It’s an all-in battle
Oval in Round 18 the Crows turned the tables, winning more contested ball (154-145) and clearances by 47-27.
That resulted in a 21-point victory to Adelaide, and defensive coach Matthew Scarlett said it would be crucial the Cats backed up their performance from last Friday night when if they are to advance to a grand final.
“Like every other week we rely on our mids and forwards to put a lot of pressure on up the field and our forwards have done a great job against Adelaide in the past,” Scarlett said.
“We were really disappointing around the footy last time, which is something we really pride ourselves on with that contested ball and our transition away from the contest.
“It does put your defenders under a fair bit of stress if you’re losing the numbers by that much.
“They get a lot of rebound off half back and they like to move the ball really fast, so our boys down in the backline rely on that midfield pressure and if we get that we’ll be well organised and set up well behind the footy.
“But the boys up the ground have got to get the job done too and last week they were superb with that stuff and it makes the defenders look really good.”
Adelaide’s top three goalkickers (Eddie Betts, Taylor Walker and Josh Jenkins) have combined for 143 goals in 2017, but Geelong’s top three of Tom Hawkins, Patrick Dangerfield and Daniel Menzel have bagged 133 majors so scoring options should not be a concern if the Cats get things going their way.
A big part of stopping the Crows comes from the ability to limit Rory Sloane’s effectiveness — he had 28 disposals and kicked three goals in Round 18 and did not cop a heavy tag — and stopping the Crouch brothers, and Scarlett said with Scott Selwood back to full fitness things would be different this time around.
“There will be players going through Sloane pretty much all night. He is an unbelievable player and really damaging with his transition and he can kick goals,” he said.
“We’ve put a bit of time into him but the Crouch boys are in there as well and Betts will be up around stoppages and Cameron as well, so there a whole heap of good players that we have to be mindful of.” Emerg: