Round 24
Sydney Swans v Adelaide Crows
End of Season Vacations
As I am writing this article, I am watching the Dogs v Giants game in background, and with six minutes left on the clock in the first term I have seen more fair dinkum in-and-under tackles in a quarter than I witnessed at the SCG last night as the Swans did what they had to do to get the win. If the Swans were looking for a good hit out before the finals, all they got was an extended training session. Given the result had no impact on their claim to the Minor Premiership, in the final quarter the Swans basically switched off completely, and still managed to win quite convincingly.
The biggest story to come of this match, which never reached any great heights, is the halftime interview with Crows coach Matthew Nicks.
Matthew Nicks – Should he Stay or Should he GO?
As fans we like it when players and coaches go Off Broadway, and speak their own minds as we get an insight into who they really are and where they are really at, but sometimes it is better for the harmony of their team they stay on script. During a post halftime interview with Alistair Lynch, Matthew Nicks showed his frustration at his sides performance and inability to match up, especially on the Errol and the Chad.
There was an honesty about what Nicks said, but his down hearted comments highlighted the overall lack of cohesion at the Crows as a whole.
During the week, there were questions about the future of Taylor Walker, with the the first salvo being fired by the big Texan. In a follow up midweek interview, Matthew Nicks neither confirmed nor denied whether there was a place at West Lakes for Walker next season. What looked innocent enough banter during the week, played out at a differently come match day.
I am not suggesting there is a rift between Nick and Walker, rather their back and forth during the week highlighted a deeper problem within the club.
I get that North Melbourne and West Coast had very little to play for in the last round, but the Crows and the Bombers were both playing for respect and neither team could psychologically afford to be blown out of the water. Switching between stations, it looked the Bombers suffered an honourable loss, while the Crows were blown out of the water.
In the second and third quarters the Swans toyed with the Crows, establishing a lead of more than fifty points as they tightened up their defensive structure after the first break. As the Swans ran a number of training drills starting from halfback, the Crows looked disinterested, dishevelled and broken.
As a Swans tragic, it was great to watch, given the lack of application by the Crows as the Swans ran wild, but as an objective writer, it was very disappointing. While the Swans tightened up after quarter time, the Crows continued to play bruise free football, which at this level is just unacceptable.
There are defeats, and then there are defeats that mean a lot more. For the Crows, who claim to be the real deal, Saturday’s performance was not one of a team on the rise and this loss run deeper than the mere scoreboard.
Nicks tried to make a statement at the selection table by dropping Josh Rachele. Sadly, there are deeper issues at West Lakes than Rachele.
The major question to arise from this match is whether Matthew Nicks is a Dead Coach Walking?
The Actual Game
Let’s make this real simple; in the first quarter the footy was very bruise free and, as such, there was an avalanche of goals, while the Swans defence tightened up in the second and third quarters they tore the game apart, and in the last quarter the match quietly sizzled out as the Swans just run down the clock.
A final margin of 31 points doesn’t do credit to the Swans’ dominance and in some respects, it lets the Crows off the hook. For once, I agreed with what the commentators were saying – maybe the final margin is just wallpaper over the few cracks at the Crows. This game is really that easy to review, so let’s have a look at the performances of a few individuals.
Joel Amartey
At the start of the year, there was conjecture whether the Swans could play McLean, McDonald and Amartey in the same forward with success. Come Round 24, there is still conjecture surrounding the Swans offensive game plan, however McLean and McDonald have flourished as they have become more than one trick ponies as they have established their places within the starting 22, which leaves in question the role of Amartey.
One great game does not make for a career.
When Amartey kicked nine goals earlier in the season, ironically against the Crows, it looked like he had arrived, but looks can be misleading. As good as Amartey was that night, he has barely fired a shot since.
On the surface most of the Swans players have played themselves back into form after a late season fade, however Amartey is not one of them. For comparison both McLean and McDonald have reinvented themselves and flourished, one as a legitimate ruck man, and the other as true swing man between defence and forward.
Sadly, for Amartey, he is still drops too many easy marks and he lacks real big man presence up forward. I get that he has only played fifty game, and he is still learning his craft, but as we enter September, where career reputations and legacies are made, for Joel the time for learning and maturing is now.
It’s now or never, Joel.
Aaron (bloody) Francis
John Longmire has it made clear to Aaron Francis that if one man goes down in defence then he is the next man up. I don’t know if I agree that Francis would be walk up start in any other team (Fox commentators), but there is merit in the argument he is the next man in. Francis is stuck in AFL purgatory between the seniors and the magoos.
Early in the match last night, I was all, “bloody Francis”, as he dropped a few marks and he looked a step off the pace, but as the game progressed, he found his place in the Swans defence.
As much as Francis is aware, he will be dropped for the first week of September with Tom McCartin returning, he is just as aware he may have a part to play in September if one of the mainstay defenders suffers an injury. Grand Finals are littered with fringe players becoming folk heroes on the grandest stage of all, just think Oleg Markov, Stewie Dew (2008) and my ultimate favourite, Mitch Morton (2012).
My gut instinct is the Swans haven’t seen the last of Aaron this year, and he well go from Aaron (bloody) Francis to Aaron (bloody) Francis in the positive.
Taylor Walker – The Anti-Hero
The Big Texan is a player loved and respected by nearly all followers of our great game. Taylor reminds me of Brett (The Hitman) Hart in that he was the captain and spokesperson in the wake of the great Adelaide Screw Job (comely known as the Power Stance and the Bus Trip from Hell). For a few years after 2017, Tex was scorned for the ‘power stance’ and the bus trip, but if it wasn’t for the saying, everything old becomes new again, then Walker’s legacy would always be forever tied to the ‘power stance’.
There was universal agreement, respect and love last year when Tex kicked 76 goals for the season and made the All-Australian team for the first time. Walker will be a Hall of Fame inductee when he finally hangs up the boots, and in years to come his name may come up about being elevated to Legend status. To Adelaide fans he is already a Legend.
Walker circa 2024 is not the same player as Walker circa 2023, but that should not diminish the role he still has to play at the Crows. Darcy Fogarty, and later in the year, Riley Thilthorpe have both benefitted from their on-ground learnings from Walker. Tex has been the General this year.
The future of Walker in the AFL depends on two things, the first being who is the Coach in 2024, and, are Fogarty and Thilthorpe ready to go it alone without Walker. Personally, I hope de does play on.
Zac Taylor and Daniel Curtin
The Crows have unearthed a couple of youngsters who will be 100 game players for the club. There is a beauty in watching kids playing their natural games and not even being aware of the noise around them. Taylor and Curtin played like the Crows needed the win to make the finals last night.
There is a bit of hype around Curtin and comparisons have been made to the former Crow, Dangerfield. While nobody wants to put that much pressure on a kid, he has shown enough to suggest he will be a team leader in years to come.
Taylor is a dangerous goal sneak, and he will hone his craft in years to come.
Brodie Grundy
I am halfway through writing an article about Grundy to be published next week; however, it is still worth mentioning Grundy in the article.
Last night Aaron Francis and Hayden McLean took seven and six marks respectively, whereas the Swans number one big man took a solitary mark, which is an improvement from the week before when he failed to clunk one.
Grundy is out of form and down on confidence. I thought he may have been rested last night for the finals, but Horse decided to try and play him back into form. Grundy, like Joel Amartey, is yet to recover from the Swans horror stretch.
Callum Mills
Millsy played his best game last night since returning from injury and for the first time this season he assumed his role as the on-field leader just in time for the finals. Mad Monday Mills, as the General, is pivotal to the Swans chances this season.
Swans Selection Dilemma
Issac Heeney, Tom McCartin, Tom Papley and more than likely Justin McInerney will be selected for the Qualifying Final against the Giants (match just finished) and that raises the question of who will be dropped?
The Swans have had the benefit of knowing for over six weeks they would finish on top of the ladder, and the benefit of such knowledge is resting some players, while allowing others ample time to get over any injuries and niggles. The added benefit of certainty is a diamond in the rough can identified.
Caiden Cleary is the Swans diamond in the rough, and while on paper it looks like he should make way for Papley, Cleary has done enough to at least having the selectors considering whether it is he or Robbie Fox, or another, who misses out in two weeks.
Sydney while drop three, possibly even four players for the Qualifying Final, but the players who miss out should train like they are required the following week. Like Aaron Francis, they must be ready as they are the next in line.
Sydney has the rarity and the luxury of a healthy list of 28 players going into September.
Enjoy Bali, Adelaide
I will write an article at the start of next season and again I will be perplexed about what to write. How a club with so much potential on paper cannot deliver for the entirety of a whole season? Credit where credit is due Crows, you had some promising moments in season 2024, only to disappoint the following week.
The most important decision the Adelaide Football Club need to make immediately is the future of Matthew Nicks. Either he is staying, or he is going, but the decision needs to be made in the coming week. Once the coach is appointed for 2025, the Crows recruiting staff need to pinpoint specific players who will improve the Crows from a perennial middle of the table team to greater heights.
