You have to admire the Adelaide Crows Football Club. They are one of the most professional clubs in the AFL both on and off the field, as highlighted with their performances last year.
Although losing in the semi-final to eventual premiers Hawthorn, the Crows players and supporters should be proud of the courage and heart they showed last year.
The Crows’ start 2016 with a new coach and a realistic chance of making the finals again. But making the finals is as good as it will get for the club in 2016.
Although every club and their supporters start a new year full of optimism, there are three categories in which you can split all the AFL teams into.
1. Contenders
These are the big boys of the competition, the battle-hardened sides that start the season with a realistic chance of winning the flag. This is an exclusive club of four maybe five teams.
2. Rebuilders
The clubs rebuilding their list through youth. They are putting together a group of talented young players in which they can build their next premiership team around.
3. No Man’s Land
Teams in here are neither rebuilding through youth nor have a strong enough list to win the premiership. They will beat most of the rebuilders but struggle to beat the contenders, battling it out for the bottom spots in the top eight to make up the numbers.
The Crows are the long-term residents of the No Man’s Land community.
This year, Adelaide’s strength is their forward line, led by captain Tex Walker. This man is capable of anything and he should be the best power forward in the game this year. Josh Jenkins is a much-improved key forward who will be tough work for opposition teams’ second tall defender.
Now, this is where the fun starts! The Crows’ small forwards are among the best and most exciting in the competition. Eddie Betts and Charlie Cameron are dynamic around the goals. With the acquisition of Troy Menzel from the Blues and exciting youngster Wayne Milera through the draft, the Crows have some real depth in this position.
They could turn this into a real weapon by rotating Cameron and Betts through the midfield. Their skill and speed in the centre could create panic for opposition teams and give the Crows great flexibility.
The great worry against the top teams for the Crows is their midfield. Apart from young gun Rory Sloane and ageing warrior Scott Thompson, the Crows lack depth and class.
Brothers Matt and Brad Crouch are two young bulls and will be a pillar of the Crows midfield in future years but will need time to develop. The club was also dealt a cruel blow in this department with the departure of Patrick Dangerfield.
You can’t talk about the Adelaide midfield without mentioning big Sam ‘Sauce’ Jacobs in the ruck. Jacobs is in the top five ruckmen in the AFL – a big warhorse who rucks all day and is mobile for a man his size.
Daniel Talia is the leader of the Adelaide defence and the young star is one of the best key defenders in the league. But depth in the key defensive post is another worry for the Crows.
Apart from Talia, Adelaide will have to rely on undersized players like Kyle Cheney (187cm), Kyle Hartigan (194cm) and promising young defender Jake Lever (194cm). All three players would struggle to contain the two or three big forwards that most of the good teams have in their forward lines.
The Crows have some options in the running halfback department with the arrival of Curtly Hampton and Paul Seedsman this year to join Brodie Smith and Matthew Jaensch as important ball users off halfback.
The two holes in the Adelaide list are the midfield and key defensive post, which makes the choice of players brought in at the end of last year through the draft and trade period interesting.
While Hampton, Seedsman, Menzel and youngsters Milera and Tom Doedee could all be assets to the team, they don’t directly address the two problem areas in the Crows’ list.
The unknown in this is Don Pyke, the first year coach who may have some tricks up his sleeves. But unfortunately for Crows fans, Pyke would have to be Harry Houdini to win the flag this year.
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