Adelaide
The Crows have been shining foil to an old adage, in that they've creditably been able to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
Neil Craig, revolutionising player management methods in the AFL, has taken a team that 3 years ago was on the brink of collapse and turned it into a consistent finals contender.
He has also transformed what was an aging list into a progressive and vibrant one.
Neil Craig continues as coach, assisted by Peter Jonas, David Noble & Paul Hamilton.
The List, fig.1, has the usual 44 players, of which 9 are new and 4 are rookies. It is interesting that a club that made a preliminary final can identify scope to change just over 20% of its list.
In 2005, I suggested the Crows were short of good young runners. In the last 2 years their focus has been in building these with 2 in 3 being under 190cm.
28 of the 44, 63%, are 25yo or less, of which 15 of the 44, 34%, are 21yo or less. 16 of 44 players, 36%, about 1 in 3, are 190cm or more.
The Spread, fig.2, shows thar Adelaide has built a solid wave of devepment and junior players to support their mature players.
There is clearly a concern over that group of twilight runners - Ricciuto, Goodwin, Edwards & McLeod - all 30yo that Adelaide heavily rely on.
Their lack of genuine junior key position players and junior smalls should also be of concern.
Positional Strength, fig.3, of the Crows shows that they can cover nearly every position fairly well, with strength in their main inside-midfield positions and rucks.
Their key positions, especially with a couple under injury clouds, look very thin.
Conclusion:
Adelaide will rely again on some old legs to see them into finals, although there are some new junior runners emerging.
Much of their season will depend on how those old legs will hold up, and also on how well their thin layer of key positions can withstand injury.
At the end of last season, I would have banked on Adelaide being up there again, now I'm not so sure.
The Crows have been shining foil to an old adage, in that they've creditably been able to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
Neil Craig, revolutionising player management methods in the AFL, has taken a team that 3 years ago was on the brink of collapse and turned it into a consistent finals contender.
He has also transformed what was an aging list into a progressive and vibrant one.
Neil Craig continues as coach, assisted by Peter Jonas, David Noble & Paul Hamilton.
| Fig.1 - The List | |||||
| Jonathon Griffin | 202 | 90 | 21 | ||
| Kurt Tippett | 201 | 96 | 19 | new | |
| Rhett Biglands | 200 | 103 | 29 | ||
| John Meesen | 200 | 95 | 20 | ||
| Ben Hudson | 198 | 108 | 28 | ||
| Ivan Maric | 198 | 97 | 21 | ||
| Ken McGregor | 195 | 97 | 26 | ||
| James Sellar | 195 | 90 | 17 | new | |
| Ian Perrie | 194 | 102 | 27 | ||
| Scott Stevens | 194 | 84 | 25 | ||
| Trent Hentschel | 194 | 92 | 24 | ||
| Nathan Bock | 193 | 92 | 24 | ||
| Nick Gill | 192 | 90 | 24 | new | |
| Ben Rutten | 191 | 99 | 23 | ||
| Nathan Bassett | 190 | 87 | 30 | ||
| Luke Jericho | 190 | 86 | 22 | ||
| Kris Massie | 189 | 87 | 26 | ||
| Martin Matttner | 189 | 83 | 24 | ||
| Andrew McIntyre | 189 | 81 | 20 | new | rookie |
| James Turner | 189 | 78 | 18 | new | rookie |
| Jason Torney | 187 | 84 | 29 | ||
| Scott Welsh | 187 | 89 | 28 | ||
| John Hinge | 187 | 85 | 20 | ||
| Greg Gallman | 187 | 85 | 18 | new | rookie |
| Brett Burton | 185 | 81 | 27 | ||
| Robert Shirley | 185 | 84 | 26 | ||
| Scott Thompson | 185 | 84 | 24 | ||
| Bernie Vince | 185 | 82 | 21 | ||
| Chris Knights | 185 | 84 | 20 | ||
| Mark Ricciuto | 184 | 93 | 31 | ||
| Simon Goodwin | 184 | 87 | 30 | ||
| Brent Reilly | 184 | 84 | 23 | ||
| Nathan Van Berlo | 184 | 80 | 20 | ||
| Bryce Campbell | 183 | 73 | 22 | new | |
| Darren Pfeiffer | 183 | 80 | 19 | ||
| Andrew McLeod | 181 | 80 | 30 | ||
| David Mackay | 181 | 69 | 18 | new | |
| Tyson Edwards | 180 | 81 | 30 | ||
| Richard Douglas | 180 | 70 | 20 | ||
| Graham Johncock | 179 | 85 | 24 | ||
| Matthew Bode | 178 | 76 | 27 | ||
| Michael Doughty | 178 | 79 | 27 | ||
| Rhys Archard | 178 | ? | 24 | new | rookie |
| Jason Porplyzia | 176 | 76 | 22 |
In 2005, I suggested the Crows were short of good young runners. In the last 2 years their focus has been in building these with 2 in 3 being under 190cm.
28 of the 44, 63%, are 25yo or less, of which 15 of the 44, 34%, are 21yo or less. 16 of 44 players, 36%, about 1 in 3, are 190cm or more.
| Fig.2 - The Spread | |||||||
| <175 | 175-179 | 180-184 | 185-189 | 190-194 | 195-199 | 200+ | |
| 28+ | Ricciuto 184 31 U | Torney 187 29 D | Bassett 190 30 D | Hudson 198 28 R | Biglands 200 29 R | ||
| Goodwin 184 30 M | Welsh 187 28 F | ||||||
| Edwards 180 30 M | |||||||
| 25-27 | McLeod 181 30 M | ||||||
| Bode 178 27 F | Burton 185 27 F | Perrie 194 27 F | McGregor 195 26 U | ||||
| Doughty 178 27 M | Massie 189 26 D | Stevens 194 25 D | |||||
| Shirley 185 26 M | |||||||
| 22-24 | |||||||
| Johncock 179 24 D | Reilly 184 23 D | Mattner 189 24 M | Hentschel 194 24 F | ||||
| Archard 178 24 M | Campbell 183 22 M | Thompson 185 24 M | Bock 193 24 D | ||||
| Porplyzia 176 22 M | Gill 192 24 F | ||||||
| Rutten 191 23 D | |||||||
| 18-21 | Jericho 190 22 F | ||||||
| VanBerlo 184 20 M | Vince 185 21 M | Maric 198 21 R | Griffin 202 21 R | ||||
| Douglas 180 20 M | McIntyre 189 20 D | Sellar 195 17 U | Meeson 200 20 R | ||||
| Pfeiffer 183 19 D | Hinge 187 20 D | Tippett 201 19 F | |||||
| Mackay 181 18 M | Knights 185 20 M | ||||||
| Turner 189 18 D | |||||||
| Gallman 187 18 D | |||||||
There is clearly a concern over that group of twilight runners - Ricciuto, Goodwin, Edwards & McLeod - all 30yo that Adelaide heavily rely on.
Their lack of genuine junior key position players and junior smalls should also be of concern.
| Fig.3 - Positional Depth | |||
| B: | Johncock 179 24 D | Stevens 194 25 D | Bassett 190 30 D |
| Rutten 191 23 D | McIntyre 189 20 D | ||
| Turner 189 18 D | |||
| HB: | Torney 187 29 D | Bock 193 24 D | McLeod 181 30 M |
| Massie 189 26 D | Reilly 184 23 D | ||
| Hinge 187 20 D | Pfeiffer 183 19 D | ||
| Gallman 187 18 D | |||
| C: | Mattner 189 24 M | Thompson 185 24 M | VanBerlo 184 20 M |
| Vince 185 21 M | Douglas 180 20 M | Mackay 181 18 M | |
| Knights 185 20 M | |||
| HF: | Jericho 190 22 F | Perrie 194 27 F | Ricciuto 184 31 U |
| McGregor 195 26 U | Burton 185 27 F | ||
| F: | Welsh 187 28 F | Hentschel 194 24 F | Bode 178 27 F |
| Tippett 201 19 F | Gill 192 24 F | Porplyzia 176 22 M | |
| R: | Hudson 198 28 R | Goodwin 184 30 M | Edwards 180 30 M |
| Biglands 200 29 R | Shirley 185 26 M | Doughty 178 27 M | |
| Maric 198 21 R | Campbell 183 22 M | Archard 178 24 M | |
| Griffin 202 21 R | |||
| Meeson 200 20 R | |||
| Sellar 195 17 R |
Their key positions, especially with a couple under injury clouds, look very thin.
Conclusion:
Adelaide will rely again on some old legs to see them into finals, although there are some new junior runners emerging.
Much of their season will depend on how those old legs will hold up, and also on how well their thin layer of key positions can withstand injury.
At the end of last season, I would have banked on Adelaide being up there again, now I'm not so sure.
