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Rory Sloane will determine Adelaide's premiership credentials

23rd July, 2017
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Geelong Cats player James Kelly (back) tackles Adelaide Crows player Rory Sloane in round 23 of the AFL at Simonds Stadium in Geelong, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2015. (AAP Image/Julian Smith)
Expert
23rd July, 2017
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1442 Reads

When both Selwoods play like Scott, it turns out that Geelong has a problem.

Joel was out of sorts to start Friday night’s clash against Adelaide, and so were his Cats. Rory Sloane was not.

Sloane was the tone-setter early, winning the first touch, then kicking an early goal that would give Adelaide a lead they would never relinquish. It was one of three goals for Sloane, all of them beautiful, long range finishes struck with conviction and accuracy.

No one in the world seemed to have less concern for his health on Friday night than Sloane himself. While the reasonable world worried about the repercussions of letting a man play six days after being knocked out and having false visions of Bernie Vince, Sloane played with a breathtakingly short memory.

He put his head over the ball, got crushed, and after getting crushed, he attacked the next contests even harder. He earned six free kicks, laid seven tackles, and found the ball 28 times. He was immense.

As Sloane goes, the Crows go. When he is firing, they are unstoppable. They have the best forward line in the league and perhaps the best back six too. But their midfield is underwhelming unless Sloane can be overwhelming. Richard Douglas and the Crouch brothers are fine, but they are not transcendent. They are bass players.

Rory Sloane Adelaide Crows 2016 AFL

(AAP Image/Julian Smith)

Only Sloane can transcend, and when he does, everything falls into place. Sam Jacobs is an outstanding ruckman, and when Sloane can play like a legitimate number one midfielder, everyone else becomes capable depth. But if Sloane is well held, the Crows are forced to live the Matt Crouch As Number One Midfielder life, which is not a life that any true contender can live.

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The Crows are possibly the worst bet for the premiership that any premiership favourite has ever been this late in the season, but they still might be the best bet for the premiership.

They will have a home qualifying final, and the Adelaide Oval is a three-goal head start for them. The stadium is a cauldron and the atmosphere drives the players, which is essential for these Crows, especially in the midfield, where they need every possible intangible to give them an edge.

The Crows are the smoothest outfit in the league, and their counter-attacks are the most devastating sequence in the sport. Modern football is played end-to-end in brief, powerful spurts, and Adelaide is modernity at its most immaculate (leave the gags at the door).

They win one-on-ones in defence, and then their users off half-back and the wing, the likes of Rory Laird, Brodie Smith, Rory Atkins and Tom Lynch, all back their foot skills to be able to make the incisive kick into the corridor, which opens up everything for the Crows and sentences the opposition to darkness.

The ball is delivered into the middle, Josh Jenkins holds his ground to clunk the mark, he wheels around, and then Charlie Cameron has the state of Texas and open space in front of him. Adios.

This scene is powerful, but it’s not conclusive. The Crows aren’t always able to play their transition game so flawlessly. They need to be able to win the ball at the coalface. They need Sloane.

When he’s the best player on the ground, as he was on Friday night, they are the best team in the competition. When he is held, they fall back into the pack and become eminently beatable.

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Their future will not be decided by their two greatest areas of strength – it will be decided by the man who mitigates their one area of weakness.

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