It’s 999 days since the Adelaide Crows went into the 2017 Grand Final favoured to claim their third AFL flag.
But instead of flying home with the Premiership Cup, they returned with the lingering embarrassment of a 48-point thrashing from Richmond.
Not much has gone right for the Crows since then, and they now find themselves on the bottom of the ladder — one of only two winless teams this season.
So, what’s happened?
The game changed and they didn’t
It’s hard to consistently win AFL matches. There are no easybeats, and even the worst teams have their day.
It’s even harder to win while playing aggressive, attractive football.
There have been few more potent offences in recent AFL history than the 2017 Adelaide Crows.
With names like Taylor Walker, Eddie Betts, Jo
Over time, opposition coaches figured out how to counter this strategy: clogging the Crows’ leading patterns and blunting their points of entry.
And their cause was helped by last year’s rulebook overhaul.
sh Jenkins, Tom Lynch, Charlie Cameron and Mitch McGovern in their forward line, opposition backlines were stretched to breaking point.
The use of space was the key to the Crows’ scoring potency. Lynch and Walker led hard up the ground, providing room for Betts, Cameron, Jenkins and McGovern to work.
The introduction of 6-6-6 starting positions arguably hurt Adelaide more than any other side. Before the rule change, the Crows nearly always employed one or two spare players behind the ball at the centre bounce.
The space created by removing bodies from inside 50 allowed their forwards to romp into the open space, making their opponents second-guess whether to play man-on-man or zonal defence.
Down back, the spare Crows players could either charge into the square or stay behind as loose men in defence.
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