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.

Crows look genuine contenders after 96 point win over Bombers

After missing the game last weekend where Adelaide destroyed Carlton, there was absolutely no way I was going to be missing this weeks clash with Essendon!

The Crows were clear favourites to win the game, but favouritism can result in complacency which Neil Craig seems really good at stamping out.

Adelaide came into the game with Nathan Bock still on the sidelines and he appears to be a week to week decision from here on in. Nathan van Berlo had to pull out of Saturday nights game due to a back complaint and was replaced by Richard Douglas.

The game got off to a good start for both sides. There was only a goal in it at quarter time. Adelaide looked the goods but Essendon seemed to be able to go with them.

I can’t believe I missed it!

So you’ve all seen the result.

You’ve seen the Crows destroy Carlton despite getting off to a slow start. You saw Porplyzia, Knights and Tippett kick 4 goals each. Then you saw Brett Burton take that mark!

That’s right folks, you saw it all and I saw none.

Going into the game the Crows would have been trying to secure a home final. The victor had the opportunity to host a home final against what turned out to be Essendon, and the loser was off to Brisbane the next week to play the Lions at the GABBA. This was clearly enough incentive for Adelaide to work hard for the win.

So now the Crows head into the finals as a genuine contender. You’d think they should be able to get past Essendon on Friday night, but beyond that things get pretty tricky. There’s no easy road to the premiership and that’s even more evident when you finish outside the top 4.

Shirley set to miss one week

Injuries seem to be a weekly proposition for Adelaide at the moment.

The latest injury concern is Robert Shirley who is likely to miss at least one week with a slight hamstring strain. It could be tough for him to find his way back into the team with key players on the comeback trail. Shirley played his 150th game for the club on Saturday and has always had the attitude that each game could be his last. I do wonder if this will actually have been his last game as there are limited spots up for grabs.

Patrick Dangerfield racked up 22 disposals in the SANFL over the weekend and seems a likely replacement for Shirley.He is said to be moving freely after having back problems so that is great news. His physical presence in midfield should be more than enough to replace Shirley.

Crows soar past Eagles

It was Saturday afternoon in Adelaide at AAMI Stadium. The Eagles flew over to show they’re no pushovers as their season comes to close. For the Crows it was a chance to continue their good form heading into the business end of the season.

The game started out as an even contest. Adelaide had controlled much of the play but had struggled to assert themselves on the scoreboard. The Crows only kicked two goals for the quarter courtesy of Scott Thompson and Jason Porplyzia kicking truly from set shots. If the Crows were to win this game, they needed to start hurting the Eagles with more effective ball usage going inside 50. There had been a number of occasions where slow ball movement going forward had killed off any Adelaide momentum and left the door open for West Coast.

At quarter time the Crows were up by 2 points. Neil Craig (Adelaide’s version of Anthony Robbins) must have delivered one of his customary motivational speeches at the end of the first quarter as the Crows had the edge in the second term.