On Wednesday, Williams declared Carr’s place in the side was under threat, but some football pundits were preparing to call his bluff.
Williams remained true to his word by leaving the premiership player out of the team at selection on Thursday afternoon, but still people remain sceptical that Carr—who boasts a perfect record (eight from eight) in Showdowns—would actually watch the all-important clash from the stands.
On Friday, Williams said he had no intention of making a late change.
“There’s a bit of romance about it (Carr’s record against Adelaide), but Matt Thomas is coming back into the side and he plays very similarly to Josh Carr. Right now, Matt Thomas is playing better than Josh Carr, so that was the start and finish of it,” Williams said.
“Josh took it (his omission) as well as he could. He’s disappointed and it’s not an easy thing. We have a great relationship and great trust from a long time ago, but his form hasn’t been good enough and everyone is aware that, if that’s the case, you won’t be playing.”
Williams said everyone at the club, including the coaches, had done some soul searching following last week’s 66-point loss to St Kilda.
He denied dropping Carr to send a message to the rest of the group, but said several other players, including forward Brett Ebert and midfielder David Rodan, were also right on the edge.
“You hardly ever get (dropped) based on one game. It’s a string of events and it’s a little to do with the circumstances of who else is coming back and available,” he said.
“But one or two players are lucky to be in there.”
Adelaide has caught opposition sides out with its defensive pressure across the first two lines of its zone this season.
Williams said it would be a “real challenge” for his players to navigate a way out from the last line of defence.
“Last week, St Kilda had a zone and we were shocking,” he said.
“This week, Adelaide will have a zone and it will be different to Hawthorn’s and different to St Kilda’s. We have confidence that we know what we’re doing, but it has to be way better than last week.”
As of Friday morning, less than 1800 tickets remained for the much-anticipated clash.
Williams said he was rapt at the prospect of seeing a rare full-house at AAMI Stadium.
“There’s going to be 40,000-plus people here and that’s wonderful,” Williams said.
“I commend the Crows and the media for getting behind this event because there’s nothing worse than playing a ‘derby’, world-wide, whether it’s soccer, footy or whatever and it’s not sold out.”
