The old, the young and the in-between...
The reason the game went pear-shaped on Sunday was that the Crows’ playing list is pear-shaped. It has an abundance of young blokes and only a handful of seasoned oldsters. The pimpled ones still don’t have the strength-of-mind to beat the best in the AFL.
They will have it eventually. In the meantime it is the oldsters who must show by doing. They must hold back the forces of evil, such as those mustered by Collingwood on the weekend, and, at the same time, they must teach the youngsters the brain skills they need to become winners.
Eight Crows have played more than 100 games (compared with Collingwood’s 15) - Tambling, Van Berlo, Reilly, Stevens, Rutten, Thompson, Johncock and Doughty. We don’t know when - or even if - we will see Stevens again, and Tambling still has something to prove, but the other six are clearly the heart of the team. All have been in good form this year and have shown the sort of consistency and strength that, if emulated by all others, will lift the team towards the top.
For three quarters on Sunday the signs were good. Old dogs like Thompson, Rutten, Johncock, Doughty, Reilly and VB were outstanding, and they encouraged pups such as Jaensch, Sloane, Smith, Luke Thompson and Wright to get involved and have an impact. The lowly Crows, who two weeks ago were humiliated by ordinary Melbourne, outplayed last year’s premier with fast, skilful, intense footy. They hunted, they pressured and they exploited mistakes.
The last quarter, in contrast, was as limp as a two-legged mongrel. It shows there is still plenty of work to do.
We need more from the in-betweeners. The older blokes are showing the way and the youngsters are starting to follow (although not for four quarters yet), but there’s a group of players in the middle who must do better. Nine Crows have played between 50 and 100 games, but only five were on the park on Sunday. Porplyzia and Mackay are injured and won’t be back for a while. Symes and Maric can’t crack the team and, before he twanged a hamstring, Vince was also playing in the SANFL. Knights and Douglas have been down on form - although both have shown more in recent weeks - and even Tippett and Dangerfield have been patchy.
Maybe those blokes don’t know how important they are. They cannot afford to cruise. Perhaps some of them aren’t up to the job, but I think they bulge with talent. We need them to fire. We need them to stay fit. We need them to find form. We need them to be consistent.
At the top of their games they would make a massive difference. They are the missing link between the old blokes and the new.
