Craig attracts critics with direction-less Crows

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By Ben Somerford, 20 Apr 2010 Ben Somerford is a Roar Expert

Tagged:: Adelaide Crows, AFL, Neil Craig

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Chris Knights of Adelaide looks on after a loss in the AFL 1st Semi Final between the Collingwood Magpies and the Adelaide Crows at the MCG. Slattery Images

There was an odd, chilly atmosphere around AAMI Stadium on Saturday as Carlton led from start to finish to thrash the Adelaide Crows by 48 points. History says it’s almost impossible for the winless Crows to make the finals now and Saturday seemed to be the day the Adelaide faithful made that awful realisation.

Even Crows legend Mark Ricciuto admitted in the Adelaide Advertiser on Sunday he felt after the club’s 0-4 start to the season they could no longer make the eight.

History tells us that since the finals system was changed to a top eight in 1995, no club has ever reached the finals after losing their first four matches.

But the nature of Adelaide’s defeats and the opponents who have handed them out is most damning for the Crows. And considering the club were being talked about as premiership contenders in pre-season, Crows fans have every reason to be demoralised and disappointed.

There’s no doubt the Crows, sitting second-last, without win and with the lowest goal tally of any club this season, are struggling.

But calls for coach Neil Craig’s sacking or the mid-season retirements of some of the team’s veterans are way off the mark, especially given we’re only four rounds into the season.

Craig has led Adelaide to finals campaigns in their last five seasons and last year he turned them around with a fresh brand of footy after a slow start at 3-5, before winning seven in a row and going within an umpire’s decision of a Preliminary Final.

So he deserves a bit of time, at the very least.

After the Carlton loss, Craig admitted the side were struggling.

“I reckon that was one of our worst performances for the year, in a lot of areas,” he said.

“It’s probably the most difficult (time) we’ll go through as a playing group and the coaching group.”

A return of a pitiful 31 goals from four matches, at an average of less than eight a game, certainly points to a ‘difficult time’.

There’s plenty of reasons for the Crows’ poor start being suggested in the public domain such as injuries, an interrupted pre-season, a lack of confidence, passion and leadership and a confused gameplan.

From afar, it is difficult to put your finger on it.

There has even been a suggestion Craig’s coaching methods have become stale with the playing group which could be irreversable, but again that is difficult to know from afar.

History, though, (as damning as it is on sides who begin seasons 0-4) tells us the Crows are a strong club and under Craig’s leadership they’ve enjoyed a lot of success.

That must mean something for Adelaide fans, who may be questioning the club’s vision and direction under Craig.

Sitting back on Saturday and watching the Blues take apart the Crows at AAMI Stadium left no doubt in my mind Craig has plenty to do to get this Adelaide side going in the right direction.

But his record entitles him to a bit of time to try and turn it around.

Right now, though, the realisation of a season without finals footy is pretty fresh for Crows fans and they’d be finding that pretty hard to handle, especially when a premiership challenge was mooted by Craig and co in pre-season.

The subsequent reaction calling for Craig’s sacking is understandable, but a tad irrational.

Nevertheless, Craig will know he’s under pressure and only time will tell if he’s still the right man for the job.

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The Crowd Says (5) | Page 1 of Comments

Wayno said | April 20th 2010 @ 9:45am | Report comment

Best forward line the fruit tingles have EVER had he said at the start of the season, BAHAHAHAHAHA!

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- Redb said | April 20th 2010 @ 9:49am | Report comment
  
  After the Bombers horrible loss to the Crows in the finals last year, the Crows 0 – 4 start has been therapeutic I must say.
  
  Heroes to zeros and aren’t the Crow fans downhill skiers.
  
  Reply
davelee said | April 20th 2010 @ 4:04pm | Report comment

crows have alot of injuries but theyre goooooone. plus theyve got a bad run coming up, so thats a worry.

but youd thnk sacking craig would create more problems than it would solve

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- Redb said | April 21st 2010 @ 3:50pm | Report comment
  
  There is no doubt a huge toll of injuries is hurting the crows. I agree sacking Neil Craig would be a bad move, he is a proven good coach but may have some tough decisions on older players to make. It’s quite possible the game has out paced several of them.
  
  Reply
Michael said | April 24th 2010 @ 3:42pm | Report comment

PUNCH SOMEONE by Michael Bocse

Don’t get me wrong I’m not suggesting the Crows go out and start Barry Hall’ing the opposition, but besides some of the coaching errors and selection mistakes, according to some fans, the real issue is the players not the staff. The Crows today have not changed significantly from the preliminary finalist of 2009 but one thin has always eluded the side and that is there aggressiveness on the ball. Its time someone came out and said it, “THE ADELAIDE CROWS ARE SOFT!!!” For the past 11 years since there back to back premiership victories they have reluctantly been hard ball winners and there tackling has been shocking. Since 1999 they have ranked top 8 in tackling 6 times, 4 of those being in the top 4 and disappointingly again they have been ranked lower then 10th 5 times.

The next point I make may be an unconventional one to some but since 2001 the crows have had one of the lowest numbers of reports and suspensions. This statistic might be nice to hear if you are the player’s mothers but to a fan it only shows weakness. The last suspension against the Crows was against Player Brett Burton who received a two match’s ban for front on contact in round 10 of 2008 almost two years ago. The most recent incident was last year against player James Seller for umpire contact in round 15 of 2009 where only a fine was issued. The crows have been reported only 11 times in the last 9 years, with only 4 player suspensions with a combined total of only 5 matches banned, 5 fined offences and 3 reprimands. In my opinion this shows that the team is just not attacking the ball hard enough.

Getting reported or suspended may mean your being reckless and dangerous but since when is that a bad thing in footy. If anything not getting into trouble on the field shows that you are not willing or able to push the boundaries of the game and live on the edge. It’s that attitude that wins games, and it’s that attitude that the crows are seriously lacking. It’s the most suspended players that are getting the most spotlight these days and its time for the crows to take advantage.

The crow’s image of being the good guys, the heroes has to stop its time the crows put to bed there nice guy attitude, on the field its better to be feared then respected. The fans are here to see them play one of the roughest and toughest sports in the world instead they are treated to 22 dancers jumping off the ball and afraid to get in and feel the pain (with the exception of Patrick Dangerfield). This team has forgotten what its like to be a frightening opponent; they have become the joke of the AFL community.

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