We are at the half-way point of the home-and-away season and it’s time to roll out a few half-baked ideas.
Teams are up and down this year for a reason.
The inconsistency of teams like the Crows, Power, Brisbane, Bulldogs, Fremantle and Sydney can be attributed directly to the creation of Gold Coast and Western Sydney. Knowing that the two new teams would suck up the available talent for several years, many established clubs have had massive clean-outs of their old stock and their teams are now teeming with fresh-faced youngsters. Youngsters are notorious for their inconsistency; therefore, performances have been all over the place.
Crows are missing their backline backbone.
For several years the great strength of the Crows was the backline. Only a year ago it boasted four All-Australians - Bock, Goodwin (when he wasn’t in the midfield), McLeod and Rutten. Throw in Johncock (who should be an All-Oz), Doughty, Stevens, Davis and (in 2009) Rising Star runner-up Otten and you had a magnificent machine.
It was the best in the competition. Not only did it repel its enemies, it launched massive counter-attacks. Let us not forget how, time and again, the likes of Bock, Johncock, McLeod and Goodwin would bounce their way out of the backline and through the centre, driving the ball deep into the Crows’ forward line. Or the way they would materialize to help out a teammate under siege, or how they would tag-team with other ball-carriers, such as Burton and Mackay, to turn problems into solutions.
Today, the backline is staffed very differently. Gone for good are McLeod, Bock and Goodwin; gone, in the short to medium term, are Davis, Stevens and Otten. Rutten, Doughty and Johncock are still there, thank goodness, but the beautiful safety net is much more fragile than it was. It is restocking with talent. In time, Jaensch, Luke Thompson and Davis, and maybe Martin, Sellar, Tambling and others, will make it strong again, but we need to be patient with them. The youngsters out there now are near the bottom of the curve - they are still learning how hard they have to work, how best to support their teammates in times of crisis, how to swamp an opposition, and how to propel the game from the back half.
Yes, the Crows also have problems in the midfield and up forward, but in my view the big change in the backline is the big difference today. I’m not saying the backline is to blame for the Crows’ slump, but I am saying that it is no longer their greatest asset.
Some people will never be happy with Craigy.
I doubt some ‘Craigy haters’, as Stephen Rowe calls them, will ever be happy with Craigy. If he bows out before the next premiership they will talk about the wasted years. If he is at the helm when the next flag comes along they will say ‘anyone with his list would have done the same’. They will never be happy, and that makes me sad because they are expending a lot of energy for no purpose.
Neil Craig will coach to the end of the year, and also next year.
The Craigy haters will go on stewing in their own vitriol for some time yet. The Crows’ management has been steadfast behind Craigy since the moment of his appointment. It will remain so, at least for another year and a half. Why? Part of the reason is that no alternative is leaping Burton-esque into contention. It will be difficult for the Crows to attract any of the top half-dozen non-South Australian coaches. Blokes like Roos and Malthouse, although technically available next year, simply will not come to Adelaide, even if they did want to coach again. I reckon the Crows will look for a young coach with three qualities: experience as an assistant; compelling evidence that he will excel as a senior coach; and a passion for South Australian footy.
There is a very good chance that Simon Goodwin will be the Crows’ next coach, but he is only in his first year as an assistant and it would be premature to bring him in now. He needs at least another year, and probably two, learning from the likes of James Hird and Bomber Thompson. In the meantime, Craigy will stay. If the team’s fortunes turn around in that time, which is likely, he might even go longer.
Excuses are dwindling.
Even with a re-strung backline and new faces all over the ground, the Crows have been deeply disappointing this season. Most of us expected more from blokes who have been in the system a while now and we feel they are letting us down. I'm still backing Craigy, but I want to start seeing at least a glimmer. It's miserable dark at the moment.
Sarrey was overseas for the game against North Melbourne and wrote this before he left. He's glad he's out of the country.
Sarrey’s first novel, Prohibited Zone, featuring a fictional ex-Crows player, is now available at Wakefield Press and in bookstores.
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