I'm gonna bit biased, because I have admittedly been a Crowden fan since I saw his U17 footage after he was drafted. As such ,I've been watching his input pretty closely....probably more closely than the others.
Yep, he's still working things out about the speed of AFL, but he's allowed to, for someone with 3 games under his belt. Have been most impressed about some of the 1% stuff that he does...
I think he did some great things on the weekend and apart from having an accurate and raking left foot, some of his handballs under pressure have been really smart for a bloke in his 3rd game. For his size and age, his tackling has been ferocious..... And to do this AND have great skills has been something that we have missed from this type of player in the past.
Pretty certain The Owl will keep progressing and will soon be a crowd favorite for the work he puts in. Reckon he's got a bit of mongrel about him too, and as he gets a bit more confident with his place in the team, we'll see that come out.
Having said all that, thought Banfield was really good on the weekend...got a bit more freedom this week, but Cerra was affected by the conditions and perhaps was being marked a bit more given his form in previous weeks., Brayshaw is struggling. He probably needs a rest, and a bit of confidence act with Peel.
Having said all that, I'd be more concerned about the places of Tucker and Sheriden. For blokes who are fighting for their place in the team, neither of them 'knocked the door down'. Sheriden is flat footed around the packs and is still panicky his disposal. And Tucker just goes missing, and is indecisive when he does get a kick via mark or free kick.
Both did nothing to hold their spots, although Tucker at least had a preparation excuse. Both go out when Hill and Langdon return, but maybe Tucker gets another week to give Brayshaw a spell...