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July 06, 2006
Cats In Another League
I've used it once & I'll use it again:
Adelaide has continued its top-of-the-table form with a record-breaking 92-point victory over Geelong at AAMI Stadium on Sunday.The Crows dominated from the opening bounce but stamped their authority on the contest with an exciting seven-goal second term.
Another seven majors in the final term sealed the 21.21 (147) to 8.7 (55) result and provided the club with its biggest win over Geelong, surpassing a 91-point thrashing of the Cats back in 1992.
Adelaide's exceptional fitness and willingness to run in numbers was on full display as it totally overwhelmed Geelong.
The Crows had winners all over the ground - Tyson Edwards, Andrew McLeod and Graham Johncock provided plenty of rebound from defence - while Simon Goodwin was a ball magnet with 25 disposals and Michael Doughty and Marty Mattner proved to be dangerous ball carriers.
Brett Burton was a livewire in attack and kicked five goals - one coming after taking a spectacular mark over Tom Harley in the fourth quarter - while Mark Ricciuto (five goals) was not as spectacular but just as effective.
Geelong had some promising passages of play in the first half but couldn't sustain its intensity for long enough.
And at times the Cats - who beat Adelaide at the same ground in the preseason Grand Final - overused the ball when long and direct options were the better choice.
Corey Enright (30 touches), Paul Chapman (28 disposals) and Darren Milburn (26) were Geelong's leading possession winners.
The loss leaves Geelong with a 5-8 record and makes their finals football aspirations all but gone.
Adelaide looked in ominous form in the first quarter - they dominated possession in the opening 10 minutes despite kicking against a three-goal breeze.
Edwards kicked the opening major of the contest - a set shot from 40 metres - and the Crows looked set to punish their opponent.
But the Cats slowly worked their way into the contest, a centering 45-metre pass from Cameron Mooney set up Darren Milburn for the visitors' first goal.
The Crows added two more majors to their tally before Kent Kingsley found some rare space and converted from close range to narrow the margin to eight points at the first break.
A running goal from Gary Ablett and a snap shot Paul Chapman kept Geelong in the contest early in the second term. But they were the only highlights in term dominated by the Crows.
The home side showed their opposition how to use the breeze - they ran in numbers, moved the ball quickly and kicked long into their forward 50.
Adelaide kicked four goals in nine minutes and 7.6 for the term to open up a commanding 43-point lead at the long break.
Jason Porplyzia was the surprise packet of the term. The young Crow kicked two goals and gave the experienced Darren Milburn the run around.
The Crows' dominance continued in the third but it took them 10 minutes to score their opening major, the converted set shot by Ricciuto was the first of two majors for the skipper in the quarter.
James Kelly kicked the Cats only major in a miserable term for the visitors.
In the fourth quarter, Ricciuto was given plenty of room in the forward line and kicked another two goals as the scoreboard got uglier for Geelong.
The Cat looked shell-shocked as Adelaide did as it wished in free-wheeling conclusion the contest.
A pair of six-pointers to Brad Ottens was lost among a flurry of Crows goals - a McLeod major punctuating an impressive win.
Crows coach Neil Craig said he was pleased with the team's performance after some uncharacteristic skill errors in the opening term.
"With the way we view Geelong it would have to be one of our better wins for the year," he said.
"I thought we started well but I thought Geelong were very good. I thought the area we let ourselves down early was our execution - particularly with handball."
"After quarter time our execution got better and we kept our attack on the ball - they were very good."
Geelong coach Mark Thompson said he was in "awe" of the Crows' four-quarter performance.
"We just got clearly outclassed," he said.
"They put us under enormous pressure and we didn't put them under any pressure - they are a very good team."
"We lost spirit towards the end of the game and that happens when you lose by big margins."
Last Sunday gave us a clear indication how far away we are as a club from winning an AFL premiership and the answer was miles. Adelaide are an extremely tight unit who are playing brilliant football at the moment, they are clearly favourite to take out this years premiership. Not only did they show us were the benchmark currently is, but they proved we are well short of it with our current playing style & personel. They made it look like at times they had all 22 on the field, either that or we were playing with 14 on the field. They run strong in numbers and used the ball well moving up the ground despite trying conditions at times.
All this talk of still making the finals in my opinion is just a bunch of worthless talk at the moment. I can't possibly see what scraping into the final eight is going to do for us as a club except for maybe give a few players their first taste of the action. It's time to sit back, look at our list and start planning for the 2007 Premiership season. Give guys on the fringe a few games in a row and too help decide whether they'll be on the list next season.
I don't want us to tank horribly, but I don't want us scraping into the eight and having people writing it off as an alright season. It hasn't been an alright season, it's been a terrible let down of a season. Our great start to this season could've had us set up but instead we let it slip and deserve to be in the 5-8 hole we're currently in.
ADELAIDE: 3.6, 10.12, 14.17, 21.21 (147)
GEELONG: 2.4, 4.5, 5.6, 8.7 (55)
GOALS – Adelaide: Burton 5, Ricciuto 5, Porplyzia 2, Hentschel 2, Edwards, Thompson, Goodwin, Bode, Biglands, McGregor, McLeod
Geelong: Ottens 2, Milburn, Kingsley, G.Ablett, Chapman, Kelly, Stokes
INJURIES - Adelaide: Porplyzia (hip)
UMPIRES - James, Chamberlain, Pannell
CROWD - 41,752 at AAMI Stadium
Geelongblog.com Player of The Year
5. Darren Milburn
4. Joel Corey
3. Corey Enright
2. Paul Chapman
1. David Wojcinski
Leaderboard
30 - Gary Ablett
26 - Paul Chapman
24 - Joel Corey
19 - Darren Milburn
17 - Jimmy Bartel
14 - Cameron Mooney
12 - Jarad Rooke
11 - Brad Ottens
9 - Corey Enright
5 - Kent Kingsley
4 - Josh Hunt
3 - Cameron Ling
3 - Matthew Scarlett
1 - David Wojcinski
1 - Shannon Byrnes
1 - Steven King
Posted by Sammy D at July 6, 2006 09:17 PM
Comments
Joel Corey is within striking distance for the Geelongblog.com Player of The Year. What number is he? He isn't as good as PETTMAN!
Posted by: Bianca at July 6, 2006 09:48 PM