Preview Round 5, 2016: Hawthorn v Adelaide, 22 April 2016, 7.50pm @ MCG

[fatbarber]

Betts stands in the goal square or pocket hoping for cheapies over the top. Which is fine, but that's not defensive pressure. Compare him to Rioli/Poppy and you'll see what we mean about defensive pressure. Sure, his ability 1v1 is quite good, but how many times does he get forward 50 turnovers? Not much.

Contested possies, yes. Hard ball gets, yes. Freakish goals, yes. Effective tackles? Not so much.

No question about Rioli and Poppy - but you don't watch many Crows games based on this post! There is a reason many defenders panic in our forward line when in possession.

 

[Arc1]

Interesting debates on here.

Maybe our issue on Betts is a bit like a Sydney fan claiming Rioli is useless because historically he keeps getting touched up by Nick Smith. I think both perspectives are valid - we get to watch Rioli destroying teams, so he's clearly pretty bloody good, yet a Swans fan might be entitled to wonder what the excitement is about, and on history could say Goodes has done a lot more damage to Hawthorn than Rioli has done to Sydney.

Perhaps the two "bleeding obvious" points: (1) if your team is getting thumped then odds are as a forward you're not going to have a good day, and (2) some players and teams just match up well on others.

The other thing about Betts is that he's played an awful lot of losing footy against Hawthorn, and between injuries and the "fixture", he hasn't actually played that much footy against us anyway.

In fact over the course of a decade+, he appears to have played just 12 times against Hawthorn, with his one measly win coming way back in 2005 when we were duelling Carlton for the wooden spoon. While the disposals / goals is of course not the only story, his output against us appears to have been mediocre (1.4 goals and 11.5 possessions per game... never kicked more than 3 goals, never had more than 16 touches).

All told, you'd have to be a hardcore fan with the memory of an elephant to remember Eddie ever putting in a match-winning performance against Hawthorn, because, well...

R6 2005 - WON - 89-83, 11 Disposals, 3 Goals
R17 2005 - LOST - 103-127, 7 Disposals, 3 Goals
R4 2006 - LOST - 68-100, 16 Disposals, 1 Goal
R19 2006 - LOST - 90-113, 9 Disposals, 1 Goal
R6 2009 - LOST - 102-106, 16 Disposals, 2 Goals
R9 2010 - LOST - 60-110, 13 Disposals, 0 Goals
R22 2011 - LOST - 66-78, 15 Disposals, 0 Goals
R14 2012 - LOST - 70-120, 11 Disposals, 2 Goals
R12 2013 - LOST - 87-102, 15 Disposals, 3 Goals
R17 2014 - LOST - 92-104, 7 Disposals, 1 Goal
R12 2015 - LOST - 85-114, 9 Disposals, 1 Goal
SF 2015 - LOST - 61-135, 9 Disposals, 0 Goals

 

[Blaze Storm]

Yes. Show me a forward that doesn't have a 0-2 goal game every now and then. Even the greats have their off days.

Let me rephrase that: If he never kicks goals against Adelaide, are you worried about him during Adelaide games? Are you intimidated by him? No. Of course not.

 

[Runnin Blue]

Let me rephrase that: If he never kicks goals against Adelaide, are you worried about him during Adelaide games? Are you intimidated by him? No. Of course not.

No, of course not. But I was originally responding to posts basically calling Eddie Betts a crap footballer, not what you are on about.

 

[Dragz]

Out: Fumbles, Turnovers and lack of hard running to generate space for leading forwards, awful umpiring. O'Brien, Howe

In: Winning the ball, winning center clearances, getting ball past half forward. Shoey, Lovell/Willsmore ?

 

[Go the Guts]

Why does that suggest you wont get belted?

Well does it? We won't IMO.

 

[IdiotBox]

Hey there Dragz - you don't think Gibbo would be a handy inclusion against the 2nd highest scoring super-team of 2016?

 

[Dragz]

Shhhh, don't want Robbo to see that. He'll publish that Gibbo won't play if we don't mention it!

 

[Tex200]

Evening folks - just seeking some match day info. My Adelaide membership gives me reciprocal to the AFL members reserve. Bar code hasn't allowed me to pre purchase a seat, so figure I need to just get there early.

Is there generally plenty of unreserved seats that are reasonably positioned?

Many thanks in advance

 

[Blaze Storm]

No, of course not. But I was originally responding to posts basically calling Eddie Betts a crap footballer, not what you are on about.

You responded by accusing us of "only watching hawks games". We watch other games, but we've seen the emperor naked.

 

[offtherails9]

Hahahaha yes. David King has just said we are a 'watch' over the next few weeks due to our numbers slipping. Booking flights for Melbourne early October now fellas

 

[MadDawg]

Well does it? We won't IMO.

No it doesn't.

I think every football game is like a beautiful snowflake and anything can happen.

Good luck.

 

[lamby]

Neither have you then. Please remind me what Betts has done against hawthorn in the last 2 years?

Adelaide coach Don Pyke yesterday said he would talk to Betts about his ongoing struggles against the Hawks, who have targeted him physically.

Story here

 

[Main Man]

Hahahaha yes. David King has just said we are a 'watch' over the next few weeks due to our numbers slipping. Booking flights for Melbourne early October now fellas

Well old David "Nostrodamus" King did tip Sydney to win the flag by 60 points in 2014 (after prelim) and tipped Freo to win it this year so I guess they better board up the doors at Waverly tomorrow, we are cooked!!

 

[Baz_hawk]

If we play like we did against the Saints we will lose and lose well. Simple. A lot of passengers last week who really need to stand up and play their role. Crows are in good form, we are in pretty average form to be honest. Still finding a way to win but Adelaide at the moment have the scoring power that would really make it hard for us to put in a mediocre showing and fall over the line.

 

[Runnin Blue]

You responded by accusing us of "only watching hawks games". We watch other games, but we've seen the emperor naked.

Actually I said "most".

Yes, we know. It's very obvious most Hawthorn supporters on here watch Hawks games exclusively and no other games.

Can't wait 'til Eddie kicks 6 Friday night. Doesn't matter though, he can kick none and the Crows will still win

 

[JustKickIt]

Adelaide coach Don Pyke yesterday said he would talk to Betts about his ongoing struggles against the Hawks, who have targeted him physically.

Story here

and the example photos are of Betts seemingly having fun and smiling with his opponents? I guess he just wants to be left alone to do what he wants without any physical pressure. Not sure why we would do that for him when we don't for any other opposition player.

 

[MadDawg]

Actually I said "most".



Can't wait 'til Eddie kicks 6 Friday night. Doesn't matter though, he can kick none and the Crows will still win

Oh no, this dude's comin to get us

I think he's suggesting he's gonna smoke y'all 3-peaters.

 

[Main Man]

If we play like we did against the Saints we will lose and lose well. Simple. A lot of passengers last week who really need to stand up and play their role. Crows are in good form, we are in pretty average form to be honest. Still finding a way to win but Adelaide at the moment have the scoring power that would really make it hard for us to put in a mediocre showing and fall over the line.

If we play like we did against West Coast or like we did in the first and last quarters against the dogs then we win.

Adelaide have been good this year but the only team of note they have beaten is Sydney (jury out on them for mine) on their home deck and have beaten up on two pretty ordinary teams.

They might be scoring well but they are also being scored against fairly heavily for a top 8 team.

Yes we haven't found our best form consistently yet but we have had 3-4 key first 22 players (on top of 3 senior players leaving last year) missing each week and we had a tough first 3 weeks, I think last week was a flat performance on a 6 day break after that tough block of games. After losing round 1 the next to games were crucial against good opposition, credit to the Saints last week but I think we took our foot off the pedal to an extent.

If Gibbo comes in we field our best team of the year and I would expect to see our best performance of the year back at the G.

 

[Hong Kong Hawk]

Actually I said "most".



Can't wait 'til Eddie kicks 6 Friday night. Doesn't matter though, he can kick none and the Crows will still win

I don't pot shot opposition players because they can make me look like an idiot. I've watched us get carved up a few times over the years by players that seemingly weren't worth the hype.

Fk me, Jeff Farmer springs to mind. And Alan Jakovich for that matter.

I think this will be a great game. I just hope we can hold Betts because he is somewhat of a talisman for Adelaide.

 

[Runnin Blue]

Oh no, this dude's comin to get us

I think he's suggesting he's gonna smoke y'all 3-peaters.

I love that photo!

 

[JustKickIt]

Actually I said "most".



Can't wait 'til Eddie kicks 6 Friday night. Doesn't matter though, he can kick none and the Crows will still win

I'm having a lot of trouble getting excited about the game to be honest. Just too much success I guess. I can understand why you might think it's a big deal though.

 

[Mervyn Beasley]

NEAFL clubs play interstate on a weekly basis, I'm sure we can do the same for the reserves? VFL has games Sat and Sun where the WAFL play only saturday and I think the SANFL is only Saturday to, any reason why VFL want to be different? Costly for weeks like this

Sanfl have a Fri night game.
If ever you make the trip to Adel for a Hawks game that isnt a Fri I strongly suggest you go.
Myself and a couple of mates went over a couple years ago on the Fri for a Sat night game.
Fri night game at Norwood. Heavy beer and good pies standing on the terraces watching decent footy. What more could you want?

 

[Kickin Goals]

Betts stands in the goal square or pocket hoping for cheapies over the top. Which is fine, but that's not defensive pressure. Compare him to Rioli/Poppy and you'll see what we mean about defensive pressure. Sure, his ability 1v1 is quite good, but how many times does he get forward 50 turnovers? Not much.

Contested possies, yes. Hard ball gets, yes. Freakish goals, yes. Effective tackles? Not so much.

Betts was 3rd in the AFL for effective tackles inside 50 last year. His defensive pressure is amazing, cheap goals lol, positioning yourself in the right spot on the ground to receive the ball to kick an easy goal is called being smart.

 

[Gralin]

and the example photos are of Betts seemingly having fun and smiling with his opponents? I guess he just wants to be left alone to do what he wants without any physical pressure. Not sure why we would do that for him when we don't for any other opposition player.

Watch Stratts when he has a serious shut down role, must be up there for most annoying player for his opponent, niggles, giggles, wears them like a glove, dare I say it, Crowley like how he does it with a smile.