Yet again the Crows defied pre-season expectations to secure a fifth straight finals berth. The club scored its first finals victory in three years with a record win over Essendon in the elimination final and came within a kick of the prelim.
Veterans Simon Goodwin, Tyson Edwards and Andrew McLeod maintained their high standard of performance and fan favourites Brett Burton and Trent Hentschel made successful comebacks from career-threatening knee injuries.
But perhaps the most pleasing aspect of season 2009 was the emergence of the new breed of Crow. Kurt Tippett, Chris Knights and Bernie Vince took the next step in their promising careers and Andy Otten, Patrick Dangerfield, Taylor Walker and James Sellar also enjoyed breakout years.
The Crows, once regarded as a defensively minded team, added a greater element of attack to their game plan over the course of the year and now appear as ready as ever to challenge for a third AFL flag.
What went wrong
Adelaide’s finals record under coach Neil Craig will again come under the spotlight. The Crows blew a 32-point lead in the semi-final against Collingwood to lose by five points in the dying seconds. Craig identified a lack of mental hardness in his post match assessment, but the players should be better for the gut wrenching experience.
Most valuable player
Skipper Simon Goodwin is in the running for a record fourth best and fairest award after another superb season. Goodwin missed three weeks with a knee injury in the middle of the year, but averaged 26 possessions a game in a rebounding role across half-back. Tyson Edwards, Bernie Vince, Scott Thompson and Graham Johncock should also poll well.
Coach's award for one-percenters
Michael Doughty took out the ‘best team man’ award at the club’s best and fairest ceremony last year and may make it back-to-back. Doughty started a little slowly, but went on to pick up 20-plus possessions on 15 occasions and also showed his wares as a tagger with jobs on Carlton superstar Chris Judd and Essendon’s Jobe Watson. He also ranked second at West Lakes in tackles with 89.
Needs a big pre-season
Richard Douglas missed just one game in 2008, but found himself on the outer this year after the emergence of Dangerfield. The former first-round draft pick, who started his career as a small forward, played a handful of quality games in the midfield early in the season, but was in and out of the side after round 11.
Overall grade: A-
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
