The Adelaide Crows are experiencing a difficult season which has them sitting at the bottom of the ladder without a win after nine rounds.
One set of alarming statistics that have contributed to that lack of success in 2020 has caught the eye of Scott Watters.
This year, the Crows possess the worst clearance record by some way which is actually the biggest negative differential in this stat category of any team over the past 10 years.
“Some people may think we are being a bit harsh on the Crows,” Watters said on Footy SA & WA, when dissecting the numbers.
“If you think of sides that have struggled in the last 10 to 20 years, Melbourne in 2013 were a rock bottom side.
“This is the clearance differential. At the moment, the Crows are -9.6 per game. That is an absolute obliteration.
“You compare that to the Demons of 2013 (-9.4).”
Watters also went through the below par centre clearance numbers the Crows have put up so far this season.
“First in the competition right at the moment is West Coast out of the centre clearances with +3.2,” he added.
“Gold Coast are the second worst in the competition at the moment at -1.7 yet they are still miles in front of Adelaide (-6.3).”
“This is just a nightmare for Matthew Nicks.”
Kane Cornes identified one major factor as to why the Crows could be struggling in this area under the new coaching regime.
“They got rid of Scott Camporeale who was their senior midfield coach and had been there and done a great job,” he said.
“The Crows midfield was the envy of most sides for a long, long time. Probably eight to nine years with how tough (they were) and how much they valued contested footy and clearances.
“He left for reasons that weren’t really explained and his departure has clearly had a massive impact on the playing group.
“Rory Sloane spoke about Camporeale being the most influential person on his career. He’s no longer there.
“Is it a coincidence that those numbers are as bad as what we see in AFL footy for about 20 years?
“I just wonder what Scott Camporeale will be thinking sitting back and watching them this year.”
The Crows will be looking to break their 2020 duck when they take on Melbourne at the Adelaide Oval on Wednesday night.