Sending Rory Laird to the midfield has made a big impact on the Crows
It took 16 rounds, but Adelaide is on a roll. The resurgent Crows have delivered hope that next season will look very different under Matthew Nicks. How have they done it? It all started in the midfield.
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Matthew Nicks was one of the first coaches to trial Rory Laird off halfback when he coached the now star Crow at Scotch College, a position that earned him two All-Australian selections.
But the move of Laird back into the midfield, after years of campaigning for more on-ball minutes, has been key in Nicks and the Crows breathing some new life into their season and selling some hope to Adelaide fans ahead of 2021.
Up until their last three matches the Crows have had one of the worst performing midfields the AFL has seen in some time.
After the first 14 matches of the season they had lost clearances by a total of 127, the worst differential ever recorded, and were losing the contested ball by 14.7 per game.
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But a breakthrough win over Hawthorn last week, and big upset over the star-studded GWS Giants have one thing in common - the Crows have their midfield mojo back.
The return of reigning club champion Brad Crouch has been big, as has captain Rory Sloane being at more centre bounces - after spending time forward and on the wing before he broke his hand.
But it is the move of Laird into the guts, and Matt Crouch becoming the No. 1 pressure player in the competition that has rejuvenated the Crows engine room.
For years Laird lobbied former coach Don Pyke for some sustained midfield minutes despite starring off halfback for the Crows.
And as the Crows’ dismal midfield got smashed repeatedly early on this season, none more humiliating than in the 69-point thrashing to 17th placed North Melbourne in Round 9 came the decision by Nicks and his coaching staff to grant Laird’s wish.
Since Round 10 Laird has become a permanent midfielder for the Crows, spending 97 per cent of game time on-ball, a decision Essendon great Tim Watson said on Wednesday had given Adelaide a “spark”.
From Round 10 onwards Laird, according to Champion Data, has averaged 25.7 disposals, 12 contested possessions, 5.2 clearances, 6.5 tackles, 3.8 score involvements and 121 ranking points.
Against GWS’ star-studded midfield Laird had 11 clearances and laid nine tackles to go with 28 disposals in the win.
Nicks said it was no genius move to shift Laird to the midfield.
“No not at all, these are some things that just work out over time and it’s a credit to our guys we were probably struggling in that area of the ground early and we tried to make a change and inject something and have a look at something slightly different,” he said.
“So it wasn’t predetermined, it was something that we kind of worked out on the fly.
“Lairdy has the ability to win what we call a one metre test, if there is a loose ball Lairdy is on it more often than not.
“He has really quick off the mark speed and acceleration and it complements a guy like Matty Crouch.
“Matty’s strengths are his clean hands and his ability to be physical inside and to put those guys on the ball is a really nice balance now where one can be on the inside and get first possession for us and another who can really work on giving us that speed and acceleration.”
Crouch’s ability to win the ball has never been questioned, but after the Crows Round 7 loss to St Kilda the prolific onballer’s influence on games came squarely under the microscope.
Jason Dunstall said while Crouch got 26 disposals against the Saints he had “zero impact on the game”.
Nick Riewoldt pondered whether Crouch was just trying to get as many touches of the ball as he could.
But from Rounds 10 to 16 Crouch, while still getting plenty of the ball (averaging 27.3 which is fourth in the comp), has seriously lifted his pressure.
He is ranked No. 1 in the competition for tackles, 7.7 per game, and pressure points 62.4, while his 131 ranking points is the fifth best.
Against the Giants Crouch finished with 27 disposals, a goal and a game-high 12 tackles.
Nicks, who dropped Crouch earlier this season, said he had “put his head down and worked”.
“Matty has never questioned what we are trying to do here, some of that comes down to our coaching as well we’ve found a way in trying circumstances to get the right drills and training,” he said.
“Some of that has come back to what we’ve been able to put Matty through and show him an example of what we think will help and he has been incredible in training sessions and it is now transferring into games.
“We could probably take some of that responsibility early on in the year that we weren’t able to find the right drills, the right sessions (for Crouch).”
The emergence of Laird and the rejuvenation of Crouch has given Nicks and the Crows a set on-ball brigade for the last rounds of the season - and potentially 2021 - after it more resembled a game of musical chairs earlier on in the season.
“We did (have too many people in the rotation) in Round 1 no doubt,” Nicks said.
“We may across the journey played a few more than other (teams) but we’d be really keen to keep our group together if we are able to keep getting results like we have over the last few weeks.”
SCOREBOARD
ADELAIDE: 3.3, 3.7, 8.7, 8.11 (59)
GWS: 1.1, 3.3, 6.3, 7.5 (47)
GOALS
Crows: McAdam, Himmelberg 2, Sloane, Walker, Stengle, M Crouch
Giants: Finlayson 2, Cameron, Caldwell, Jacobs, Shaw, Hill
SIMEON THOMAS-WILSON’S BEST
Crows: Laird, McAdam, M Crouch, O’Brien, B Crouch, Sloane, Himmelberg
Giants: Whitfield, Shaw, Jacobs, Haynes
SIMEON THOMAS-WILSON’S VOTES
3 – Rory Laird (Adelaide)
2 – Lachie Whitfield (GWS)
1 – Shane McAdam (Adelaide)
INJURIES
Giants:Zac Langdon (migraine) replaced in side by Jackson Hately, Aidan Corr (ankle)
Bobby Hill climbs into the night sky ✨ #AFLCrowsGiants pic.twitter.com/7JjYkhNszp
— AFL (@AFL) September 8, 2020
CAMERON: WE NOW FIND OURSELVES IN ‘FIRST FINAL’
GWS coach Leon Cameron says Saturday night’s clash against Melbourne is now the Giants’ “first final” after his side let the Demons and the Western Bulldogs back into the race for eighth spot.
The Giants had a huge opportunity to sure up the last finals spot against the last-placed Adelaide Crows but was shocked by a side that had only won once in 2020 prior to Tuesday night.
Despite their star-studded midfield the Giants lost the clearances by 10 and contested possession by 28, which Cameron said came as a surprise to him as he thought his side had turned a corner in recent weeks.
“Our clearance work and our contested brand has been at the forefront of our last four years,” he said.
“That hasn’t been there when we resumed to play in Round 2, we lost our hunger and we lost our hunt around the contest.
“We got it back in patches but we haven’t had it consistently and I thought we had turned the corner in the last three weeks.”
It now sets up a huge clash between the Giants and Demons at the Gabba on Saturday night and Cameron said he would turn to his leaders and address the mindset to spark a chance in GWS’ contested ball stakes.
“We all know the stakes (against Melbourne), we aren’t going to hide away from it,” he said.
“On our performance tonight clearly that is not going to cut it against Melbourne so we need to have a quick turnaround … but we need to fix that source right there.
“It’s purely down to leaders and mindset (change in contested ball)
“We’ve got a huge contest, it’s a first final for us.”
The Giants could get star duo Josh Kelly and Zac Williams back for the huge clash as they recover from concussion and an Achilles issue.
Cameron said Kelly was “scratchy” three or four days ago but thought he was turning the corner while he was hopeful Williams would return should he get through the Giants main session on Thursday or Friday.
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CHEST-BEATING BLUES NOT DONE WITH YET
The Giants senior coach also defended the decision to start reigning Coleman Medallist Jeremy Cameron on the wing at the start of quarters as the GWS star forward continues to look for form.
“I think it gives him another avenue, I thought he was pretty good there but he was only there for five or six minutes before going forward,” he said.
“We are trying to find another avenue for Jeremy but his effort is there and he is down on form a little but, I thought he had some good moments in the second quarter … if we can give him five or six minutes of relief and allow him to go a bit further up the ground that’s a positive.”
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Originally published as Sending Rory Laird to the midfield has made a big impact on the Crows