Champion Data stats show just how off the pace the Adelaide Crows have been in 2020
The Crows sit on the bottom of the AFL ladder – but these stats lay bare why Adelaide have been so bad. Here are just what they need to change.
Crows
Don't miss out on the headlines from Crows. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Crows need to bolster list
- Have the Crows given up?
- How to get the most out of your Advertiser digital subscription
Where do you start with what is wrong with the Adelaide Crows on the field in 2020?
It was all but certain that the Crows would not be one of the best teams in the competition as they rebuild their playing list following the slide that has happened at West Lakes since the 2017 Grand Final.
But three games in the Crows are languishing down at the bottom of the ladder and stats provided to The Advertiser by Champion Data paint a worrying picture for Matthew Nicks and his fellow Adelaide football department members.
These are four things that need to be addressed by the Crows on the field and quickly.
MISSING MIDFIELD
There is no sugar-coating it, the Crows have been smashed by every midfield they have come up against this season.
A few years ago Adelaide was the number one clearance team in the comp.
However so far this year Champion Data has them ranked last for clearance differential (-14.3) and second last for contested possession differential (-18).
Branded too slow in the midfield last year, the Crows now just can’t win the ball despite Rory Sloane and Brad and Matt Crouch still all in the engine room.
Against the Gold Coast Suns on Sunday the Crows were annihilated in the contested ball by -17 and lost the clearances by -13.
In the Showdown they lost the contested ball battle by -19 and clearances by -9 while against Sydney in Round 1 all the way back in March the Swans amassed a whopping 21 more clearances than the Crows, 15 of them at centre bounces.
This means the ball is just coming into the Crows’ defensive 50 again and again, explaining why their average of 88.7 points conceded is the most in the competition so far.
NO PRESSURE
Again the pressure and intensity is lacking at the Crows.
As Adelaide slumped in the second half of last season under Don Pyke, the Crows held the unwanted title of the worst in the AFL for “pressure factor”.
In 2020 the Crows have improved this, but only slightly as Champion Data rates their pressure factor this year as the 16th best in the competition.
Last year this focused on the lack of tackles by the Crows forwards and so far this season Adelaide is still finding it tough to pin in teams in their forward 50.
Against the Suns they managed seven inside forward 50 tackles, Gold Coast had 17.
In the Showdown they had only four inside forward 50 tackles, Port had 13.
In Round 1 they actually matched Sydney for this stat, only losing that count 13-15.
FAILING FORWARDS
Ahead of the Crows’ second pre-season game against the Suns at Noarlunga forward coach Ben Hart said they still didn’t know what their best attacking mix was.
Nine goals in the past two weeks shows that months on from this assessment the Crows forward line is not firing at all.
Obviously if the ball isn’t getting in there, and the Crows’ inside 50 differential of -17 is the worst in the competition, then the forwards will find it hard to fire.
But the Crows’ attack has looked toothless and there are numerous questions that need to be answered.
Can Taylor Walker and Darcy Fogarty play in the same team? Nicks has gone with those two to pinch hit for Reilly O’Brien in the past two games after Billy Frampton played against the Swans.
Does the former Port player come in to provide some height, or does Elliot Himmelberg get a chance?
The small-forward crop are also not getting the job done.
Lachie Murphy has more than 30 games under his belt but was left running after three-game Sun Connor Budarick for most of the match at Metricon.
Tyson Stengle looms as a walk-up replacement as soon as his ban is over.
KIDS UNDERDONE?
Crows fans were crying out for their youngsters to get AFL exposure over the past two years.
This lack of exposure is showing as the Crows’ younger players Nicks is blooding find the going tough.
Nicks said he “loved what he saw” from kids such as Chayce Jones, Ned McHenry and Ben Keays in the second half of the Suns match.
But Jones had only seven touches, McHenry two while Keays – who came from Brisbane this off-season – had 12 possessions.
On debut Will Hamill showed had he something about him, but arguably should have gotten his chance earlier than this year.
No. 6 draft pick Fischer McAsey has found the going tough at AFL level in his first three games as a defender but is getting experience that will hold him in good stead in the future.
More players have to get a chance to see if they can make it at AFL level.