Footy Forecast: Your weekly AFL preview from SA’s most diehard fans
Adelaide Crows podcaster Josh Piantadosi on the club relying on too few stars and a Port Adelaide supporter has turned her attention to the AFLW after a massive loss.
Walker a ‘big loss’: Adelaide Crows’ Josh Piantadosi
Josh Piantadosi fell in love with the game of Australian Rules football at an early age and has been a “rusted-on” Crows supporter ever since.
“I have been a Crows supporter basically all 25 years of my life and I’ve been going to games with my old man since I was about six, so that’s almost 20 years in itself,” he said.
In the past 18 months, Piantadosi has taken his love of the club to new heights by sharing his football analysis alongside a group of friends on the Proper Crows Podcast.
“It’s just born out of a love for having chats about footy. We like to think we have our finger on the pulse and know what the fans want to hear, so it’s going really well,” Piantadosi said.
Adelaide had a hard-fought win against the 17th placed Richmond last Saturday night in dire conditions, with the Crows fan describing it as a “pretty poor” performance.
“We had actually a pretty negative podcast this week, which is always a bit of a shame,” Piantadosi said.
“The Crows have a real lack of a lack of desire to attack off halfback, and when you’re not a particularly good clearance team, to not have any attacking passages off halfback was really disappointing.
“Relying on the individual brilliance of Izak Rankine and Jordan Dawson to drag us over the line didn’t really fill us with optimism heading into the Freo game.”
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Izak Rankine was the team’s best player with 36 disposals, 11 clearances and one goal while captain Jordan Dawson impressed with 35 touches and one goal.
Adelaide will head into enemy territory on Friday night to play the ladder leading Fremantle, and Piantadosi admitted he did not have “a great sense of optimism” heading into the match.
But he is still hoping the team can pull off an upset victory to secure a top six finish and avoid the Wildcard spot.
“The one thing that fills me with a bit of hope is that Melbourne dominated Fremantle in contested ball around the ground last week,” Piantadosi said.
“For a team like us that wants to make the game contested and hard fought, I’m hopeful that we can do that around the ground.”
The Crows will be making six changes to this week’s lineup including the shock omission of veteran player Taylor Walker who announced his retirement at season’s end in an emotional press conference earlier this week.
Piantadosi is disappointed he will be unable to watch his all-time favourite player and Taylor Walker this weekend.
“I just love the flair, and love the way he goes about it, and the fact that he just seems like you know an ordinary bloke with a heart of gold,” he said.
“It’s going to be a big loss for us in the next couple years.”
Among his all-time favourite moments was the 2015 elimination final against the Western Bulldogs with Taylor Walker running the field and setting up the match-winning goal.
‘Favourite time of year’: Port Adelaide’s Rachel McDonald
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Long-time Port Adelaide fan Rachel McDonald has her eyes set on the launch of the AFL Women’s season this weekend after a massive loss by the men’s side last week.
Fans were left dejected by Port Adelaide suffering a 97-point loss at the hands of the Sydney Swans.
“I was almost expecting us to have a few more of those games where the score really blows out, and I’ve been pretty impressed that they’ve been able to stay as competitive as they have,” McDonald said.
“It just feels like every week we’ve got a couple more injuries to contend with.”
Jase Burgoyne was in the team’s best finishing with 34 disposals and seven clearances while McDonald was impressed with the performance of Jack Whitlock who finished with three goals.
Port Adelaide will face Melbourne at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night in what will be another “very tough matchup”.
Tall forward Mitch Georgiades will return to the side alongside Lachie Jones, Xavier Bamert and Joe Richards, while defender Darcy Byrne-Jones will miss the match after receiving a suspension.
When asked if Port Adelaide was a chance to win the match, McDonald said “probably not”.
“Maybe we can have another surprisingly competitive game,” she said.
“I’m still holding on for that miracle comeback from Zak Butters before the end of the season.”
While McDonald will still be front and centre to watch the men’s side on Saturday night, she has turned her attention to the AFL Women’s season which is kicking off this weekend.
The AFLW side will be playing Fremantle in Perth this weekend, with McDonald saying it is her “favourite time of the year”.
“There is really nothing better than when the men’s season is coming to a close, and it hasn’t gone the way that you wanted it to and you’re able to start again in better weather,” she said.
Port Adelaide narrowly missed out on playing finals last year, but McDonald is expecting the team to “take it to another level” and push for a finals finish.
McDonald is excited to see the likes of star players Matilda Scholz take the field on Saturday and the return of Lauren Young.
“Lauren Young spent so much of her first couple of years just battling knee injuries, and she’s finally got a proper preseason under her belt,” she said.
“Watching the pre-season match simulations, she’s really stood out as a great young player.”
She said her all-time favourite AFLW player was former Adelaide and Port Adelaide superstar and two-time league best and fairest Erin Phillips.
“You wish the AFLW had started 10 years earlier just to see what she would have been able to achieve if we’d been able to keep her for her whole athletic career.”
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