Adelaide Crows - 2007 Pre Season Predictions

[TalkingFootball]

Gains:
1/ James Sellar (national draft first round)
2/ Kurt Tippett (national draft second round)
3/ David MacKay (national draft third round)
4/ Nick Gill (national draft fourth round)
5/ Bryce Campbell (national draft fifth round)

Rookies:
Andrew McIntyre (rookie - North Adelaide), James Turner (rookie - South Adelaide), Rhys Archard (rookie - South Adelaide), Greg Gallman (rookie - North Adelaide)

Losses:
Matthew Clarke (St Kilda) Tom Redden (delisted) Hayden Skipworth (delisted) Alan Obst (delisted) Chad Gibson (delisted) Ben Hart (delisted) Adam Bonnadio (delisted) Brad Sugars (delisted)

Coaching Staff:

Senior Coach Neil Craig Assistant Coaches David Noble, Paul Hamilton & Peter Jonas

Draw:

Rd 01 Essendon AAMI Stadium

Rd 02 Western Bulldogs MCG

Rd 03 Port Adelaide AAMI Stadium

Rd 04 Sydney AAMI Stadium

Rd 05 Fremantle Subiaco

Rd 06 Collingwood AAMI Stadium

Rd 07 Brisbane Lions Gabba

Rd 08 Richmond AAMI Stadium

Rd 09 Carlton Telstra Dome

Rd 10 Melbourne MCG

Rd 11 Geelong AAMI Stadium

Rd 12 Kangaroos Gold Coast Stadium

Rd 13 West Coast AAMI Stadium

Rd 14 Hawthorn AAMI Stadium

Rd 15 St. Kilda Telstra Dome

Rd 16 Fremantle AAMI Stadium

Rd 17 Essendon Telstra Dome

Rd 18 Port Adelaide AAMI Stadium

Rd 19 Geelong Skilled Stadium

Rd 20 Western Bulldogs AAMI Stadium

Rd 21 Brisbane Lions AAMI Stadium

Rd 22 Collingwood Telstra Dome

Comments provided by Tippaz - Hot Prospects for 2007

ADELAIDE
The Crows have an aging list. Despite the fact they offloaded ‘Doc’ Clarke and Ben Hart last year, they still have five players over 30. But we should not underestimate the value of their oldest player Mark Ricciuto. The captain had an awkward end to 2006. He came down with a mysterious virus, which in the end, hampered his stats. He also spent the majority of the season in the forward line last year, although he was misclassified as a ‘centre’. Watch out for a fully fit Ricciuto this year! If he can play out the 22 games and bring in 90+ pts per week, then you may just end up with one the best ‘forwards’ in the game, all at a reasonable price.

The departure of Clarke, plus the injury to Biglands, and one wonders who will play in the ruck? Well, Ben Hudson is back from his injury and is on track to taking the no.1 ruck spot once again. Hudson did not play any games in 2006, so his price will probably hit rock bottom. If that’s the case, then he’s pretty much a must-have. Worried about Hudson’s knee not holding up? Then look no further, because Ivan Maric is the likely no.2 ruckman and should play every game. Maric had very limited opportunities, and never got much game time, so this kept his stats down considerably. He will have a very low price tag, and is likely to improve. He could be handy to start off with.

Nathan Van Berlo is a bright young star of the future. Last year as a 19yr old, he’d just about established himself in Adelaide’s best 22, before breaking his arm. When he played, he spent quite a lot of time on the bench, so his stats didn’t reach any great heights. But in 2007 we may see some of that untapped potential. If he is given some more gametime and midfield exposure, then I’m sure we’ll have a nice little bargain in the ‘centres’.

Lets hear your thoughts ... where will they finish and why!

[ALI-G]

In my opinion Adelaide are on a downward spiral>

Ricciutto, Goodwin, Edwards are all guns and will have an influence at one time or another on this season. HoweverAll 3 are ageing, Biglands is gone for most if not all year, they have no-one I (specify I) would call a key forward to contribute and whilst guys like McLeod and Johncock are serviceable backmen i dont feel its their natural position

[Brades]

Midfield are getting old and the younger midfield is not all its cracked up to be. Van Berlo and Reilly had rather disappointing years last year for the ones they were to "step up" in.

Same talent is still there, but only good enough to take em to 5-8 this year. I also don't rate Craig as a "coach", more as an assistant coach.

[ALI-G]

Originally Posted by Brades

Midfield are getting old and the younger midfield is not all its cracked up to be. Van Berlo and Reilly had rather disappointing years last year for the ones they were to "step up" in.

Same talent is still there, but only good enough to take em to 5-8 this year. I also don't rate Craig as a "coach", more as an assistant coach.

I dont rate the Crows as a team overall but I definitely consider Craig amongst the top few coaches ATM behind probably, Roos, Worsfold and Malthouse in no particular order!

[Plugg3r]

The stunt he pulled late of the year with the intense work ethic cost them there GF.
To be honest Adelaide would of been 2006 Grand Finalists if it wasnt for the stupidity.

[Brades]

Ali - I don't consider him a great coach because he is tatically slow. There are times where I and my brother pick up on players who are dominating certain areas, or his players aren't in the right spots.. yet he takes 20 mins longer than us to realise it and move them.

BUT. I do rate him as an assistant coach because of his sports science knowledge, that is the brilliant part of his coaching, but it should only be applied in an assistants role in his case because his skills as a head coach are lacking.

Just my opinion.

[SBR]

I can see what you mean here Brades, but many coaches are quite tatically slow. At times some players which dominate generally can't be matched-up, but i've seen it before.

Adelaide this year are much like the previous two years, a lot of people are writing them off early. I'm still up and down about us, we've got some great aspects of our game but some we really need to work on. In the trial game i noticed we were much slower with the penetration off our backline, which is something which needs to be looked at. However, the fact we had kids playing would have impacted that. Also the fact there was no Goodwin in that midfield, and i've heard Stiffy's going to get a bit more of a run in the midfield this year.

It's hard to say, if we get a good run early in the year we can take off from there. Our first five game's are pretty crucial by the looks of the fixture.

[peterfitz]

Adelaide have been peaking for the last 2 years and I think only tactical errors leading up to the finals cost them a real shot at the flag.

If the extremely intense period leading up to the finals was the reason they missed a grand final and possible premiership last year then we can be sure that they won't make the same mistake again and assuming they can maintain their form they could make another push for the flag.

Is it possible that Craig's intensity late in the season was actually the best way to be in peak condition for the finals but maybe started and finished 2 weeks too late and the players didn't have enough time to freshen up for the finals? If these tactics are implemented at the right time they might actually work.

Or is it possible that the Crows senior players just couldn't handle the workload and is a sign that they are about to fall off the pace? If so, the Crows could finish outside the 4 and possibly the 8 if there is enough improvement from other teams.

Personally, I think the Crows will still be around the mark but they need to do it this year or their opportunity (and Neil Craig) could be gone.

[Tippaz]

Gone (no, not really)

But they're aging badly, and don't exactly have any Franklins or Birchalls lying around.
Lets not forget the impact of losing Biglands, Hentschel, Clarke. That will hurt them.
This year could be stage 1 of a rebuilding phase.

[chinbag]

Originally Posted by Tippaz

Gone (no, not really)

But they're aging badly, and don't exactly have any Franklins or Birchalls lying around.
Lets not forget the impact of losing Biglands, Hentschel, Clarke. That will hurt them.
This year could be stage 1 of a rebuilding phase.

What are you talking about? Everything's going to be just fine...

Don't forget how **** all the other teams are. Apart from WCE and Freo there isn't much else.