Crows visible on AFL premiership radar - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Crows visible on AFL premiership radar

By Daniel Brettig 23/06/2009 08:05:02 AM Comments (0)

Adelaide's last AFL match was eight days ago but the club's perceived stocks appear to have risen visibly in the meantime.

While the Crows were once considered one of 2009's re-building projects, now they are entering the second half of the year with many good judges expecting them to push into the upper reaches of the league's top eight.

Next up is a home ground date with Sydney, a club that has struggled mightily against the Crows in recent years, losing the past five matches between the clubs, and not thought likely to trouble Adelaide at home.

Crows forward Jason Porplyzia acknowledged the difference between flying low under the radar in the first half of the season and pushing towards September with expectations high.

"I guess when you're winning and playing good football you're going to come under a bit more attention, but that's good for us as a football club to have to deal with that expectation from outside," he said.

"Our expectation inside doesn't really change all that much.

"Our goal always has been to make sure we can make the finals first, if we can do that, that'd be great, and then take it from there."

Porplyzia, Kurt Tippett, Taylor Walker, Chris Knights and Patrick Dangerfield have recently caught lightning in a bottle in a way no Crows forward line has done since their 1997-98 premiership double.

From a position last year when he was considered the club's only genuine goal threat, Porplyzia is understandably delighted to be playing among teammates who are also providing a headache for defenders.

"We're starting to string some good games together, each individually and as a group we're starting to work together well," he said.

"We probably haven't been together that long as a group, Taylor Walker's first year, Patrick Dangerfield's first year up there and Kurt's only been there for a couple of years, Chris Knight's first year up there.

"So we're still gelling together and that'll take a bit more time still, but things are going well.

"Yeah it has been good to have Chris Knights up there, I think all of us, when we're all in good form it makes it hard for the opposition to stop one, because then they know someone else is going to bob up."

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