Lewis has even floated the idea of trading Cripps<\/a> to accelerate a rebuild, highlighting how entrenched the leadership and mentality issues feel.<\/p>\nCripps and new recruit Ollie Florent walk off after Carlton\u2019s Good Friday loss to North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium, on April 3, 2026, in Melbourne, Australia (Photo by Josh Chadwick via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
NOT REAL: THE PANIC STATIONS AT WEST LAKES<\/p>\n
After finishing top of the AFL ladder less than eight months ago, it\u2019s fair to say Adelaide\u2019s start on paper looks sub-par. But in the opinion of Jordan Lewis, it\u2019s still at this stage no more than a slow start.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re just slowly getting into form. You look at the third quarter last week (vs Fremantle); that\u2019s Adelaide at their best,\u201d Lewis told foxfooty.com.au.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s certainly not panic stations, I still think they\u2019ve got the fire power. It\u2019s probably just the product of playing a couple of extra games last year in finals, and a slower start to pre-season before getting going again.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they play three quarters like that, they\u2019ll win 95% of their games, but it\u2019s a challenge. <\/p>\n
\u201cOnce you\u2019ve felt what it\u2019s like to play like that in a new season \u2026 that\u2019s the standard now. They didn\u2019t get across the line against a really good Fremantle team, but now you feel it, and that you can prove it.\u201d<\/p>\n
A loss tonight would change this narrative considerably, but for now, the general consensus isn\u2019t that they\u2019ve lost their mojo indefinitely.<\/p>\n
A loss tonight would change this narrative considerably, but for now, the general consensus isn\u2019t that they\u2019ve lost their mojo indefinitely. Their percentage sits near 100%, the losses have been by small margins against quality sides, and key personnel are only just returning to full fitness.<\/p>\n
A loss this Thursday night to Carlton would turn a pair of common variables in recent games into a genuine concern (Photo by James Elsby via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
REAL: THE \u2018CROW-VAL\u2019 HAS BEEN BREACHED… KIND OF<\/p>\n
This concern is a little more real than their slow start to 2026, but it\u2019s still not totally there yet.<\/p>\n
Adelaide had a near-formidable home record at Adelaide Oval during last year\u2019s home-and-away season; ironically only losing to Geelong during Gather Round to hold a 12-1 record at the venue heading into finals.<\/p>\n
That being said, they have begun to show cracks at the \u2018Crow-val\u2019 \u2014 losing their last four matches there. Again, their defeats have come against quality opposition, but the expectation is that they\u2019re now good enough to combat that on their home turf.<\/p>\n
Their ball movement (specifically regarding handballs and metres gained) has ranked towards the lower of the league so far, in a game that is continuing to evolve rapidly. Defensively they remain elite, but when the Crows go sideways or reactive instead of penetrating, sides like the Dockers can punish them at contest.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not a total collapse of their castle, but it\u2019s certainly no longer the fortress that it was 12 months ago. A big watch in the next two home games against the Blues, and then St Kilda next Saturday night.<\/p>\n
Why Blues should trade Patrick Cripps | 02:01<\/p>\n
NOT REAL: THAT 2026 IS ALREADY A WRITE-OFF FOR THE BLUES<\/p>\n
It\u2019s still too early to slam the lid on Carlton\u2019s season.<\/p>\n
Yes, the second-half trend is alarming, and the pressure on Michael Voss is very real. But four games into a 23-match season is nowhere near enough to draw a line through them; particularly given the level of list turnover last off-season.<\/p>\n
Even if the integration of new faces is taking time, the Blues still have talent, and importantly, their first halves show they can match it with most sides when their intensity is up.<\/p>\n
One or two wins in the coming weeks \u2014 starting with Thursday night \u2014 could quickly shift the narrative and buy Voss some much-needed breathing room.<\/p>\n
Writing them off now ignores how volatile early-season ladders can be, and how quickly confidence can swing in football. Moving on from Voss this early would point to broader instability at the club, rather than simply laying blame at the coach\u2019s feet.<\/p>\n
Essendon\u2019s response against the Western Bulldogs last Sunday night, where a largely competitive performance helped ease the pressure, is a reminder of just how quickly the narrative can change for a week.<\/p>\n
A heavy loss this weekend has the capacity to change this narrative, but for now, their season still has a heartbeat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"No club wants to be 1-3 to start a season. But as the opening month of the 2026…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":596149,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[9126,2095,63,689,16716,3239,291016,291021,1818,241957,26521,2105,291023,43,64029,25174,78911,27723,19080,33330,16712,647,291011,3257,291022,291018,44,2041,2067,677,80471,7800,183079,668,770,291013,47923,291015,6858,1138,291017,291014,291019,146122,1124,1122,30690,291020,41,39,42,40,2614,291012,660,4899,16710,698,28958],"class_list":{"0":"post-596148","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-adelaide-crows","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","12":"tag-ball-movement","13":"tag-carlton-blues","14":"tag-consecutive-single-digit-losses","15":"tag-counterparts-heading","16":"tag-david-king","17":"tag-fire-power","18":"tag-four-time-premiership","19":"tag-getty-images-inc","20":"tag-halves-show","21":"tag-headlines","22":"tag-home-games","23":"tag-home-turf","24":"tag-home-and-away-campaign","25":"tag-home-and-away-season","26":"tag-jordan-lewis","27":"tag-josh-chadwick","28":"tag-matthew-nicks","29":"tag-melbourne","30":"tag-mentality-issues","31":"tag-michael-voss","32":"tag-much-needed-breathing-room","33":"tag-near-formidable-home","34":"tag-news","35":"tag-north-america","36":"tag-northern-america","37":"tag-oceania","38":"tag-panic-stations","39":"tag-patrick-cripps","40":"tag-percentage-sits","41":"tag-press-conference","42":"tag-pressure-mounts","43":"tag-prime-time-night","44":"tag-quality-opposition","45":"tag-quality-sides","46":"tag-richmond","47":"tag-sam-walsh","48":"tag-second-half-fades-blues","49":"tag-second-half-trend","50":"tag-second-half-woes","51":"tag-slow-start","52":"tag-south-australia","53":"tag-st-kilda","54":"tag-superstar-player","55":"tag-time-leads","56":"tag-top-news","57":"tag-top-stories","58":"tag-topnews","59":"tag-topstories","60":"tag-united-states-of-america","61":"tag-venue-heading","62":"tag-victoria","63":"tag-virginia","64":"tag-west-lakes","65":"tag-western-bulldogs","66":"tag-win-loss-records"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=596148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/596149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=596148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=596148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=596148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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