Crows to seek reserves side?

I read an interesting article on the AFC website today about the possibility of Adelaide seeking a ‘reserves’ side in the SANFL.

The idea has come about after Port Adelaide requested talks with the SANFL to effectively merge the Power and the Magpies (the Alberton variety as opposed to the Collingwood variety). The deal seems to be based more on merging the administration side of both clubs and consolidating debt. An early draft of their proposal suggested that perhaps the Magpies would become the ‘reserves’ side for the Power.

Crows CEO Stephen Trigg said that if Port were granted permission to have a reserve team in the SANFL, that Adelaide would likely request the same. It’s definitely an interesting concept. But what are the pros and cons?

The clear benefit for my mind is that you could have all Crows listed players playing together. Both teams would ideally be coached the same way, making it easy for a young player to make the transition from SANFL to AFL. It would also help youngsters to gain the chemistry of playing together before they reach AFL level.

Another bonus could be from the coaching side. Imagine a day when Mark Ricciuto decides to be a head coach. He could perhaps be given a role as coach of the Crows Reserves and work his way up the ranks from there. There’s something to be said for promoting from within, something which I believe the Sydney Swans have done pretty successfully so far with Paul Roos grooming John Longmire to be head coach.

I think there are two key cons for this idea though. The first would be expectation. A feeder team for an AFL side would be expected to perform at high levels. With a lot of younger players who have only recently been drafted, it may make life hard for the reserves team to be successful within the SANFL.

My main concern is whether a reserve team somewhat tarnishes Adelaide’s image. The Crows are ‘born out of the SANFL’ and proudly proclaim themselves to be the team for all South Australians. Does a Norwood or Sturt supporter feel like they lack an affiliation with the Crows if their local team is put up against a Crows reserves in the SANFL? In the past it has largely been expected that if you supported Port Magpies, you would support the Power, and if you supported another SANFL team you would likely support the Crows. Perhaps a move to having a reserve team distances the Adelaide Crows from the rest of the league it proudly comes from.

How would free agency affect the Crows?

Free agency has been a bit of an interesting debate topic in recent times.  The AFL seems pretty keen to keep it on the back burner but the AFL Players Association is likely to keep free agency on the radar.

Essentially the aim of free agency is to shift a lot of the bargaining power from the clubs to the players. We’ve seen in recent years that the trade period is flawed and makes life difficult for a player seeking to move from one club to another. The system is heavily reliant upon two or more clubs  agreeing on the value of the player/s being traded. In some cases, like with Shaun Burgoyne, a deal needs to be brokered with 4 clubs just so everyone is happy. In other cases, like with Luke Ball, a deal cannot be done and the player is left nominating for the preseason draft with no guarantee of securing a contract.

The key point is that clubs are seeking compensation for the time and resources they have put into a player. With free agency comes a lack of compensation for clubs, but more freedom for players to pursue opportunities at other clubs and in all likelihood earn more money. A team like Adelaide who is generally reluctant to trade may be forced into it by free agency.

The AFL has said that given the amount of trades made in 2009 there was no need for the player market to be opened up further via free agency. It is clear however that the amount of trading can be attributed more to the compromised drafts courtesy of the new Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney clubs rather than a genuine willingness to make trades.

In this years draft the Adelaide Crows chose four players, all of which are over 190cm in height. The suggestion is that the upcoming compromised drafts will lead to a lack of key position players on offer so it is important to stockpile them while you can. This suggests to me that the Crows are not looking to bag a quick fix for a Premiership, but aiming more at a sustained period of success with players developed from within.

Still Crowing wishes you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I’ve been on a blogging break but you can expect a bigger, better Still Crowing in 2010. I hope everyone has a happy and safe Christmas break. I also hope there’s no more injuries for the Crows!

New directions

A couple of months back a leaked copy of the new Crows logo surfaced.

At the time it seemed pretty unexpected that the club would be trying to revamp its image. I can’t remember ever having spoken to anyone who had any gripes with the classic image of the crow with the primary colours flowing behind it.It brings back fond memories of the back to back premierships in ‘97 and ‘98.

Change is inevitable though and perhaps the AFC brains trust decided that it’s time the classic image of the crow was laid to rest. Given that most teams have seen the evolution of their club logos during the years since the Crows inception into the AFL it’s probably not such a bad idea.

With the playing group in their current shape, there’s an air of youthful enthusiasm about the club. The new logo appears to reflect this. It depicts a younger, fiercer, and hungrier crow. Given there should be a significant chance at playing in premierships in the next few years you can only hope that this logo will also be associated with success.

Personally I’m not a massive fan of the logo design but I  am sure with time I’ll grow to like it.

Along with the new logo comes a new partnership with Reebok who will now provide all guernseys and apparel. There’s a new away guernsey which showcases the new club logo and introduces white as a main colour. While I’m not a big fan of the logo, I think the away guernsey makes it work really well.

So let’s hope that these image changes create the buzz that the team deserves. There are going to be some big years ahead!

Crows ‘winners’ with 2010 AFL fixture list (Part 1)

It sure has been quiet lately…

We’ve had the non-event of AFL trade period where the Crows remained inactive. And now we’re stuck in the lull before this years draft.

So it is with great pleasure that I have something to report on! The AFL today released its 201o fixture list. Adelaide has been described as one of the big winners.

Out of the teams Adelaide has to face twice next season, only three played in the 2009 finals series. There’s also the added bonus of only playing two finals sides in the first 8 rounds.

Shirley and four others get the axe

After a quiet time at trade week there’s finally some news from the Crows.

The biggest news is that Adelaide has made its mandatory 5 changes to their playing list. Robert Shirley, Nick Gill, Greg Gallman, Aaron Kite and Tom Lee have all been delisted.

Shirley is clearly the biggest out. He’s played 151 games for the Crows and shut down some of the games biggest stars in the process. I think it’s fair to say that he’s had a pretty good run in the AFL and has maximised his opportunities.

With the recent re-signing of veterans McLeod, Goodwin, Edwards and Burton the writing was on the wall for Shirls. I think if one of the big names decided not to play on he may have been considered a good prospect to continue for another year. With the current crop of quality young players it becomes easier to let go of senior players.

In other news, the new facility at AAMI Stadium is now up and running. It’ll be interesting to see if that has any impact on the quality of preseason training.

There’s also talk of possibly playing games at Adelaide Oval in the future. It could definitely be worth playing a Nab Wizard Ansett Mickey Mouse Cup game there, but surely the ground won’t hold enough people for a regular season game without major redevelopments.

Bernie Vince wins the Malcolm Blight medal

Last night Bernie Vince claimed his first yellow jacket as winner of the Crows best and fairest of 2009.

Vince narrowly came out in front of Jason Porplyzia by two votes which were secured in the final match of the season against Collingwood, a day which I have tried oh so hard to forget.

In fact, only 5 votes separated the top 6 players. Vince finished with 43 votes, Porplyzia had 41, Goodwin picked up 39, and Johncock, Doughty and Tippett all tied with 38. So it sends a clear indication that there have been a lot of quality players this season.

Kurt Tippett is a Crow for the next 3 years

The news I had been dreaming of has been confirmed today. Adelaide’s star forward and new messiah, Kurt Tippett, has inked a deal which will keep him at the Crows until the end of 2012.

The Crows had been suggesting over the last couple of days that they were more interested in tying up their current players’ contracts than making moves in the trade period. With Tippett possibly set to return home to the Gold Coast in 2011, Adelaide needed to make sure they sealed the deal on a player who clearly has the ability to be one of the competitions elite players.

Other players who have been re-signed include Tyson Edwards, Andrew McLeod, Simon Goodwin, Brett Burton, Trent Hentschel and Brent Reilly. Earlier in the week the club also announced contract extensions for Richard Douglas and Chris Knights.

It seems like the current group of players really feel like they’re getting close to a premiership. This seems to be proven by the fact that no players have asked to be traded. It will be interesting to see if the Crows take no part in trade week though.

It’s been a while…

So you’ll note there’s been a fairly large chunk of time between my last post and this one. In fact, if I hadn’t managed to nearly break my ankle, chances are I still wouldn’t be writing just yet!

The reason I’ve been putting this off is quite obvious. I’m still crushed by the result of the Crows against Collingwood.

It was great to go over and watch the game. The MCG was buzzing and there were tons of Crows supporters to cheer on the team.

The Crows got off to a rocking start in the first half and were 6 goals up at half time. They should have won from here. Instead they dropped off in the third term and let Collingwood seize the momentum.

Hard man Shirley returns

This week the Adelaide Crows travel to Melbourne to face Collingwood at the MCG. I’m flying over especially for the big event!

This season I have only been to one game which strangely enough was Adelaide vs Collingwood at the MCG in way back in Round 1. So now as I head over to Melbourne once again, being the superstitious guy that I am it does make me wonder… For instance, if I saw the first game of the season against Collingwood, could it mean that I see the last game of the season against the same team? Or perhaps the fact I saw a win last time means that there’s a fair chance it will happen again.