Champion Data numbers reveal Adelaide’s midfield has produced one of the worst starts in the club’s history
The Crows midfield has gone missing in the first two rounds of the AFL season and the numbers show it has produced one of the worst starts in the club’s history. And Matthew Nicks won’t accept a similar peformance in Round 3.
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“Really embarrassing” and “bruise-free” was Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks’ assessment of his side’s performance in Showdown 48.
It was strong but fair given Champion Data numbers reveal Adelaide’s midfield has produced one of the worst starts to the season in the club’s history.
It’s only early, and the Crows are still trying to work out their best mix as midfield coach Michael Godden admitted last week, but the alarm bells are ringing.
Port Adelaide (+104) and Sydney (+64) had a combined 168 more disposals than the Crows in the opening two rounds, leaving Adelaide with its worst disposal differential to begin the year on record.
And the inability to control the ball, and allow the Power, especially, to play the game on their terms, stems from Adelaide’s work at the contest.
The club’s contested-ball differential of -35 is the lowest since the opening two rounds of 2014 and the clearances numbers (-30) haven’t been this bad to start a season since 1999.
It’s clear Adelaide’s midfield isn’t getting first hands on the ball often enough but, in what is a bigger concern ahead of a Round 3 clash with the Suns, it’s letting the opposition do so easily.
“Some of the off-ball stuff, we’re not going to accept, we won’t accept it going forward, I don’t care who it is,” Nicks said post-match.
“We have to give credit to Port for where they are at but you can’t make it easy for these stronger sides.”
The Power scored 51 of its 110 points from stoppages, the most the Crows have conceded from this source since Round 24, 2011.
Like they were against the Swans, the Crows were out-tackled by Port, despite having less of the ball.
And Adelaide’s pressure factor and ability to pressure post-clearance is rated the second-worst in the competition after two rounds.
Losing Sloane to a badly corked thigh in the third term didn’t help but the lack of pressure gave the Power extra time to make sure the dominance in the middle of the ground counted on the scoreboard.
And it was similar story against the Swans back in March.
Over the first two matches of the season, the opposition have retained possession from an inside-50 kick 53.8 per cent of the time against the Crows – the highest in the competition.
But that’s not just reflection on a new-look on-ball group, which is working on its method.
“If you allow Boak to run past you in open field, you’re not going to catch him,” Nicks said of his side’s failure to defend at stoppages and apply pressure away from them against the Power.
“They were pretty hard to stop after we allowed them to run freely into their forward line.
“We’re working harder chasing because we won’t do the work off-ball.
“It’s not a lack of effort, our guys are trying their guts out, they are just getting their method wrong.”
With the need for a new dynamic, Brodie Smith, Paul Seedsman, Rory Atkins and Chayce Jones have joined the Crouch brothers and Sloane in the centre square this year.
It will take time and, for the group to move forward, new guys will continue to be exposed to the midfield.
And there will be more bad nights as the club rebuilds.
But even so, Nicks is unlikely to accept a similar performance this week.
“If we don’t stand up in the contest, we’ll have to make changes,” he said on Triple M this week.
“We have to put players in who will do that.”
SLOW START
Disposal Diff: -168 (Worst Ever)
Contested Possession Diff: -36 (Worst start since 2014)
Centre Bounce Clearance Diff: -17 (Worst start since 1999)
Clearance Diff: -30 (Worst start since 1999)
Points from Stoppage Diff: -38 (Worst start since 2010)
NEW-LOOK IN THE MIDDLE
Centre bounce attendance Rounds 1-2
Reilly O’Brien 45
Brad Crouch 30
Matt Crouch 30
Rory Sloane 30
Brodie Smith 22
Rory Atkins 12
Paul Seedsman 11
Chayce Jones 11
Ben Keays 8