through injury.

Injuries have ripped the Crows forward line apart this season, with Betts, Walker, Lynch and Mitch McGovern missing significant playing time.

Another integral part of Adelaide’s forward six last year, speedster Charlie Cameron, is now at Brisbane while dashing half-back flanker Brodie Smith’s delivery inside 50 has been missed as he sits out most of the season following a knee reconstruction.

But injuries are not the only reason for struggling Adelaide's scoring drought and its slump from a pre-season flag favourite to 10th with a 6-6 win-loss record. Champion Data statistics reveal that scoring throughout the league is down by an average of a goal a club this season but that the Crows have easily suffered the biggest drop.

Their defence has held firm, with their average score against of 82 being only 1.7 points more than last year.

Ruckman Sam Jacobs told The Advertiser that while injured personnel had played a part in the club’s scoring demise, it could also be attributed to a drop in confidence.

“Sometimes when you are not playing the way you’d like to play you can be hesitant to be aggressive with your ball movement, so that is something we are trying to address,’’ he said.