Crows wary of Tigers: Mickan
1:06:59 PM Fri 4 July, 2003
Alan Shiell
afl.com.au
Adelaide is bracing for a strong challenge from Richmond, especially early, at AAMI Stadium on Saturday night.
Mark Mickan, the Crows’ inaugural club champion and now one of their assistant coaches, pointed out after training on Friday that the Tigers had won nine first quarters and drawn another in their 13 matches this season.
“They’re a side that doesn’t get blown away early,” Mickan said. “I thought they had Brisbane on toast in the first quarter last week and it wasn’t until just before three-quarter time that Brisbane got right on top.
“So they’ve got some powers of perseverance and we have to understand that this game could go right down to the wire.”
Mickan said the Tigers had “a lot of strengths, a lot of ability”.
“They’ve got some real good big-man power,” he said. “(Greg) Stafford’s been a real danger for them up forward and in ruck, along with (Brad) Ottens and (Matthew) Richardson.
“And so have (Mark) Coughlan and Kane Johnson around the ball, and (Wayne) Campbell’s coming back – their captain, a leader and a quality onballer. And they’ve got a defence that likes to rebound.
“We’re expecting Kane Johnson to play. We understand he trained this morning (after having had hamstring soreness) and we obviously have respect for his ability. We never doubted that. He’s a player we need to take care of because he has terrific ability and he’s a very good ball-user.”
Adelaide has won four of its six home games this season – beating Fremantle, West Coast, the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne, but losing to Port Adelaide and Collingwood – and now plays six of its remaining nine matches, including four of the next five, at AAMI Stadium.
“We wanted to win all of our home games this year and we haven’t done that,” Mickan said. “It’s important we don’t drop any more. That’s a big factor in this game.
“We want to get some consistency going. It’s an important part of the year for us. We’re starting to get some players back and we want to get our structures organised and make sure we get the processes in place and (have) a lot of players playing well.”
Adelaide’s 10-7 record against Richmond includes 4-4 at AAMI Stadium, where Adelaide beat Richmond by 22 points in round 21 last season – the Crows’ fourth successive win against the Tigers, who have lost their past five matches this season.
“They’d be seeing it as one of the last chances they have to get their season back on track and we need to win for our own purposes,” Mickan said. “We want to maintain a spot in the top four.”
1:06:59 PM Fri 4 July, 2003
Alan Shiell
afl.com.au
Adelaide is bracing for a strong challenge from Richmond, especially early, at AAMI Stadium on Saturday night.
Mark Mickan, the Crows’ inaugural club champion and now one of their assistant coaches, pointed out after training on Friday that the Tigers had won nine first quarters and drawn another in their 13 matches this season.
“They’re a side that doesn’t get blown away early,” Mickan said. “I thought they had Brisbane on toast in the first quarter last week and it wasn’t until just before three-quarter time that Brisbane got right on top.
“So they’ve got some powers of perseverance and we have to understand that this game could go right down to the wire.”
Mickan said the Tigers had “a lot of strengths, a lot of ability”.
“They’ve got some real good big-man power,” he said. “(Greg) Stafford’s been a real danger for them up forward and in ruck, along with (Brad) Ottens and (Matthew) Richardson.
“And so have (Mark) Coughlan and Kane Johnson around the ball, and (Wayne) Campbell’s coming back – their captain, a leader and a quality onballer. And they’ve got a defence that likes to rebound.
“We’re expecting Kane Johnson to play. We understand he trained this morning (after having had hamstring soreness) and we obviously have respect for his ability. We never doubted that. He’s a player we need to take care of because he has terrific ability and he’s a very good ball-user.”
Adelaide has won four of its six home games this season – beating Fremantle, West Coast, the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne, but losing to Port Adelaide and Collingwood – and now plays six of its remaining nine matches, including four of the next five, at AAMI Stadium.
“We wanted to win all of our home games this year and we haven’t done that,” Mickan said. “It’s important we don’t drop any more. That’s a big factor in this game.
“We want to get some consistency going. It’s an important part of the year for us. We’re starting to get some players back and we want to get our structures organised and make sure we get the processes in place and (have) a lot of players playing well.”
Adelaide’s 10-7 record against Richmond includes 4-4 at AAMI Stadium, where Adelaide beat Richmond by 22 points in round 21 last season – the Crows’ fourth successive win against the Tigers, who have lost their past five matches this season.
“They’d be seeing it as one of the last chances they have to get their season back on track and we need to win for our own purposes,” Mickan said. “We want to maintain a spot in the top four.”
