Match Day Thread Rnd 22 Adelaide V Sydney. Adelaide Oval 19.50 pm. Or 19.20 ACST.

**bloodspirit** · 21st August 2017, 03:11 PM

Originally Posted by ugg

What a win! I love this club !

You said it best!

It was a terrific match. The thing that struck me was the level of effort and determination for what was in some ways an insignificant contest. Irrespective of the outcome of Friday night's game the likelihood was and remains that the Crows will finish top and we'll finish 6th. I was impressed by how hard both teams fought to win despite this. The game had everything and if it were a final would be talked about for a long time.

Even if Richmond do lose to the Saints, we have to overtake Port on percentage to make top 4 and our chances of doing that are not good. While we are playing Carlton and likely to win, they are a good defensive side and it's not easy to rack up big scores against them (not saying we can't do it). Conversely, Port, who already have a small headstart on us, play the second limpest team in the comp on current form (after Freo) and have an excellent record of smashing lesser teams. It would be sad, but entirely conceivable, that if the Tiges lose to Saints that Port will unworthily 'steal' our top 4 spot. The only consolation would be that we would hopefully get to play them the finals week 2 and avenge our loss earlier in the year.

I remain a massive fan of Hayward despite him not having his best game. I can see that he is light framed and callow and this may count against him in finals. But he offers a lot on the upside too - great pressure, marking, goal kicking, speed. Who knows the reason for his off night? It might have been the Crows or it may have been soreness or something else entirely. The coaches are best placed to assess the way forward. I'm convinced he belongs at the level but agree he will certainly benefit both from this experience and from another pre-season. I certainly wouldn't want to see him replaced by Rose. Robinson perhaps. Cunningham maybe. Newman certainly. Aliir potentially. Even Dawson. Not Rose.

I was impressed to see that Macca was among the players who covered the most ground. Despite his excellent recent form I have been really concerned with his physical limitations. It has felt like he has been papering over his physical deficiencies (which I thought included his ability to move but turns out is just his ability to run quickly) with his experience and craftiness and superior ball use and on-field coaching. For these reasons I have been feeling he should finish up this season. I may have to reconsider in light of this new info. Then again, how valuable is it to cover so much distance if you are nearly the slowest player on the ground and can't outrun (or catch) anybody when you have (or they have) the ball?

A curious stat: Smooch and Reid the only Swans that didn't register a tackle. It surprises me given they both had good games, primarily defensively (although Reid is a great marking option and has value in drawing players to himself and away from other forwards).

I can't decide whether I think Joey or Buddy was best for us on the night. I'm leaning towards Buddy because (a) his contributions were so pivotal; (b) Joey's input was not consistent over the game - he had done most of his work by quarter time; (c) Buddy was so brilliant! He did what no other players can. Anyway, they are both magnificent players - a joy to see them playing so well. All our senior players stood up when it counted.

**Ludwig** · 21st August 2017, 03:51 PM

Originally Posted by dimelb

I can see where you're coming from Annie, but kicking goals is an important part of the game. We did it better than they did, which outweighed some of our lack of precision in other areas. Still plenty of improvement left to make us even better.

I think Annie's point is well taken. We can't always rely on us kicking well for goal (we've had some miserable games in that regard) nor can we rely on the opposition being so inaccurate. The point Annie makes is that we gave up a 29 point lead, which has to be worry. After being well ahead in contested possession we ended up well down on the entire game, and the same with inside 50s.

I hope we find a way to get Mills into the midfield. He's such a good contested ball winner, both in the air and at ground level. I'm sure he could make a difference in our ball movement through the middle of the ground. I think his talent is underutilised.

**dejavoodoo44** · 21st August 2017, 04:03 PM

Originally Posted by mcs

I'm not one to buy too much into the 'mind games' and 'ducks and drakes' some coaches appear to play at this time of year, but maybe there was a little bit of that going on on Friday night as well. For instance, sending Heeney to Sloane. I agree though we do need to roll the dice better more often - especially when we have our forward line structure set up nicely and you've got Paps (who is a super reader of the ball in flight - so is a good judge of when to go for a mark, when to play for the scraps) down there to work off the big men.

Yes, going on one angle, that I haven't seen again, it's possible that his goal was as good as Buddy's. That is, he was running with the ball in flight, past the contest. When it cleared the contest, and while he was traveling at high speed, he reached back and flicked it forward. He then controlled it, sprinted away and put it straight between the posts. All done when the game pressure level was at maximum. Both him and Hayward are going to compile impressive highlight reels in the coming years.

- - - Updated - - -

Originally Posted by Ludwig

I think Annie's point is well taken. We can't always rely on us kicking well for goal (we've had some miserable games in that regard) nor can we rely on the opposition being so inaccurate. The point Annie makes is that we gave up a 29 point lead, which has to be worry. After being well ahead in contested possession we ended up well down on the entire game, and the same with inside 50s.

I hope we find a way to get Mills into the midfield. He's such a good contested ball winner, both in the air and at ground level. I'm sure he could make a difference in our ball movement through the middle of the ground. I think his talent is underutilised.

Though if you listen to some AFL commentators, his only real game contribution, was to milk an unjust fifty.

**liz** · 21st August 2017, 04:10 PM

Mills will certainly find his way into the midfield sooner rather than later, but not so soon as this finals series. Look out for him in there from next year.

**AnnieH** · 21st August 2017, 04:32 PM

Originally Posted by dimelb

I can see where you're coming from Annie, but kicking goals is an important part of the game. We did it better than they did, which outweighed some of our lack of precision in other areas. Still plenty of improvement left to make us even better.

We STILL gave away a 29 point lead by not turning up 16 minutes into the second quarter.
If kicking goals was such an important part of the game.... we'd have a percentage of 275.224 right now.
I'm still lamenting all those behinds in the middle of the season!!

**Ludwig** · 21st August 2017, 04:37 PM

Originally Posted by liz

Mills will certainly find his way into the midfield sooner rather than later, but not so soon as this finals series. Look out for him in there from next year.

Look what a big impact Clayton Oliver is making in a Melbourne midfield which is also very strong. He's averaging 30 disposals a game. I rate Mills higher than Oliver. They are both from the same draft year. We have McVeigh, Newman, Lloyd and Jones who can more than cover in defence. Sure, Mills is a great intercept mark, but I don't think he's structurally important to our defence. To me it makes more sense to have Newman playing defence instead of on the wing and could simply swap with Mills. I think that swap would happen seamlessly.

**AnnieH** · 21st August 2017, 04:37 PM

Originally Posted by liz

Mills will certainly find his way into the midfield sooner rather than later, but not so soon as this finals series. Look out for him in there from next year.

I wouldn't move Millsy one millimetre from where he is playing now.
He has saved us sooooooooooooo many times this season by being such a cool head in the right place at the right time.
Not too foul for a baby.

**Industrial Fan** · 21st August 2017, 04:53 PM

Jones cleared by MRP

**Ludwig** · 21st August 2017, 04:57 PM

Originally Posted by AnnieH

I wouldn't move Millsy one millimetre from where he is playing now.
He has saved us sooooooooooooo many times this season by being such a cool head in the right place at the right time.

He saves us so many times because he's a fantastic young player. If he was playing in the midfield and someone suggested he be moved to defence, you would be saying the same thing. Just imagine Mills taking intercept marks in the midfield and sending the ball into our forward line. That's what I want to see.

**penga** · 21st August 2017, 04:57 PM

Originally Posted by AnnieH

I wouldn't move Millsy one millimetre from where he is playing now.
He has saved us sooooooooooooo many times this season by being such a cool head in the right place at the right time.
Not too foul for a baby.

Hmmm. As I alluded to in my previous post, we need players clunking marks up the ground so we can get out of our back 50, if (when) we resort to down the line. Mills' contested marking is terribly underrated, for mine, and could prove a handy weapon as an option down the line coming out of defence. Newman also has a knack of alluding tacklers in close vicinity of him, which enables a cleaner disposal (in theory). So Newman going back and Mills to the mids would definitely be the move I would make. But, who makes way? I'm sorry to say, Nick Smith adds nothing coming out of defence, and would be in danger if I was on the match committee. Yes, he's a great servant. Yes, he is a great shutdown back pocket. But we need to carry the least amount of down the line players that we can, in my opinion.