Adelaide’s midfield should again win enough ball but can it be more efficient going forward against the Swans?

In Round 1, Adelaide dominated possession and Sydney were dominated. Tonight, the Crows’ midfield should win enough ball but to win the game, it will need to be more efficient going forward.

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In Round 1, Adelaide dominated possession and Sydney were dominated. Tonight, the Crows’ midfield should win enough ball but to win, it will need to be more efficient going forward.

Going by most of the numbers, Adelaide had a great day against the Hawks in Round 1.

The Crows had 73 more disposals, 13 more contested possessions and nine more clearances.

Star midfielders Rory Sloane and Matt Crouch tallied 76 disposals between them and, in total, seven Crows finished with 25 or more to their name.

Hawthorn had just two — James Worpel and James Sicily.

But the numbers that count the most, those on the scoreboard, were in favour of Alastair Clarkson’s side.

Given its dominance of possession, it’s no surprise Adelaide recorded a time-in-forward-half differential of +8.42.

Put simply, the ball spent almost nine minutes longer in Adelaide’s half. A big jump from the average negative differential of two minutes last season.

But it’s not always about how much footy you have but more about what you do with it.

As coach Don Pyke said post-match, the Crows failed to capitalise on its midfield dominance going forward, booting a major just 12 per cent of the time it went inside 50.

The Adelaide forwards had little impact, with four of its seven goals coming from the midfield.

James Sicily was dominant for Hawthorn in defence last week.

“I just thought our ball use overall, perhaps from start to finish, was just not at the level that will allow yourself to create the opportunities you need to,” Pyke admitted.

It wasn’t just Adelaide shooting itself in the foot forward of centre, with Clarkson and the Hawks making life very difficult for two hours last Saturday.

Hawthorn’s pressure all over the ground was outstanding and, led by Sicily, controlled the air in Adelaide’s forward-half, taking 28 intercept marks — the 7th-most in any game on record.

“Credit to Hawthorn they put some really good pressure on our guys,” Pyke added.

“Their backs were really disciplined with holding their depth behind the ball.”

Jack Macrae led the Bulldogs’ midfield in a convincing midfield display against the Swans.

While Pike’s men cannot expect the pressure to drop off tonight at the SCG, if they are as hungry at the contest as they were in Round 1, the majority of the game may again be played in the Crows’ half.

In the 17-point loss to the Bulldogs last week, the Swans were beaten in contested possession by 26 and clearances by 9, which saw it record an inside-50 differential of -21.

It meant 56% of the game was played in the Bulldogs forward-half.

“If you get beaten around the contest, it’s really hard to get the momentum forward,” Sydney coach John Longmore noted after the match.

“We just didn’t get our hands on the ball enough between the arcs.”

But, like we saw last week, just getting your hands on the ball isn’t enough.

Going on last week’s form, Adelaide’s midfield should win enough football again.

It just needs to be more efficient with the ball going forward to win the number battle that matters most — the scoreboard.