This is my outlook on the 2012 NAB Cup Grandfinal. It's just a pre-season cup the AFL do.


All of the last week in NAB cup footy circles was devoted to the Adelaide Crows. Starting with a great win over Collingwood at the weekend, the week turned sour as Bernie Vince celebrated a club cricket premiership a little too hard, and then got even worse when recruiter Matthew Rendell stood down from his post amid a racism scandal. They had been the story of the week, and it was only fitting they would also be the story of the weekend, claiming the preseason premiership in the NAB Cup grand final over West Coast.

The Crows were the hungrier side from the outset, complimenting a frantic pace with tidy skills, and although the Eagles were naggingly persistent, the classier and stronger team won out on the night. Rookie coach Brenton Sanderson, who has come to the Crows from Geelong, has instilled a much needed toughness to the Adelaide side, and their tackling pressure and hard running looks to be exactly what the young Crows need this season. It’s hard not to get swept up by Adelaide at the moment; they played an entertaining brand of football throughout the NAB Cup, reliant on counter-attacking waves through the corridor and unrelenting forward pressure. Their forward line looked potent at the weekend, with both Taylor Walker and Kurt Tippet leading and marking strongly. Patrick Dangerfield’s move to the midfield should prove a good one, and Rory Sloane is a young man with enormous leadership capabilities as well as footballing ability. While the NAB Cup counts for nothing in the scheme of it all, the confidence taken from this last month can’t possibly be a bad thing for Adelaide.

West Coast’s lack of intensity stuck out straight away, and their mind seemed elsewhere throughout the match. They were soundly beaten from start to finish, yet could easily have won the game if not for some poor kicking on goal. It’s impossible to judge the Eagles too much from this game, apart from that they are still very reliant on their talls. No Kennedy, no Lynch and no Cox for half the game proved to be their undoing, as youngsters Nic Naitanui and Jack Darling still aren’t ready to take all that responsibility on themselves. Naitanui rucked almost the entirety of the match and was dominant, however the West Coast midfield was unable to capitalise on his dominance. Priddis got plenty of the ball and played well, but the rest of the Eagles’ midfielders weren’t able match the Crows hunger and intensity at the footy, as well as their ability to spread. Their disposal was poor all evening, especially coming out of defence, and newcomer Josh Hill’s return of 2.6 was disappointing. Despite the loss, the Eagles will charge towards round one with confidence. They were impressive throughout most of the pre-season, and with more of their big names to return, along with a much stricter implementation of the taxing forward press that took them deep into September last year, there is no limit on what they could achieve in 2012.