Craig tells Crows to tone it down
Adelaide coach Neil Craig has warned his AFL players ill discipline won't be tolerated against Melbourne on Sunday.
The Crows had three players cited by the tribunal last week - more than they did in last season's entirety.
Adelaide defender Richard Tambling will miss the clash with the under siege Demons after being suspended a match for striking, while teammates Kurt Tippett and Sam Jacobs were reprimanded for strikes during the win over St Kilda.
Craig expects Melbourne to present a physically fired up opponent, but said more reports would be "a waste".
"We all understand there is some grey areas sometimes when a player gets reported ... but some of ours were not grey, so don't do it," he said.
"I have reinforced it, as I should this week, absolutely reinforce it.
"But I have treated it as an education period. I would be really surprised if that continued, reports.
"If it does it goes from an education to an attitude, but at the moment I am happy to treat it as an education, just learn from it."
Craig's Crows travel for their sole MCG match this season against the Demons, and said how Adelaide players adjusted to the wider dimensions of the venue would prove informative.
"It will tell you something about your workrate, whether you play man on man, whether you play zone," he said.
"We have played some outstanding football on the G, but it's more about coordination, work rate (for the zone), it's more about those two aspects that I'm interested in."
Craig has made three changes to his side which defeated St Kilda by 19 points last start, unable to consider Tambling and injured defender Phil Davis (shoulder), while dropping Brodie Martin.
Utility Jared Petrekno, rookie-listed Chris Schmidt and onballer Rory Sloane return.
Sloane has missed the past four matches with a broken jaw and broken thumb but Craig backed the tenacious 21-year-old to make an imprint.
"There is a degree of trust there," he said of recalling Sloane without any match practice.
"The team enjoys the enthusiasm and the way he plays his footy, and our supporters love the way he plays his footy.
"And he's going to be an important player for us, so he'll come back in the side and play and I'll get judged accordingly, which is fine."
Post a comment about this article
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Becoming a member is free and easy, sign up here.