ADELAIDE - Part Two: 1993 to 2008

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The Crows opened the 1993 season with 3 straight wins including, most promisingly of all, a 28.10 (178) to 12.12 (84) destruction of Richmond at the MCG. However, thereafter the familiar pattern reasserted itself, and Adelaide's only other away wins during the 1993 minor round came at the Gabba and the SCG. Despite this, the Crows' home form was even better than in previous years, with Hawthorn the only visiting side to escape from Football Park with the 4 match points all season. In the final home and away fixture of the year Adelaide needed to defeat Collingwood - something it had never previously managed to do - at Football Park in order to qualify for the major round and, despite being inhibited early by the inevitable tension associated with the occasion, finished strongly to get home by 24 points in front of 48,522 ecstatic fans.

The following Sunday saw Adelaide pitted against Hawthorn at the MCG in an elimination final. It was hard to imagine a more difficult assignment. Not only were the Hawks the most successful AFL club of recent times, they also had the not inconsiderable psychological advantage of having defeated the Crows in both meetings during the season. In the sides' previous encounter just a fortnight earlier at Waverley, Hawthorn had kicked a devastating 8.6 to 0.1 in the opening term before going on to win by 27 points 'easing up'. Few scribes imagined that Adelaide could get within 5 goals of the finals hardened Hawks, with many predicting a defeat of embarrassing dimensions.

A major part of the appeal of top level sport is its unpredictability, however, and the Crows caused a major upset by playing tough, committed football throughout to emerge victorious by 15 points, 16.14 (110) to 13.17 (95). It was a display which remains an undoubted highlight in the club's short history, its main instigators being the running brigade of Mark Bickley, Matthew Liptak, Greg Anderson, Tony McGuinness and Simon Tregenza, together with spidery ruckman Shaun Rehn, whose seemingly tottering frame belied his formidable courage, influence and all round effectiveness.

The vagaries of the AFL's final six system meant that, despite finishing the home and away series in only 5th spot, the Crows, by virtue of 3rd placed North Melbourne's capitulation to 6th placed West Coast, had qualified for a 2nd semi final confrontation with Carlton at Waverley. Once again Adelaide's runners were prominent but this time the luck was with the Blues who recorded a hard fought 18 point victory, despite managing 7 fewer scoring shots.

In 1994 the general feeling was that the Crows failed to do justice to themselves in winning just 9 and drawing 1 of their 22 home and away matches to finish 11th. Coach Cornes was the major casualty of this decline, making way at season's end for former Fitzroy coach Robert Shaw, a Tasmanian with a reputation for coaxing maximum effort and achievement from teams of limited ability. Sadly, in 1995, particularly after the serious knee injury to Shaun Rehn in round 3 which put the 1994 club champion on the sidelines for the season, a team of limited ability was precisely what the Crows looked - and the Shaw magic was notoriously ineffective in turning things around. One got the impression that, even at their very best, the Crows would fall some way short of matching it with the real heavyweights of the League like Carlton, Geelong, West Coast and Essendon.

Notwithstanding which, Shaw refused to be downhearted after a last round home defeat by Richmond left the Crows in the comparative ignominy of 11th place once more with just 9 wins for the year:

"All I can say is that......we will be a better side, we will recruit better, we'll attack everything better and I know it's easy to say but we can promise better.

"We've got a real chance if we've got genuine supporters - and I think we have." [see footnote 11]

Shaw's optimism proved to be grossly misplaced. In 1996 the Crows endured their worst season up to that point, winning only 8 of 22 home and away matches to finish a depressing 12th on the ladder. Before the end of the season Shaw had become the most visible casualty of this failure, although many media observers and some supporters believed that the bulk of the blame lay elsewhere, principally with the club's board of management. Nevertheless, there were plenty of smiles when Shaw's replacement, former Woodville and North Melbourne hero and Geelong coach, Malcolm Blight, was announced; surely now, it was argued, the Crows would start to blossom.

Certainly no one then - or now - would question the Adelaide Football Club's potential to develop into a genuine AFL superpower. However, potential never won a premiership. Shaw's declared intention when he arrived in Adelaide was to foster the emergence of a genuine club spirit, something which the Crows' status as the focus for the aspirations and affection of almost an entire state has made extremely difficult. Two years later Malcolm Blight faced the same task, with the public's expectations, if anything, even higher. Blight was one of South Australia's favourite and most successful footballing sons and the media made it difficult not to attribute messianic properties to his return.

The Adelaide Football Club Board, after years of repeated disappointment, were understandably more cautious, citing their sole aim for 1997 as to see the Crows contest the finals. Thankfully, after a somewhat shaky start, the achievement of this aim never looked in doubt.

The 1997 AFL home and away season was one of the most even on record, and Adelaide's 12-10 record proved good enough to secure 4th spot, and a home final against West Coast. The Crows negotiated this hurdle with surprising comfort, outscoring their opponents in every quarter en route to a 14.15 (99) to 9.12 (78) triumph.

Geelong in the following week's semi final, again at Football Park, provided much sterner resistance, but in the end home ground advantage arguably proved decisive. Adelaide won by 8 points, 11.10 (76) to 9.14 (68), setting up a preliminary final encounter with the high flying Western Bulldogs at the MCG, an assignment which the Melbourne media, with typical predictability, tended to characterise as 'mission impossible'.

No one told this to Malcolm Blight and his hyper-resilient Crows, however. Trailing 4.11 (35) to 10.6 (66) at the long break, Adelaide's season looked over, but in a stirring second half performance, which in many ways mirrored Essendon's display against the Crows in the preliminary final of four years earlier, the visitors added 8.10 to 3.7 to claw and scrape their way into the grand final by just 2 points.

Grand final opponents St Kilda were 2/5 on favourites going into the match, having topped the ladder after the home and away rounds, and won both their finals encounters comfortably. Adelaide, which would be facing its fourth arduous finals match in as many weeks, was widely presumed to be unlikely to be able to keep pace with the fresher, fitter Saints, who would also have the benefit of the passionate vocal support of a large proportion of the MCG crowd. In addition, the Crows would be without both of their 1997 AFL All Australians, Tony Modra (who also won the Coleman Medal for kicking most goals during the home and away rounds) and Mark Ricciuto, and their absence was felt to more than counterbalance the Saints' loss of ruckmen Peter Everitt and Lazar Vidovic.

The opening quarter of the grand final was typically intense and fast-paced with both sides squandering numerous goalscoring opportunities. Adelaide enjoyed a 2 point advantage (3.8 to 3.6) at the first change but the 2nd term saw St Kilda beginning to flex their muscles; the first six minutes of the term saw them add 3 goals and, from the Crows' point of view, there appeared a very real danger of their running away with the match. Adelaide had also lost both Clay Sampson and Rod Jameson with injuries which were adjudged sufficiently serious as to prevent their further participation. As so often in 1997, however, the Crows rose to the challenge. [see footnote 12] Their tackling intensified, and midfielders like McLeod, Koster, Goodwin and Bickley began to impose themselves on the game. The long break saw the Saints' lead trimmed to just 13 points with the outcome still very much in the balance.

The third quarter of the 1997 AFL grand final was arguably the most important yet played by the Crows, who responded positively to every challenge laid down by their opponents, as well as laying down the gauntlet very firmly themselves, to add 6.1 to 2.2 and go into the lemon time huddle 10 points to the good, and with the momentum firmly in their favour. During the final term Darren Jarman, who had been moved to the goal square shortly before half time and who had booted 1 goal in the 3rd quarter, suddenly exploded to life and added a further 5 goals as Adelaide took control all over the ground. St Kilda kept plugging away but in the end there could be absolutely no doubt as to the Crows' superiority. Andrew McLeod capped off a consistent season with an effervescent performance across half back and later on the ball to be a decisive winner of the Norm Smith Medal. Meanwhile Shaun Rehn, beaten in the ruck early on by Brett Cook, and actually dragged from the ground during the 2nd quarter, was a dominant, imposing figure all over the field after half time, while Shane Ellen (5 goals), Troy Bond (4 goals), Nigel Smart and Ben Hart were all conspicuous contributors.

Predictably, almost the entire state of South Australia [see footnote 13] went into raptures after the match, with the Crows players being accorded a ticker tape welcome home as well as the collective freedom of the city of Adelaide. Mingled with the satisfaction, however, was an ominous - to other clubs - sense of purpose and resolve. As club chairman Bob Hammond put it: "We as a club always believed that no matter what happened today we'd be a better team next year and in the next few years, and I still believe that."

Such optimism seemed misplaced for much of the 1998 season as Adelaide struggled to maintain consistency. Indeed, had they lost to West Coast at Subiaco in their final home and away match of the season, the Crows might conceivably have dipped out of the finals altogether. As it was, a first ever win over the Eagles in the west earned 5th spot and, on the positive side, the likelihood of a second chance should their qualifying final against Melbourne at the MCG be lost.  Conversely, however, it guaranteed that, whatever the outcome of their first final, the Crows would spend the entire 1998 major round 'on the road'.

Inconsistency reared its head again when Adelaide duly succumbed to the Demons by 48 points, their comparatively meek performance giving little indication of what was to come over the ensuing three weeks. With all four qualifying finals going to form the Crows survived to fight again, and their 'reward' was, on the face of things, the slightly less onerous task of fronting up to Sydney at the SCG. [see footnote 14] Conditions were more suited to mud wrestling than football, but the Adelaide players rose to the occasion superbly, leading from the start en route to a 14.10 (94) to 10.7 (67) victory.

If the Sydney win had been commendable, the performance against the Western Bulldogs in the following week's preliminary final at the MCG was close to astonishing. Going into the match as underdogs the Crows tore into the opposition from the start and never relented as they racked up an incredible 68 point victory. Andrew McLeod contributed 7 and Matthew Robran 6 of the side's 24 goals, with Rehn, Caven and Goodwin also performing well.

Just as a year earlier the 1998 grand final saw Adelaide pitted against the season's minor premier, which on this occasion was North Melbourne. Again, just as in 1997, the Crows went into the game as outsiders (with odds of 5/2 as opposed to 3/2 for the 'Roos) and trailed at the long break, only to storm home in the second half. There were other similarities: Darren Jarman again had a 'day out' in front of goal, Andrew McLeod again won the Norm Smith Medal, and the opposition's primary playmaker, Wayne Carey - as opposed to St Kilda's Robert Harvey - failed to exert his expected seismic influence on proceedings.

At half time North, having frittered away a number of apparently straight forward goal scoring opportunities, led by 24 points, 6.15 (51) to 4.3 (27). Crows coach Malcolm Blight made a number of telling changes at the start of the third quarter - Ricciuto to the half back line, Johnson to a wing, for instance - but the main change was in the attitude of his charges who lifted all over the ground to outscore their opponents 11.12 to 2.7 over the remainder of the game and win by 35 points.

Centre half back Peter Caven, a former journeyman performer with Fitzroy and Sydney, provided a candid evaluation of the afternoon’s events: "I just can’t believe it. I still feel like I’ve got a game next week. I’ve got to keep on pinching myself. We were five goals down at half time (sic.) and the boys came back....it’s unreal."

After a tentative start to its AFL career the Adelaide Football Club was now one of the indisputable heavyweights of the competition. No club has more members and potential financial resources, and during the second half of the 1990s no club had been better performed - in September at any rate. An exchange between Tim Watson and Leigh Matthews during the last quarter of Channel Seven’s television coverage of the grand final summed things up nicely. "The Crows are a super team," opined Watson, to which Matthews responded, with predictable Victorian cynicism, that that was perhaps going a little far; what they were, he suggested, was a super September team. Watson’s response was quick and suitably dismissive. "It’s the only kind that matters," he rightly pointed out.

In Australian football, at whatever level, no truer observation could be made. As the twentieth century neared its end the Adelaide Crows appeared to have metamorphosed into most Victorians’ worst nightmare: the 'super team' of Australian football.

Sadly for Adelaide, however, 1999 brought, if not an end, at very least an embarrassing hiatus in the emerging Crows' dynasty. The pre season loss of star ruckman Shaun Rehn started a decline which rapidly accelerated as the season wore on; mid way through the year coach Malcolm Blight decided he had had enough and would not resume in 2000, and thereafter the players' confidence appeared to evaporate completely, as crushing losses to the likes of Sydney, Brisbane and the Kangaroos served to exemplify. At season's end a tally of just 8 wins consigned the Crows to an all time low of 13th position on the premiership ladder.  

Whilst season 2000, under new coach Gary Ayres, brought marginal improvement - 9 wins and 11th spot on the ladder - there was really very little for Crows supporters to get excited about.   And although the side played some marvellous football in 2001 to qualify for a 4th finals campaign in 11 seasons it chose the opening week of the finals to put in arguably its worst display of the year in losing heavily to Carlton.  The 2002 season saw the Crows manage their best home and away season to date with 15 wins but the finals once again proved a disappointment, an exciting semi final win over Melbourne being rendered redundant a week later by Collingwood in the preliminary final. Nevertheless, those betting against an Adelaide Football Club resurgence over the ensuing few years would have done well to remind themselves of the club's enormous financial resources, fanatical support, and highly accomplished, finals-hardened player base which, with a little more consistency, could arguably be said to be the equal of any in the competition.  [see footnote 15]

As if to emphasise these points, the Crows tuned up for the 2003 season in exemplary fashion, winning the AFL's pre-season competition for the first ever time with a 31 point grand final defeat of 2002 finals nemesis Collingwood.  Alas, however, this proved to be a false dawn, as the side proved incapable of sustaining this level of performance on a consistent basis over the course of a full season.  At times brilliant, at other times almost embarrassingly brittle, the overall pattern of the Crows season was re-created in miniature during a finals series which saw them overwhelm West Coast before capitulating with barely a whimper against eventual premier Brisbane.  

The 2004 season turned out even worse, with coach Gary Ayres eventually electing to jump ship when it emerged that finals qualification was impossible.  His successor, Neil Craig, possessed a reputation for thoroughness and a refusal to accept second best, qualities which came pronouncedly to the fore during a 2005 season which saw the Crows procure their first ever minor premiership.  After that, the finals were a major disappointment, with a home loss to St Kilda in a qualifying final effectively derailing the club's premiership aspirations.  A convincing win over Port Adelaide in a semi final followed, but the challenge of West Coast at Subiaco in the preliminary final proved a bridge too far, and the Crows ultimately finished 4th.

For much of the 2006 season Adelaide once again appeared to be the team to beat for the premiership, but inconsistency during the run home saw the side drop to 2nd place on the ladder behind West Coast.  A solid first up finals performance at home to Fremantle raised hopes, but in the preliminary final against the Eagles the Crows, despite having home advantage, were distinctly second best, losing by a somewhat flattering 10 point margin, 11.9 (75) to 11.19 (85).

In 2007 the Crows displayed an at times alarming inconsistency that ultimately saw them stutter into the finals in 8th place.  An elimination final in Melbourne against a Hawthorn side that had spent much of the season in the top four was a tough assignment, but Adelaide produced a vibrant and tenacious display that ultimately  fell short by just 3 points.  However, the fact remained that, after the promise shown in 2005 and 2006, the Crows' overall performances in 2007 could only be regarded as immensely disappointing, and one felt hard pressed not to wonder if the team has 'missed the boat'.  At the risk of over-dramatising things, one sensed that season 2008 could well turn out to be make or break for the current Crows set-up, with the ultimate verdict on Neil Craig's tenure as coach  arguably hanging in the balance. As it was, Adelaide endured another frustrating season, with occasional good performances being interspersed with at least as many dismal ones. The Crows reached the finals, but there was little conviction about the achievement, an impression which their prompt dismissal from premiership contention by Collingwood only served to ratify.

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Footnotes

11. Quoted in 'Football Plus', volume 1 Number 32, 6 September 1995, page 23. Return to Main Text

12. Other instances when the side responded magnificently in the face of adversity included the round 19 defeat of Port Adelaide, when the Crows trailed 5.5 (35) to 9.4 (58) at the final change before adding 4.6 to 0.0 in the run home to win by 7 points, and the come-from-behind finals victories over Geelong and the Western Bulldogs. Return to Main Text

13. Most Port Adelaide supporters excepted, of course. Return to Main Text

14. Justification for this statement stems from the fact that Sydney were in mediocre form whereas Melbourne had been performing superbly in the run up to the finals; moreover, Adelaide had won with substantial comfort at the SCG earlier in the year. Return to Main Text

15.  Adelaide's inconsistency in 2001 is readily exemplified when you compare performances like its 5 point defeat of Brisbane at the Gabba (the Lions' only home loss for the season) with its abject capitulation to wooden spooner Fremantle at Subiaco in round 22.   Return to Main Text