HUGH Greenwood has taken aim at Adelaide director Mark Ricciuto, piling on the misery at his former club after starring against his old side in Gold Coast's emphatic victory at Metricon Stadium on Sunday.
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Ricciuto made controversial comments about Greenwood's departure on South Australian radio earlier this week, suggesting he was too slow and too old to be part of the club's future.
"That was probably more our call (his move to Gold Coast)," Ricciuto said.
"Everyone says we've got the slowest midfield in the competition … you can't just keep having those players in your midfield then whinge that you've got a slow midfield.
"He's 28 this year and not going to play in our next premiership side, so we're trying to get draft picks in to rebuild."
The comments immediately came back to haunt Ricciuto, with Greenwood racking up 10 contested possessions, eight clearances and 13 tackles in Gold Coast's 53-point thrashing of Adelaide this weekend.
Responding to a tweet that said Greenwood had won nearly as many clearances as the entire Adelaide midfield in the first half on Sunday, he responded: "If only I were younger and quicker @markricciuto."
Ricciuto immediately replied, saying: "Haha all good enjoy the win mate!! By the way if you were quicker and younger you might have got more then (sic) 10 touches as well…"
Haha all good enjoy the win mate!!
— Mark Ricciuto (@markricciuto) June 21, 2020
By the way if you were quicker and younger you might have got more then 10 touches as well...
Greenwood then responded to Ricciuto's jibe with: "What a shock!! Someone at the Crows more concerned about disposals than actual impact on the game. Who would have thought."
The Suns recruit then tweeted again that the exchange was "all good banter" and that he had "no hard feelings" towards the Crows.
Bit of fun on a Sunday night. All good banter. However I hope my tweets don’t take anything away from our group’s performance today. A positive step in what’s still a long road ahead. Also anyone that knows me, knows I gave everything to the ADL footy club. No hard feelings ????
— Hugh Greenwood (@HGreenwood3) June 21, 2020
The back and forth came as Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks said a damning review was awaiting his players, having lost a host of key statistical categories in their disappointing display.
The Crows were held to just one goal in the first three quarters at Metricon Stadium, with their midfield smashed by the young Suns for contested ball (-17), clearances (-13), tackles (-18) and inside 50s (-28) throughout the game.
"We'll open it up," Nicks said.
"Hopefully I don't do too much of the talking, then we'll find out where we're really at. “Hopefully I see some vulnerability there and we get to the bottom of it pretty quickly.
"We'll turn it around. At this point in time, though, it's just not acceptable what's being put out on the field."
