Defender Ben Rutten is concerned by Adelaide's poor start to the season. Picture: Sarah Reed Source: The Advertiser
CROWS defender Ben Rutten is bashing away every excuse to accept Adelaide's fall this season is a result of too many players offering too little.
And Rutten refuses to accept this is a hangover from Adelaide's sudden rise from 14th to second in last year's home-and-away series.
"It's concerning," said Rutten yesterday as the fallout of the nine-point loss to Port Adelaide in Showdown XXXIV fell squarely on the players' shoulders.
"We need to strip it back and get more guys playing well. That was our strength last year when we would often have 22 contributors.
"This year, we have just got too many guys who aren't playing to the standard that they're accustomed to."
Rutten argues he and his team-mates should be inspired to build on last year's preliminary final appearance rather than living off that result.
"This group has high expectations," said Rutten. "We had a good taste of finals last year - and that needs to drive the group."
Adelaide's erratic form line forces coach Brenton Sanderson to reward players demanding selection for their SANFL form rather than relying on the tarnished reputations of many players in the first 22.
"It's part of AFL footy - you need to be in form to hold your position otherwise you're under threat of selection changes," said Rutten.
"We have got some guys pushing for selection and playing well in the SANFL.
"We have too many players (in the AFL line-up) not playing to their potential - and we need guys playing better as a team and working better together."
Adelaide's 1-2 start, after an indifferent pre-season, does not spell the end of the premiership campaign.
"You never want to get behind the (win-loss) ledger. It's very tough to play catch-up later in the year . . . we need to start winning," said Rutten.
"We don't have time to wallow in our performance. We need to get on with it."
But two losses at AAMI Stadium - where the Crows led Essendon by 22 points and the Power by 31 - bring into question all that has unfolded at West Lakes since the preliminary final loss to Hawthorn.
Is a late start to the pre-season contributing to Adelaide's slow start? No, says Rutten, backing up Sanderson's observation that players closed the gap by continuing to work privately in the Christmas break.
"We had a good pre-season," said Rutten. "We did start later than other teams but we used the opportunity over the Christmas break to do extra work.
"The pre-season went exactly the way we wanted to."
Adelaide expects captain Nathan van Berlo (knee) to remain available for selection for Sunday's home clash. The midfielder took a knock to a knee forcing him to be subbed out of the Showdown.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Crows must step up now: Rutten
Dengan url
http://astagaberita.blogspot.com/2013/04/crows-must-step-up-now-rutten.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Crows must step up now: Rutten
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Crows must step up now: Rutten
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar