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.
(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.
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.
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.
Tristo
Guest
Chris Scott said Selwood did try to tag Sloane. So did blix. Sloane beat both in the first half, so Scott dropped the tag
Bruce
Guest
Yep...cats players weren't allowed to touch Sloane.
Craig Delaney
Guest
They missed Danger's grunt and the Crows' pressure definitely put them off.
Basil
Guest
You're so mean with your insults. You hurt my feelings, you big bully.
Sammy
Guest
You hope
Sammy
Guest
Through the first half. Funnily enough on AFL 360 scott was asked that very thing and he said himself that the ran with scott selwood on sloane during the first half but not in the second as blicavs went to him
Sammy
Guest
I agree cat..i can't remember the cats fumble or drop marks like they did early in the game. It might have been because the crows were hunting them very hard and were being so un crow like and being unsociable and it made the cats second guess a bit
Mattician6x6
Guest
Bass player?
Mattician6x6
Guest
Crows employed similar tactics on selwood as west coast did for very similar results, the chink in selwoodsarmour is his frustration when things are not happening for him. As you noted sammy his penchant for playing the man in those situations is high and is a weakness that can be exploited in the right circumstance.
Craig Delaney
Guest
Hey Darren, do you read 'Touch of the Fumbles' on InDaily website? Great stuff from someone whose finger is on the fluttering pulse of, not only Crows fans, but the glass half empty soul of SA.
Internal Fixation
Guest
Like the massive favoritism for Victorian teams at the MCG late in September?
I ate pies
Guest
For sure it's the influence of the crowd. The stats support this theory too.
Joe
Guest
Scott Selwood's best tagging work is during stoppages, I was looking out for it but I don't remember him being on Sloane. Do you remember which quarter you saw the two on each other?
GJ
Guest
8 points
dontknowmuchaboutfootball
Guest
Really unfair on bass players!
Cat
Roar Guru
Perception and reality are often quite different. Almost 81% effective disposal. Now if you were to say what happened next in the chain after Selwood moved the ball on was less effective, I'd agree, as a whole the entire team was down. Some of it was because of the Crows but some of it was just Geelong having a bad game. Geelong were extra fumbly. So many uncontested marks or handballs just dropped or straight through hands. Stanley the worst of many offenders.
dan ced
Guest
He had plenty of the ball as did Dangerfield, but the pressure made them less effective than usual, that's how I felt at the game.
Cat
Roar Guru
Another person who fails grade one read comprehension. No where did I ever say the Crows didn't deserve to win. I simply questioned how much to value the win.
Paul D
Roar Guru
Probably a good theory. Lions don't get it anymore because we don't have the vocal crowd and we're not a very good side. The umps don't have anyone in their ears complaining about decisions and we do give away a lot of sloppy free kicks out of frustration. It's more than just home ground though, you need to have a big crowd making a lot of noise and be regarded as a solid outfit who doesn't make silly mistakes. Anyways, blaming the umpire is like shaking your fist at clouds.
Basil
Guest
Our apologies Cat, now after reading your observations, the Crows really didn't deserve to win that game.