Melbourne won a grand total of 3 games in 2008. Their start to the 2009 season has picked up where '08 left off with losses in the first three rounds. Last week the Demons secured their first win against struggling Richmond. This will have provided the team with a much needed confidence boost ahead of their clash with Adelaide.
After looking at recent statistics, a key difference between the two teams is their preferred way of using the football. Melbourne prefer to kick the ball and Adelaide prefer to handball. This should play into the Crows hands if they are able to maintain pressure on the football. It would force Melbourne to either handball more than they would like, or bomb the ball forward causing turnovers. This will require the Crows to create the sort of implied pressure that helped them defeat Collingwood at the MCG in round 1.
The Crows will go into this game confident. They've already won at the MCG this year against Collingwood. In fact, the Crows are undefeated in their away games this season. After pushing Geelong for three quarters, Adelaide needs to assert itself with a strong four quarter performance against the Dees.
I wouldn't be surprised to see Jonathan Griffin included in this weeks squad after Neil Craig was frustrated on a number of occasions by Ivan Maric. Griffin had 20 disposals, 6 marks and 29 hit outs for Central Districts last weekend. Jarrhan Jacky and Brad Moran would also have to be considered for selection with strong SANFL form. Their inclusions would depend largely on the fitness of Scott Stevens and the selection of Robert Shirley. Given Shirley was brought into the team for a tagging role against Geelong, I would expect he will be out of this weeks line up.
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