Crows fly, Swans stutter
The Sunday Age
Sunday June 28, 2009
THE Barry Hall Road Show rolled into Adelaide yesterday - or was it his farewell tour? In any case, Hall, like the other Sydney Swans, left without any applause.Adelaide's ability to recover from 25 points down moments into the third quarter when it was playing ordinary football, and win by 16, was as good a recovery as it has produced for some time.Until the huge turnaround, the Swans were inspired by Hall's controlled competitiveness and goals at crucial stages, and were playing with more passion, and a better system and skills.But for Hall to become frustrated at Adelaide's comeback seconds before three-quarter-time and place his anger management program on hold was disruptive, inexcusable and most likely costly. Sydney is now fading from the finals race with four successive losses.After an average first half against Sydney's superior attack on the ball, it was going to take something special for Adelaide to turn things around, and it started with moves in the coaching box that led to it suddenly winning centre clearances that resulted in five straight goals to snare the lead.Ryan O'Keefe had an outstanding first half - 17 disposals - so coach Neil Craig placed Robert Shirley on him and restricted the star Swan to eight in the second half. Patrick Dangerfield was brilliant and courageous when he went into the middle. It wasn't so much his kicks, but his relentless toughness on the ball, clever tap-ons and blocking; things that help make a complete footballer.Nathan van Berlo also had a huge positive effect on the Crows, and his notable lift in work rate again demonstrated his exceptional leadership.However, the biggest factor in Adelaide's lift was its mental attitude; a far greater desire for the ball, and returning with this passion was the fast flow-on game. As Craig explained, Sydney was so good in the first half and Adelaide so poor, but when Adelaide lifted it made it look as if the Swans had completely fallen away.The crucial factor was that Sydney lacked the experience to make the most of Adelaide's dismal first half, and then shut the game down. It was a big ask with six or seven youngsters, but no one, especially Paul Roos, was questioning their commitment to the hard contests.Adelaide's revival saved the game from being a disaster, and it came with some terrific examples of quality play from both sides; Adam Goodes' sensational mark over Bernie Vince, Andrew McLeod's magical, dribbling goal from 25 metres minutes before three-quarter-time, and Jason Porplyzia's steal from a sloppy short pass, two bounces and a goal on the run.Adelaide has achieved a lot over the past four rounds, but what came from this game was its ability to be able to turn things around quickly. The minds were not on the job, but through persistence and better focus things happened. Vince was brilliant for the Crows but, on the down side, Taylor Walker had a "shocker". However, this game was just as much about a learning curve as it was the crucial four premiership points.It was disappointing that Hall spoiled his otherwise excellent game with his report. He had beaten Ben Rutten - his dumping of the man known as the "Truck" midway through the second quarter was great - and was having a big impact on the game.To Hall's credit, he battled on, and his goal at the eight-minute mark of the last gave Sydney a lot of hope. But sadly, once more his star qualities faded into the sunset and we were left with an encore featuring his sins.
© 2009 The Sunday Age