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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