Crows’ season is shot with key questions needing to be asked

AFTER four consecutive losses and a 6-7 count entering the AFL mid-season break, the Crows’ 2018 campaign is in crisis.

Eddie Betts of the Crows reacts after kicking a goal during the Round 13 AFL match between the Hawthorn Hawks and the Adelaide Crows at the MCG in Melbourne, Saturday, June 16, 2018. (AAP Image/Julian Smith) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

CRISIS? What crisis, the Crows kept saying last week on falling to 10th with three consecutive losses.

There is no denying it now, on the back of a fourth “L” that puts Adelaide behind in the win-loss count (6-7) and going to the bye with the season in a complete mess.

Even the promise of the cavalry — led by Rory Sloane — coming out of the medical rooms after the break will have many saying, “Too late”.

Adelaide is now in its darkest hour since June 2011 (when it lost six in a row to fall out of the race at 3-10 after 13 games).

Crows skipper Taylor Walker reacts after Hawthorn kick another goal at the MCG on Saturday night. Picture: AAP Image/Julian Smith

The injuries have hurt — and it must be determined which were from bad luck (which no-one can control) and how many from bad management (which must not be allowed to be repeated).

But — as Geelong premiership midfielder Cameron Ling noted in the game-defining third term as the Hawks blitzed with repeated clearances and seven unanswered goals — not all of Adelaide’s poor football is the result of the crisis in the medical room.

There are some experienced and capable Crows who are failing to stand up for their team and its once-grand reputation and true promise. And there is the question: What happened to that “organic growth” that would deliver depth to Adelaide’s squad to deal with an injury crisis?

Adelaide returned to the MCG — for the first time since its grand final loss in September — without the most potent element of its game: Run.

That damaging running rebound — that massively effective transition from half-back to key forward Josh Jenkins in the goalsquare — is gone.

Not by stage-fright, as it was in the grand final loss to Richmond nine months ago, but through the absence of the best ball reader in the Crows’ defence — All-Australian Rory Laird (broken hand) for the second consecutive week and Brodie Smith (knee) for the past 10 months. Some injuries do hurt more than others.

T

Eddie Betts flies for a screamer but can't hang on to the ball. Picture: Michael Klein

he most notable consequence of this telling collapse in the Adelaide game is that the Crows forwards are unable to stay at the goalfront waiting for the silver-service delivery they had last year, when captain Taylor Walked the AFL’s highest-scoring attack. Now Walker and Co. are pulled to the midfield zone, leaving goalsneak Eddie Betts taking more possession at the top of the 50m arc rather than by the goalsquare.

And Eddie does not like kicking from 50 anymore.

Crows coach Don Pyke gambled — or more to the point had his hands totally tied without a master tagger — in dealing with Hawthorn’s prolific ballwinner, Tom Mitchell.

The preference for an old-style, classical clash of ball-moving midfielders — Bryce Gibbs v Mitchell — started in the Crows’ favour with Gibbs having more possessions (10) at quarter-time.

At half-time, Mitchell led 18-15 with neither player having scored a goal or assisted a team-mate in registering a goal. At three-quarter-time, it was 30-22 in Mitchell’s favour … and quickly becoming a sideshow to the real event.

Taylor Walker speaks to the Crows at half-time of their 56-point loss to the Hawks. Picture: Michael Dodge/Getty Images

FIVE THINGS

1. ADELAIDE enters the mid-season bye in big trouble. At 6-7, the Crows — with a tough fixture after the break — are also in a mess. This is the toughest patch Adelaide has endured since mid-2011 when the Crows lost six in a row to fall to 3-10.

The growing observation is that Adelaide has a severe lack of on-field leadership that is most obvious while vice-captain Rory Sloane (foot) is absent.

2. CROWS lead ruckman Sam Jacobs rebuilt his confidence — after a difficult month brought on by a back complaint — by scoring Adelaide’s first two goals. The first was from a perfectly timed snap that proves players can create their own luck. The second was from winning a free kick with a gripping tackle that proved players are rewarded for their hard work.

Shaun Burgoyne during his 350th game. Picture: AAP Image/Julian Smith

3. GAME 350 for Hawthorn veteran Shaun Burgoyne — and the 35-year-old is still a genius in reading the ball off a ruckman’s hands to win the clearance. He is an extraordinary player.

4. WHERE is Adelaide’s run? No Rory Laird (broken hand) at half-back. No Brodie Smith (knee) at half-back. And the Crows’ damaging rebound or transition from defence has tellingly fallen away, forcing Adelaide to work the ball more and more in the back half of the field. The critical note from this change is how far from the goalsquare the Crows forwards have to roam now.

5. ADELAIDE’S noted reluctance to tag had Hawthorn master possession-winner Tom Mitchell work freely from the start after standing side-by-side with Crows midfielder Bryce Gibbs at stoppages. This gamble started well for the Crows with Gibbs leading the disposal count at quarter-time with 10. At the finish, it was Gibbs 28, Mitchell 39.

— Michelangelo Rucci

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