Our Odd Couple - “Bone” and “Rooch” - look at the big issues in the AFL today
OUR Odd Couple - Chris “Bone” McDermott and Michelangelo “Rooch” Rucci - look at the big questions in the AFL today.
1. IS this the last chance saloon for the Crows at Adelaide Oval on Thursday night against Geelong - or has the keg run dry already?
BONE: Last drinks were called sometime ago Rooch. This season never really got started for the Crows. There have been too many unanswered questions for mine and too much doubt about the state of the team and, for that matter, the state of the club. Preparations for Season 2019 must start now - and some difficult decisions need to be made very soon.
ROOCH: Not looking for scapegoats are you Christopher? While there is life - or maths - there is hope. Even Richmond in 2014 won the last nine games of the home-and-away series to qualify for the finals, so anything is possible. But it is interesting how the “We Fly As One” crowd is starting to fragment into different corners of the nest looking for answers to questions that needed to be asked (and dealt with) long before today.
2. CAN Port Adelaide cope without the injured Tom Jonas managing the defence?
BONE: In the short term, yes. But in the long term and in September’s finals, no. He is a rock in defence, the leader and a calming influence despite the ferocity with which he plays. The Power must get him 100 per cent fit and ready for finals. Dougal Howard, Tom Clurey and Jack Hombsch are quality men and good enough to handle the assignments that come in the next month during Tom’s absence with his kneecap injury. Have faith Power fans.
ROOCH: It says much of how far Tom Jonas has come - from the rookie list too - to be considered one of the AFL’s premier defenders. But, as coach Ken Hinkley says so often, no team should be based on the talents or power of one man. There is much to admire in the way Nathan Bassett has built the “no-name” defence at Alberton - to emphasise the strength of the group as defenders rather than the individuals. It will be an opportune moment for Jack Hombsch to prove his worth after a difficult run with injury.
3. WHO will emerge from the daylight that separates Richmond from the rest of the pack?
BONE: No-one. Every challenger to Richmond’s premiership has issues to deal with - and all of them must get significantly better to chase the one berth to grand final day. Richmond has a great list, a super (and happy) confident player group and the Tigers are in very good physical condition. The entire club is in an even better mental state. Now that might put the “kiss of death” on Richmond, but seven weeks out from finals the Tigers are a four-goal better side than any other team.
ROOCH: Christopher, can you arrange for that “no-one” to lose to Richmond by 120 points rather than the 24 you have nominated. Please.
4. RORY Sloane has signed - and a five-year deal to boot. So what do the Crows target now in the trade and draft periods?
BONE: Speed eh! I say, get me Rex Cramer! Just a little quote from the movie Flying High, Rooch. I mean get me Jack Lukosius. The Crows forward line is a strengt, but it is not getting any younger and a succession plan is a must. Darcy Fogarty and Jack Lukosius as a duo for the future looks a good fit. I hear the need for speed but I feel a need for goals and these two youngsters could form a 10-year partnership.
ROOCH: Speed, Christoper ... speed. Adelaide has ensured there will be grunt in that engine room with Sloane bucking the trend of big-name Crows players being picked off by rival AFL rivals. But that midfield still appears one-dimensional and one-paced ... so it needs an injection of speed to make it more imposing in games and to give the Crows forwards more chance of defying their opponents, particularly if we have starting positions in the AFL next season. Speed, Christopher ... speed.
5. WHAT did we learn as Adelaide captain Taylor Walker went from chocolates to boiled lollies on his return to the MCG?
BONE: He’s been struggling for most of the season and that game against West Coast became history as soon as Walker returned to the MCG to play Richmond. The priority for any captain is to contribute on the field. Play well and the team will follow. Mark Bickley led this club so well by the standards he set as a player. Mark Ricciuto did the same. It’s time for the leadership group to pick up some of the slack and allow the skipper to focus on his game.
ROOCH: Why are there so many questions on the on-field leadership at Adelaide when Walker was nominated by his peers as the AFL captain of the season for the past two years? His form - as with his preparation for games - has been most erratic this season. It yet another repetitive chapter in a strange book that has been written by the Crows this year.
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