Richmond assistant coach Ben Rutten provides ‘Roar Vision’ with a concise appraisal of Adelaide’s major on-field attributes ahead of the big Round 6 clash between the Tigers and Crows at Adelaide Oval on Sunday.
Key match-up: Grimes v Betts
“He (Betts) does it all . . . You don’t get too many players that size that are so good one-on-one. He’s really good in the air as well. ‘Grimesy’ is probably 20 centimetres taller than him, and he’ll probably need every bit of that. Grimesy’s pretty nimble at ground level as well. But we know what Eddie can do given half a chance, so it’ll be one to watch. It’ll be an important role (for Grimes) this week, but it’ll be a team responsibility as well.”
Key forwards Walker and Lynch
“They’re really important. They work well together because ‘Tex’ is more of a traditional key forward, and ‘Lynchy’, although he’s a big key forward, he can run like a midfielder. So, he’s important for the link-up between their ‘mids’, or their defenders, and then getting the ball out of defence. Tex is obviously in some good form as well, and the leader of the footy club, so he’s playing an important role for them . . . They’ve got an exciting mix up in their forward line.”
Gun midfielders Sloane and M. Crouch
“’Sloaney’ is as good as any inside the contest, but also runs hard and supports the defence. And young ‘Crouchy’ is coming on as a really important player for them as well. He’s just getting more and more experience as a player and understanding how to use his strengths within the clearances and the stoppages. He’s always been a good contested-ball player. So these two are a big part of the reason why they’re the best contested-ball team in the comp.”
Overall strength
“They’re a heavy-scoring team, but they’re also the No. 1 contested team, which probably leads into their scoring. So, as much as they’re good at their attack, they’re really good around the ball as well. They’re also pretty slick with their hands, and they run pretty hard through the midfield. So limiting the supply into their forwards is going to be pretty critical.”
