It’s going to be the debate of the week. You will hear it on TV, you will hear it on the street, you will hear it around the water cooler. Should Fremantle play Ryan Crowley in this week’s preliminary final?
It wasn’t so long ago that Crowley was a rather prominent and controversial player. The premier tagging player in the league, he drew praise from his coaches but attracted the ire of opposition midfielders like Gary Ablett Jr, who once lambasted him on Twitter for “playing the man”.
In 2012, Ross Lyon’s first year coaching the Dockers, Crowley was valued so highly that the was awarded the Doig Medal as Fremantle’s best and fairest. In 2013 there was talk of him deserving a spot in the All-Australian team on the quality of his tagging ability.
However, those days seem a lot longer ago now. Why? Because Crowley hasn’t played since the 2014 semi-final due to a year-long suspension for having taken a banned substance.
Not all the details of the case have been released but the story generally presented is that Crowley took a painkiller not prescribed by the club doctor, and it unfortunately happened to contain a banned substance.
A very, very dumb move but not necesarilly a reprehensible one. It didn’t cost Crowley the full two-year penalty but at the age of 31 a year out of the game is close to a career death sentence.
Heading into this week’s preliminary final, Crowley is for the first time in 12 months eligible to play football. So the question is, for this do-or-die clash preliminary final, will Crowley get a call up?
The case for
Let’s face it, Fremantle are in a spot of bother. While this is a home final for them, they haven’t been in great form in the lead-up and their opponents, Hawthorn, are fresh off a massive finals win.
Fremantle look like the first team in quite a while to enter a home preliminary final not as the favourites. They finished on top of the ladder, they took the Swans out in Week 1, they’ve had a rest – but they haven’t convinced anyone.
They need to roll the dice a bit here, because if they don’t make some big improvements to the footy they’ve played over the past few months very quickly, they are going to get slammed.
Crowley can help with that. They haven’t had a really effective tagger with him gone all year but his ability to really shut an opposition star out of the game could be just what the Dockers need to get their mojo back.
Sam Mitchell is the obvious choice for Crowley to go to. He is the Hawks’ most damaging player, but Crowley kept him to just 12 disposals in the 2013 grand final. It didn’t get Fremantle the win on that day but it could do the trick this time around.
The case against
Bringing in a player who has missed an entire year of footy is a risky move even at the best of times, and this is certainly not the best of times.
Fitness is the main concern. Can Crowley run out a whole game? Is he really ready to go without any kind of match fitness preparation?
A 31-year-old veteran of the game, it’s all the more of a concern when it comes to Crowley. Young players might spring back quickly from a year off, but it’s not going to be that easy for a pair of ageing legs.
Going from not playing for an entire year straight to the Dockers’ biggest game of the year to date, that’s a step up that you should not be asking of any player.
In an ideal world the Dockers would give him a few weeks in the WAFL to prove his fitness and earn his spot in the side. But there just isn’t time for that.
My verdict
Yes! Roll the dice, Ross, you’ve got to give it a try.
Sure, there’s always the risk that Crowley will struggle and be a liability. But even if so, is that really going to be any worse for the Dockers than playing Matt de Boer or Tendai Mzungu?
The potential rewards outweigh the potential risk. This is not the move that’s going to cost Fremantle the preliminary final. It could be the move that wins it for them.
That’s my call. What’s yours, Roarers?
dontknowmuchaboutfootball
Guest
Dawson, that's no way to speak to the guy who gave you a footy career.
bryan
Guest
Probably Crowley won't play,but I would love to see "The Grinch" out there. At his best,he really freaks out opposition players & supporters,& what I most enjoy is when the latter post on the "Roar" about his "iniquities". You can almost see the flecks of spittle on the page! :)
Si Chewy
Guest
You are right in a way Don because WA teams dont have as much exposure as the Vic or even SA teams, there are people that simply look at the form line and say that they are no chance. Go back to the first 8 weeks of the season where Freo put down some of the best performances I have seen from them. Those wins provided the building blocks to finish top and give Lyon the opportunity to manage the list and in particular the ageing stars. People forget very quickly what a team is truly capable of.
Don Freo
Guest
Every opposition player and coach is well and truly convinced. It is just those keyboard warriors that aren't Freo fans, but are blind, that remain unconvinced.
Full Purple Jacket
Guest
This is crap. The media is throwing out one story because the another one is more fun to talk about. All I hear or read is Freo need to score more, freo need to score more. Now those same people are saying the most defensive midfielder in recent history, 12 months out of the game, should play so Freo essentially will be more defensive. The first 9 games of the season, Crowleys replacements C. Pearce and Deboer were playing pretty well. For what ever reason, they dropped right off. Im with other people on here saying bring in a hard running, offensive player. C. Pearce dropped for Ed Langdon I reckon, much better option.
bryan
Guest
"but they haven’t convinced anyone." If the Dockers walked on water,Victorians would say:- "Fremantle can't swim!" :)
AR
Guest
Desperate times call for...
Si Chewy
Guest
At the end of the day, both clubs will have plans for the majority of players on the opposition list. It will not really change structures or emphasis of the game. Freo know they have to defend the highest scoring team in the AFL (with or without Gunston) and the Hawks know that they have to win the midfield battle against one of the best midfield groups and arguably the best ruckman in the league. Whoever is selected to play will have been scrutinised and a plan would have been developed, its the simple fact of then putting that plan into practice.
Brian
Guest
That does sound awfully logical. I expect Hawthorn to do the same with Gunston who since we are recalling the 2013 GF must of been mightily close to a Norm Smith medal.
Don Freo
Guest
That talk is not coming from Freo...silly man.
Si Chewy
Guest
haha brilliant!!
Don Freo
Guest
And McPharlin will.
13th Man
Guest
Sounds pretty much like what Ross would do. He will keep Hawthorn guessing but i guarantee Crowley won't play
Ryan Buckland
Expert
I think what happens is it gets talked up all week, Crowley trains with the main group, Ross throws a few cloaks and daggers at his press conference and through other media commitments, then selects him as an emergency... And he doesn't play. I just don't see how a player that hasn't played a competitive footy game for almost 12 months comes in for a preliminary final against the best side in the competition, even if he's very good at his job. There's far too much uncertainty and risk for it to happen. I get the feeling Lyon will back his current midfield structure and personnel to get the job done at clearances, which, let's be honest, is where Crowley banks 90% of his salary. Let the Vic media circuit talk it up. I don't see it happening.
Ryan Buckland
Expert
Che?
Brian
Guest
Surely having played so much competitive football with a view to being cherry-ripe this weekend Mzungu, De Boer etc are going to be more match fit then Crowley. I don't profess to know that much about the lesser known Dockers but picking a player who hasn't played for 12 months is a huge gamble. It was noticable in the Bye rounds that a lot of sides were slow in the first quarters against the sides who had played the week before. Now that is a whole team but if that is the impact of one week imagine 12 months of no competitive action. Also would assume Mitchell would park himself on the half back line so Crowley would become a tagging forward, have to tag another midfielder or a non tagging rotating midfielder. Best approach I would think would be to play him in the WAFL and if he dominates consider him for the GF.
Me Too
Guest
This would be flag-less Lyon against going for four Clarkson? Incomparable I agree - but at a different conclusion to you.
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
No you've right. I did mention 'forward' for Mitchell. "Yeah, and just tell Poppy, Rioli and Breust to play somewhere they never have before. ...and then you linked this comment. Mind explaining what you mean by this? I am of course making the assumption you feel these players never play anywhere else other than forward - and never in the back-line - which makes this comment 100 percent wrong. Therefore, if you want to relate my comment about Mitchell moving forward (which he has done in the past) to this comment, then you are also 100 percent wrong. Perhaps Edgar understands the link now too and can help you out. :)
Don Freo
Guest
The corky game in Tassie? Hold on to that one if you want.
Don Freo
Guest
Oh.. so it's the backline now? Make up your mind. When you said" forward" I thought you meant, forward.. Silly me.