ADELAIDE CROWS – CAN THE CROWS IMPROVE IN 2022
Adelaide Crows forecast 2022
14th place with 9 wins
We look at the Adelaide Football Club and the prospects of further improvement in our AFL season preview 2022. After a dismal 2020 under first time Coach Matthew Nicks, the Adelaide Crows showed some improvement in 2021. With the appointment of High Performance guru Darren Burgess we can expect a leg up for the Crows BUT will talent hold them back? We look at the AFL Betting prediction for the Crows as we commence the AFL 2022 season previews.
2021 15th 7 WINS 15 LOSSES
If the recent “re-signing” of Matthew Nicks is any indicator (a 2 year extension to end 2024) the Crows Board are firmly of the view that the Crows are on the upward charge and Nicks is the man to take them back to the finals. Adelaide has not played finals since their embarrassing Grand Final performance of 2017 but perhaps there were some glimmers of hope in 2021.
Adelaide had good wins against top 3 finishers Melbourne and Geelong and they also lost by under a kick (4 points) to Port Adelaide another top 3 finisher. So its fair to say the Crows best was good enough to be mixing it with the big boys but their ability to do it week in week out was poor. They lost 8 games by more than 6 goals and also struggled at times to swing momentum back their way.
Taylor Walker…where and how does he fit
Adelaide bounced out of the blocks in 2021 winning 3 of their first 4 but the revelation was the stunning form of Taylor Walker. However this attacking flair would dry up far too often during the season with Adelaide failing to kick 60 points in 8 games (3 of those were 39 or less) and they lost 9 of their next 11.
Adelaide lacked real midfield drive and depth with Sloane the obvious trier with Laird and Keays going to another to another level (best and fairest and runner up). But they lack the high class options of explosive mids that dominate the top 8 teams. Matt Crouch if he returns can assist but they were often beaten up around the ball.
A BIG key for Adelaide in how they improve or don’t is ball movement in 2022. They won games when they won the midfield battle, but once again their ability to transition from the back half was compromised for 2 main reasons:
* their forwards stayed at home far to much (no option for defender to go to)
* the dare to run and carry was from half back was very much missing
David McKay and Brodie Smith and at times Paul Seedsman were the main helps here but with McKay retired and Smith spending time through the midfield it may be a return of Wayne Milera that can assist.
Fitness Guru to improve the Crows
The other BIG addition for Adelaide is the fitness “guru” from Premiership club Melbourne Darren Burgess. He seems to build a confidence and fitness level in players that sees an uplift in performance
Looking forward to seeing the development of Riley Thilthorpe as he looks the real deal. Adelaide won a “bidding dual” to secure the services of talented Swan Jordan Dawson and he improves the team. As a side note there is a little question mark as to how Taylor Walker is accepted back into the squad after his racism row. Publicly they have said it has settled and he is making inroads but any signs of this issue fracturing the group could really turn the season on its head. We predict some small improvement in 2022.
2022 PREDICTION ADELAIDE 14th 9 wins
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