Crows Taunt Tigers And Their Victorian Knockers
The Age
Monday May 6, 2002
Adelaide struggled for respect even when it was the only team of the 1990s to win back-to-back AFL premierships, so it won't surprise the Crows that four years on, they're still not being taken very seriously east of Mount Gambier.
But that's an attitude that may have to be revised, sooner rather than later, after the Crows yesterday notched their fourth win, and significantly, their second in Melbourne already this season from only three starts.
Not for the first time in recent seasons, Adelaide taunted the Tigers with a vastly superior exhibition of football skill. Only its abysmal kicking (2.12 to 2.1 in the second quarter) saved Richmond from complete humiliation, the 32-point final margin hardly reflective of the extent to which the Crows dominated the game.
At the same time, they again exposed chinks in the Tiger armoury that, if anything, seem to have grown only bigger during the off-season. Richmond twin towers Matthew Richardson and Brad Ottens are imposing enough, but on their own, too one-dimensional, underlined when Richardson spent most of the second half on the bench injured, and the scoring avenues were as good as halved. It was the fifth game in a row in which the Tigers failed to pass the 100-point mark.
But it could be argued at the moment that Richmond's midfield is an even bigger achilles heel. The man who used to carry it, Matthew Knights, loped around a forward pocket for nearly the entire game yesterday, with minimal impact.
Richmond skipper Wayne Campbell was well beaten by Simon Goodwin, Clinton King completely outclassed by Andrew McLeod, and with Joel Bowden defused brilliantly by underrated ``stopper" Tyson Stenglein, the Tigers had nowhere to turn.
It's still relatively early days, but you have to ask whether Richmond overrated its midfield stocks a tad at the end of last season, given that it used its second selection on national draft day on Geelong goalsneak Adam Houlihan, traded another early pick for the Western Bulldogs' Paul Hudson and failed to utilise two other selections altogether.
What managed to highlight the Tigers' midfield problems more starkly than ever was the absolute brilliance of the Adelaide engine room, when on-song a combination that stacks up as well as any midfield group in the AFL bar Brisbane.
At times even last season, Adelaide looked to be leaving too much of the work in the hands of too few, but the Crows have more depth now and look sharper at the edges for it.
Stenglein, good enough to finish fifth in the Crows' best-and-fairest last season, has assumed much of the defensive midfield responsibilities from Mark Bickley. Wingman Michael Doughty has given Adelaide more dash and is a prolific ball-winner. And little Graham Johncock, playing only his sixth game yesterday, is already shaping as a potential Rising Star, his dash out of defence eerily reminiscent of a younger McLeod.
Not that there's anything wrong with the more mature version, mind you. McLeod had one of ``those" games yesterday, 34 touches worth, each used to devastating effect.
His teammates aren't bad, either. Adelaide plays with a panache and flair that leaves most of its rivals for dead. For all its potentially costly inaccuracy yesterday, the Crows' hand and foot skills are a potent weapon at a time when clean and classy ball-handling is at an absolute premium.
Six rounds into season 2002, it appears the landscape has shifted more than we'd imagined possible. Brisbane has been beaten, Essendon has not only been beaten but is looking distinctly wobbly, its chances hardly likely to be improved by the finger injury to Matthew Lloyd. The underrated Crows are fourth, Collingwood third.
Geelong, a popular pre-season wooden spoon fancy, sits seventh, one spot above a supposed giant in Essendon, Fremantle, its conqueror on Saturday, just outside the eight and closing fast.
At the bottom sits Carlton, 1-5, carrying a truckload of injuries, harbouring increasing angst about the running down of an AFL superpower. Can the Blues' run of 13 consecutive wins and challenge of a more powerful Essendon outfit really only have been 18 months ago?
© 2002 The Age
