R8 - Adelaide v Geelong & Carlton v Port

Agreed. Watch Sloane cop some more attention as the weeks roll on now too. Been excellent the last three weeks ( really don't understand why he isn't the skipper / face of the club / marketing magnet instead of Walker ) and he, along with Seedsman and Smith will be the target from here on.

Clubs have seen limiting Seedsman and Smith is the key to opening Adelaide's defence up and getting repeat F50 entries.

I think not having Laird off half back has exposed us a bit as well. Laird is a top shelf user of the footy, and when he's in the side he acts as the anchor point on which Seedsman & Smith get their slingshot run going. Hopefully he'll be back for the GWS game.

Adelaide overall have been nowhere near as 'brave' with their ball movement in the last month as they were in the first month. In those first few weeks they were moving the ball quickly to the first option almost without thought. On Friday night they stopped and propped, or failed to give off quickly to the outside runners, far too often. A delay of even a second or two against the quality sides is more than enough time for them to close down space and options.

The key to Adelaide's season still sits with Brad Crouch IMO. If he can get back to his best then our midfield looks a hell of a lot better. He's horribly out of touch at the moment - but I feel like we need to keep playing him as without him in good form we can't challenge those top sides.

We could bring in Lyons or Ellis-Yolmen and they will give us enough to jag a win against a good side a la the Sydney game a few weeks ago - but to consistently get the wins against the best we need B Crouch in the midfield at his best.

What about your mob Booney? Now we're basically a third of the way through the season where does season 2016 sit for Port? Do you think it's just a bad year what with injuries and suspensions - or are there some deeper issues that need to be addressed?

Gingernuts wrote:The key to Adelaide's season still sits with Brad Crouch IMO. If he can get back to his best then our midfield looks a hell of a lot better. He's horribly out of touch at the moment - but I feel like we need to keep playing him as without him in good form we can't challenge those top sides.

We could bring in Lyons or Ellis-Yolmen and they will give us enough to jag a win against a good side a la the Sydney game a few weeks ago - but to consistently get the wins against the best we need B Crouch in the midfield at his best.

Wouldn't wish it on any player, but you just wonder if you're ever going to get from Crouch what he appears capable of. Seems to need a decent run of matches to ramp up to his best, but sadly his body hasn't allowed that too often in the last 4 years, and there's nothing at this stage to suggest those troubles are behind him.

Gingernuts wrote:What about your mob Booney? Now we're basically a third of the way through the season where does season 2016 sit for Port? Do you think it's just a bad year what with injuries and suspensions - or are there some deeper issues that need to be addressed?

Clearly injuries and suspensions haven't helped.

Ryder and Monfries - all year.
Schulz - 12-15 weeks
White 14 weeks
Lobbe - 12 weeks (despite form, he was our only ruckman)
Carlile - 7 weeks
Gray - 3 weeks
Hartlett - 2 weeks
Wingard - 2 weeks
Polec coming back from a year off with his navicular.
Wines started preseason in January after a shoulder operation in about round 18 last year.

And it's only the week leading into round 9! The worst part is it's the cream we've been missing, not the fringe. Gray is an out and out A grader,Wingard is too, Hartlett B+, Ryder B+,Schulz, White and Monfries B, Lobbe and Carlile C or thereabouts. Either way, it's 8 or so, at different or the same time, of our best either out of form or not on the park. Clearly the loss of Ryder and Lobbe has compounded other issues, such as the midfield lacking form. So that leads to "deeper issues".

Is there any deeper issues? I believe Boak is not 100% fit, I have someone pretty close to the place who tells me he has a little knee niggle, not enough to keep him out or need work, but he's capable of playing. As it's been said about Ablett recently, some guys can carry things, some can't.

All in all, opposition sides have worked out from '14 that Polec and White ( missing ) are the link runners, Broadbent and Harlett the "super boots" ( think Seedsman and Smith ) from half back. So you negate the 4 who create the run and carry and penetrating kicks and you slow down the forward entry efficiency. Throw in a make shift ruckman or rookie leading the rucks for 16 of 22 weeks and it doesn't paint a pretty picture.

Booney wrote: All in all, opposition sides have worked out from '14 that Polec and White ( missing ) are the link runners, Broadbent and Harlett the "super boots" ( think Seedsman and Smith ) from half back. So you negate the 4 who create the run and carry and penetrating kicks and you slow down the forward entry efficiency. Throw in a make shift ruckman or rookie leading the rucks for 16 of 22 weeks and it doesn't paint a pretty picture.

It's really interesting to note how much of a teams score is generated either from half back, or from opposition turnovers. Clearance work is almost secondary now which is quite bizarre. For midfielders the game almost more about what you do without the ball (i.e. pressure acts to force turnovers) rather than what you do with it.

If your half back line is not fit and/or firing, you really are up against it against the modern zone/team defence.