Was that rock-bottom? asks Sarrey...
Craigy wouldn’t be human if, after the Suns scored the first four goals on Saturday, a little thought didn’t burble into his head along the lines of ‘I wonder what other jobs are going at the Crows at the moment?’ After last week’s humiliation against Melbourne, and with Ablett and his young Suns rampant, it was perhaps the closest Craigy has ever come to coaching cataclysm. The players seemed keen enough and were going in hard, but they were achieving nothing. In my own thought-bubble I wondered if they would buckle or stick to their guns. If they buckled, maybe it would be the end for Craigy.
They stuck to their guns. Craigy said later that it didn’t really prove anything, but for me it proved that he still ‘has’ the players. They played four quarters of tough footy. They weren’t brilliant and they weren’t flashy but they showed ticker and poise.
Just as well, because a few supporters were ready to use the 19th Man flagpole for a public hanging - such as the bloke behind me in the grandstand, who couldn’t find a good thing to say until he had no choice. On the other hand, 36,000 was a pretty good turn-out, all things considered, and showed how loyal most Crows’ supporters are. Ten minutes into the game we were all being tested. And then it began to turn.
Some people say we shouldn’t make too much of this win because it was only against the Suns. I say we shouldn’t underrate it. The Suns have a hugely talented list, like 18-year-old Trent Mackenzie, who casually dobbed a goal from 65 metres in the third quarter, and Ablett, who moves like a rabbit and plays like a champ. The Suns have been given a massive leg-up by the AFL and soon they will be superhumanly strong. In 2010 they had picks 1, 2, 3, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 39 and 49 in the main draft and picks 1-5 in the rookie draft, and they were allowed to recruit up to twelve uncontracted AFL-listed players. They have had many other concessions, too, such as an inflated salary cap and access to the country’s best-twelve under 17s in 2009. Their biggest problem in coming years will be retaining their abundant talent because some potential stars won’t be able to get a game.
The current Crows, on the other hand, have had no drafting windfall and cannot expect one in the future. When supporters get frustrated with the team’s current slide in fortunes they should contemplate the fact that Saturday’s 22 contained seven former rookies - seven! - Rutten, Doughty, Luke Thompson, Jaensch, Schmidt, Henderson and Wright. Seven players in Saturday’s team, therefore, were not rated in the top 90-odd players in their respective draft years. I wouldn’t mind betting that is a record for any team in the history of the AFL.
None of those seven ex-rookies was disgraced on Saturday, even though five have played fewer than 20 games. On the contrary they were all good. Rutten and Doughty (and that Nathan bloke, the one who bocked off to the Gold Coast) are living proof that rookies can be solid - even brilliant - AFL players, as well as fine leaders.
It was the leaders I was most interested in on Saturday because I wanted to know if they were up to the challenge. They were - led by Van Berlo and the likes of Sloane, Dangerfield, Thompson, Rutten, Reilly and Johncock. Van Berlo ran all day, as he must; if the Crows are to climb to the top, and stay there, he probably won’t be able to stop running for the next two hundred games.
In last week’s blog I asked if the Crows had bottomed out yet. They hadn’t, because the Gold Coast’s four unanswered goals in the first quarter dragged them lower. But then came the rebound. Cynics will say it was a dead-cat bounce against measly opposition, but I don’t think so. The players have shown that they will not buckle.
They have much to work on but, in my view, Craigy’s close call with coaching mortality will mark the turning point and a change in fortunes for the Crows.
Sarrey’s first novel, Prohibited Zone, featuring a fictional ex-Crows player, is now available at Wakefield Press and in bookstores.
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