Adelaide Crows get a leg-up
Columnist By Andrew Sutherland, 3 Sep 2012 Andrew Sutherland is a Roar Expert
- Tagged:
- Adelaide Crows, AFL, Brenton Sanderson
New Crows coach Brenton Sanderson (Slattery Images)
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During the third quarter of Sunday’s game between Adelaide and the Gold Coast, a cheer suddenly rang out around AAMI Stadium.
News that would have made Mick Malthouse nauseous had just come through – the Sydney Swans were on the verge of succumbing to Geelong, gifting the Crows second position on the ladder and a home final.
Making Mick gag further would have been the celebrations that followed. Invigorated by the good news, the youthful Crows gleefully feasted on the hapless Suns.
Even the commentators got carried away, “They’ve saved the best until last!” someone chortled. “Nathan van Berlo: That man could well lift the cup!” yelled another. When Jared Petrenko kicked a goal – something he hasn’t been doing lately – someone else squealed, “He’s back in form at the right time of the year!”
You would have thought they were dismantling Hawthorn at the MCG on grand final day, rather than sticking the boot into the second bottom team, at a cosy, protected home venue.
Brenton Sanderson’s post match words, “We deserve a home final” must have stung Sydney, who had to confront Collingwood, Western Bulldogs, Hawthorn and Geelong in the final rounds, while Adelaide faced only Fremantle, Brisbane (who they lost to), Melbourne and Gold Coast. Competition leaders two weeks ago, the third placed Swans look tired after their gallant but unsuccessful mini-finals series.
When the AFL granted Adelaide an easier draw than that issued to the other basket cases of the previous season, more favourable even than that given to the debuting GWS, it thought it was just giving the struggling club a leg-up.
It did not see the remarkable transformation under Sanderson coming and so the team now sits in second place.
The draw has placed it a couple of positions above its true station, but that should not detract from the magnificent job Sanderson has done in his first year.
The insipid outfit that finished 14th last season is now a potent, if not fully realised, force. They are the most physical team in the competition, containing midfield stars Scott Thompson and Patrick Dangerfield, power forwards Kurt Tippett and Taylor Walker, possible All Australian ruckman Sam Jacobs, young centre half-back and rising star nominee Daniel Talia, and a vast array of midfielder-forwards.
Still, the post-match, self-congratulatory love-in was cloying to watch and while Sanderson is no stranger to premiership success, having been a long-term assistant at Geelong, he seems to be showing some dangerous overconfidence.
His statement, “When we play well as a team we normally get the result we’re after,” doesn’t seem entirely appropriate for a team that has gone down to Hawthorn, Collingwood, Geelong, and North Melbourne.
Adelaide may not quite deserve their second position but if they can beat a team like Hawthorn in the grand final, they will deserve the premiership.
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The Crowd Says (3) | Page 1 of Comments
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- Adelaide Crows, AFL, Brenton Sanderson
September 3rd 2012 @ 6:52am
Duncan said | September 3rd 2012 @ 6:52am | Report comment
Bold declaration! If they win the grand final they will deserve the premiership.
September 3rd 2012 @ 12:14pm
Richo said | September 3rd 2012 @ 12:14pm | Report comment
Adelaide’s soft run could come back to hurt them. Big jump up playing gold coast to a top 4 side. Also one of the most inexperienced lists in terms of finals played.
Will be interesting. Carn the Swans!!
September 5th 2012 @ 3:42pm
Tom of Darwin said | September 5th 2012 @ 3:42pm | Report comment
I would like to state a couple of points in defence of Adelaide:
1. The Draw
• Adelaide won one more game than Sydney and beat them in the only game for the year and deserves to be above them on the ladder. If Sydney had beaten Adelaide at home they would have finished higher. It wasn’t the end of the season that lost them 2nd spot, it was round 5.
• Adelaide won one than Collingwood who lost twice to a bottom 8 side.
• Adelaide beat Geelong once and lost once, but won by more than they lost in those two games. Further note Geelong played Melbourne twice, GC once and GWS once, which gives the Crows one more ‘free’ game than the Cats, but actually won two more games than them. I hope that makes sense.
• Of these teams only Collingwood could justifiably feel they should be above Adelaide at minor round’s end having beaten Adelaide and having a tougher draw, but as I said, they lost twice to a bottom 8 side, which is the difference.
• Adelaide deserved to finish above WCE (beat them), Fremantle (beat them twice) and North (the only other team to play GC and GWS twice). Not much argument there, even from North who beat Adelaide (but lost to Port).
2. Compensation
• What did Adelaide lose to get the easy draw? Just the luck of the draw? This is the AFL, it is a fixture. Adelaide gave up plenty. I have just looked up the draft picks of the team who finished 14th since 2003, and Adelaide by far and away received the worst pick. 2011 was a bad year to finish lowly on the ladder. Usually a 14th position would receive the third pick in the AFL. Essendon received 8th as Gold Coast entered the draft in 2010 and Adelaide got pick 10 as GSW entered the draft. I pose the question, given the choice which team would take a ‘free game’ over Rising Star Nominee Dom Tyson (GWS)?
I would be interested if people agree or not.