neil craig - new crows coach

With Gary Ayres having been advised today that his contract would not be renewed at season's end (despite overnight speculation to the contrary in today's Adelaide Advertiser), Gary decided to quit with immediate effect.

Reasons given for Ayre's effective exit:
1)
the club's inconsistent performance during 2004;
2)
fade-outs in recent seasons going towards season's end and into the Finals; and
3)
a strong belief that Ayres could take the Club no further.

Neil Craig has been appointed as Interim Coach.

Craig, as a former Premiership Coach at Norwood (my home SANFL team when I was living back in Adelaide), effectively is being given a 9+ week job interview to see how he moulds the team together.

The Club, however, has not made any commitments to Craig beyond season's end.

Personally, I am very pleased with this decision for reasons best known to some. Now, the Club stands a chance of getting back into Finals contention (not in 2004, but in 2005 - something that otherwise was neither likely nor possible).