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Adelaide coach Neil Craig cannot think of a worse time to play a football match. A Mothers Day lunchtime bounce-down for the Crows’ AFL match against the Western Bulldogs at AAMI Stadium attracted only 31,742 supporters to West Lakes, the smallest crowd for an Adelaide home fixture in seven years.
The last time a Crows crowd dipped so low was when 29,895 turned up to see them play St Kilda in round 15 of 2002, and Craig pointed the finger squarely at the schedule.
“Ideally we’d want 40,000 people here, but could you get a worse time, you reckon? Lunchtime on Mothers Day?” he said.
“That’s the reality. We want a bigger crowd, and our players would and the opposition would, our club would.
“Lunchtime on Mothers Day might be great for TV but it’s not great for fans.”
The Crows are entering a difficult phase of their history as the club looks to the future, building a young list around a new game plan and riding the bumps of inconsistency.
Adelaide’s crowds have dropped slightly in recent times, although never quite so dramatically as this match.
“Our responsibility is to put on a performance that people will come and see,” Craig said.
“That’s a responsibility I have and the players have.
“And if it’s not up to scratch as judged by our supporter base, of course some won’t want to see it. The ones that drop off will return when they think the product is worth watching again.”
Craig counselled his club’s supporters to be patient after the 32-point loss to the Dogs, which was characterised by a horrendous error count.
“They may not have been happy with some of the movement today but hopefully they actually walk out of the ground and say at least I saw them try to move the ball quicker – tried to do something rather than chip it up and slow back off the mark,” Craig said.
“They may not have liked the execution but hopefully they did see us try to move the ball quicker.
“I just ask our supporters to be patient, to continue to be critical of us and I’m sure they will, but be patient – we’re going to have to put up with a bit of pain to start with.”
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