Veteran forward James Podsiadly may have to make way for Taylor Walker. Picture: Sarah Reed. Source: News Corp Australia
FOUR into three doesn't go.
And that's why Crows coach Brenton Sanderson is left with one of the toughest selection dilemmas in his three years in charge at West Lakes.
The return of power forward Taylor Walker - the club's best forward - from long term injury is a major boost for Adelaide.
Who should make way for Taylor Walker?
But it also leaves Sanderson with an embarrassment of key forward riches.
MORE: TEX CAN WALK RIGHT IN, SAYS BRENT REILLY
For a team which struggled for goals in Walker's absence last year, it is a good problem to have.
But it will also be causing Sanderson sleepless nights.
Taylor Walker in action for the Crows in the SANFL against Glenelg. Picture: Sarah Reed.
How does he fit Walker, who returned from 12 months out following a knee reconstruction in the SANFL last Friday night, veteran pick-up James Podsiadly, the rapidly improving Josh Jenkins and mobile tall Tom Lynch into the same side?
On paper, the names stack up well.
Offensively, Walker, Podsiadly, Jenkins and Lynch would appear to be an opposition coach's nightmare.
But with such a focus on defensive pressure and team balance in modern footy, playing all four in the one side is fraught with danger.
Sure, it can work on the odd occasion. But long term it will fail.
Gone are the days when key forwards didn't have to chase and apply pressure to the opposition. Now they are required to chase, press and tackle just like their smaller teammates.
High on each club's must-do instructions is the motto "what are you doing when you don't have the ball?''.
Rarely does a forward line consist of more than three talls. Most clubs take the three/three approach - three talls and three smalls.
The tall timber creates contests and wins contested aerial balls while the smalls are there to rove the contests and complement the big guys' work.
When Port Adelaide dropped key forward John Butcher a few weeks ago it went with a two/four attacking set-up, with Jay Schulz and Justin Westhoff as its talls.
Sometimes clubs can even opt for a one/five attack - depending on whether they have a standout key forward and a posse of clever, elusive small forwards.
What compounds Adelaide's scenario is that the three forward line talls it played in last Sunday's grinding nine-point win against the Western Bulldogs are all in good form.
Podsiadly and Jenkins both bagged three goals, won contested ball and moved well. Lynch roamed far and wide for 25 disposals, seven marks, two goals and a game-high four score assists.
None of them deserves the chop.
Geelong premiership star Podisadly has been Adelaide's forward 50 barometer. His experience and leadership has been vital in Walker's absence.
He averages an impressive 14 disposals, five marks, three tackles and 1.5 goals in the opening six rounds.
Lynch's stunning performance in his first full game of the season against the Dogs after overcoming a dislocated shoulder showed how important he is to the Crows in his role of linking the midfield to the deep lying forwards.
The mobile role he is able to play is a luxury few clubs have.
The athletic Jenkins past three matches, in which he has booted 11 goals, have been his best in Crows colours.
Unlike Adelaide's other tall forwards, he also can ruck and give Sam Jacobs a valuable breather from his heavy workload.
With Shaun McKernan preferred as the back-up ruck option in the pre-season and opening two rounds, Jenkins is now making up for lost time.
He is hungry and is clearly making every post a winner, averaging 15 disposals, eight marks and 2.75 goals in his four games this season.
The three talls have been well complemented by a posse of smalls, who are all playing their roles well.
These include Carlton pick-up Eddie Betts, who has been one of the best performed goalkicking small forwards in the past decade, Jared Petrenko as a defensive tackling inside-50 pressure machine and Matthew Wright and Rory Laird sharing that extra defensive role.
With resting midfielders Patrick Dangerfield, Scott Thompson and Rory Sloane also playing cameos inside 50, the Crows' once maligned attack is now a force to be reckoned with.
The stats don't lie.
Adelaide has been efficient in its front half, taking more marks inside forward 50 this season (12.3 average, ranked fifth in the AFL) than it did last year (11.2 average, ranked 13th).
It also has the fourth best percentage of kicks inside 50 resulting in a goal.
Clearly, given Walker's credentials, he will be the centrepiece of Sanderson's attack when he is fully fit and in form.
While there has been some hysteria about Walker's 12-disposal, 3.3 comeback game against Glenelg in the State League, I would give him at least one more match in the local competition before returning him to AFL ranks, especially given the good form of Adelaide's other tall forwards.
But Sanderson will then be backed into a corner and forced to make a big call.
Unless there is an unforeseen injury, one man will be the fall guy.
Podsiadly - as good as he has been - appears to be the player who could be forced out, given he plays a similar role to Walker.
He was the player brought to the club as insurance for Big Tex and he has performed admirably in the opening six rounds.
J-Pod will have a valuable role to play this season - even in defence where he has shown he can also play good footy - but with those around him currently in such good nick and Walker's return to the side imminent, I'm not sure the Crows can afford the luxury of playing both him and Tex inside the forward 50.
This unbalance could affect Adelaide's ability to apply great defensive pressure and subsequently force defensive turnovers.
Few would envy Sanderson's tough decision. But it's one he must make because four into three just doesn't work.
THE SUPER SIX
Adelaide's best starting forward line
F: Eddie Betts (goalkicking small), Josh Jenkins (key forward/ruck release), Jared Petrenko (defensive forward)
HF: Tom Lynch (tall, mobile lead-up forward), Taylor Walker (power forward), Matthew Wright (defensive forward, midfield rotation)
Who will be victim of Tex’s return?
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Who will be victim of Tex’s return?
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