Confident Crows “need success”, says Campo
Crows caretaker coach Scott Camporeale says the resilience of his side – not just over a testing second half of the season, but in the frenetic dying moments of last week’s cut-throat final – has given Adelaide immense confidence as it prepares for one of football’s biggest tests, against reigning premier Hawthorn at the MCG tomorrow night.
“The composure the group played with in that last seven or eight minutes (against the Bulldogs) has given them real belief,” he told reporters in Adelaide today, as the team prepared to jet out to Melbourne.
“Confidence is a wonderful thing at this time of year (and) I know they’re feeling good and they’re confident in the way we play.”
But they will need more than confidence to wreck Hawthorn’s dreams of a premiership three-peat, with pundits jumping off the 2013-14 champions after their meek showing against a rampaging West Coast last weekend.
Camporeale says it would be foolish for the Crows to try and copy the Eagles’ blueprint on how to dismantle the Hawks gameplan.
“It’s more about how we play as well,” he warned, arguing there was plenty of room for improvement, with the Crows soundly beaten around the stoppages by the young Dogs outfit.
“We’ll focus in on what we want to do … we would be silly to sit here and say we’re going to do exactly what West Coast did because we’re not West Coast.
“You can fall into the trap, if you start watching opposition teams and trying to pick things out that they have done really well, because it’s hard to implement…(but) we have got enough firepower forward, we have got a really strong midfield, and our defence has held up really well, so we’ll be backing those things in.”
Supporters flocked to a light 30-minute training session this morning, with the interim coach noting the enthuasiasm with which fans have “stuck fat” by the team, not just this season but for the two years they failed to qualify for the major round.
Stay informed, daily
“This club wants success and needs success, and they’re enjoying the ride,” he said.
Several Adelaide players, including star midfielder Patrick Dangerfield and former captain Nathan van Berlo, didn’t join the main group of players this morning, but Camporeale said none were in doubt.
“They’ve recovered really well…we’re excited to get over to Melbourne and see what we can do,” he said.
“Whatever happens, I’m proud of them.”
-with AAP
Want to see more stories from InDaily SA in your Google search results?
- Click here to set InDaily SA as a preferred source.
- Tick the box next to "InDaily SA". That's it.
