It’s not easy being an Adelaide Crows supporter, but their Friday night win over Brisbane silenced a lot of cynics | Graham Cornes

It hasn’t been easy following the Adelaide Crows over the last eight seasons, but Friday night’s classic washed away all the past disappointments, writes Graham Cornes.

It hasn’t been easy following the Adelaide Crows over the last eight seasons.

The grand final loss when they were the favoured side, the gradual slide down the ladder until the team hit rock bottom, the slow climb back up the ladder, the draft disappointments and the persistent umpiring bungles that fuelled the persecution complex, all tested the patience and the loyalty of even the most ardent supporter.

But all that is washed away when you witness a performance that we saw on Friday night.

The opponents were not a team in the bottom half of the ladder. This was Brisbane – the reigning premier and one of the favourites for this year’s flag. And they brought their best.

Matthew Nicks and Josh Rachele celebrate their win. Photo by James Elsby.

It was a mighty game of football despite the worst conditions we’ve seen at Adelaide Oval this year. The tempest came but you wouldn’t have known. Yes, it was scrambly at times, especially in the first quarter when tackling reigned supreme but it didn’t prevent a showcase of special skills from both teams.

At last we saw a tough, battle-hardened Adelaide whose physicality seemed to rattle Brisbane at times. But the Lions are not the reigning premiers by chance.

There is a tendency to underestimate them because they don’t have the glamour and the high profile of the Victorian teams, but they are chock full of talent with all-Australians on every line. And they are the reigning premiers.

Adelaide hit Brisbane confidently and aggressively but they shrugged it off and always looked to have the game under control. The Lions scored goals too easily in the first three quarters and threatened to run away with the game.

The prodigious talent of Cam Rayner and the output of Will Ashcroft hurt the Crows and put them on the back foot, but somehow they managed to stay in touch.

When a touch of class was needed, once again it was Josh Rachele who provided it. An impossible goal from the boundary in treacherous conditions fuelled his want for acclimation and the crowd responded.

Josh Rachele. Photo by Sarah Reed.

Again, he was one of the Crows best. He only had 10 touches but kicked three goals.

However, when Brisbane kicked the last two goals of the third quarter it seemed they had broken Adelaide. In those conditions, when the Crows had only kicked five goals in the previous three quarters against that opposition, it seemed like a 10-goal deficit.

Surely, as brave as they had been, they were done. Then the captain, Jordan Dawson, who had been quiet, lifted. Forty seconds into the last quarter he ran hard to receive a handball from Rory Laird, and drove the ball deep into Adelaide’s forward line where Riley Thilthorpe grabbed it and scored a difficult goal.

The momentum had shifted in Adelaide’s favour. Two minutes later the bustling Ben Keays kicked his second goal after a Darcy Fogarty manufactured tunnel-ball assist.

But more was to come from the captain at the six-minute mark when, seemingly immune to gravity, he levitated from the pack to grab a spectacular mark. He never looked like missing and the resultant goal put the Crows back in front where they were to stay despite Brisbane’s courageous efforts to head them again.

It was a mighty game of football despite the worst conditions we’ve seen at Adelaide Oval this year. Photo by James Elsby.

Dawson’s status as captain continues to soar. Understated, almost shy personally, he is proving every bit as influential as any of the club’s great captains.

Even the Victorian press is starting to notice, as are the opposition coaches, as he is impacting the coaches’ votes.

The Crows had leaders on every line, and maybe that is one of the reasons for their much-improved year.

Taylor Walker is definitely still a leader at the club. He was one of the Crows best on Friday night even though the weather conditions definitely didn’t suit tall forwards.

And that is a challenge Matthew Nicks must confront. Does he persist with the three tall forwards in Walker, Fogarty and Thilthorpe? Occasionally it is four when Dan Curtin drifts down there.

The most successful teams play two tall forwards and surround them with quick, talented, evasive small to medium sized talent. Think Brisbane and Collingwood. At the moment, however, Nicks is getting a response from all three.

When the forecast predicted such inclement weather, it must have been tempting to “rest” Walker in favour of a smaller, more mobile player. But Walker continues to defy his age and seemed the most threatening of Adelaide’s forwards when the game was in the balance.

The stats might suggest the output from Adelaide’s tall forwards was modest. Walker had eight possessions while Fogarty and Thilthorpe had 11 each with only two goals between them, but in what was a low-scoring match, Nicks would have been delighted with the output and the balance of his forward line.

Crows celebrate the final siren. Photo by Mark Brake.

While Dawson was the final quarter inspiration there were other Adelaide players who deserve the accolades in a hard-fought victory.

Wayne Milera, at last free from injury, showed the class that the potential of his youth forecast. Jake Soligo continues his understated rise. He relished the conditions, curbing the influence of Brisbane superstar, Lachie Neale and finished with 19 possessions, 11 of which were contested. Most importantly, he laid 13 tackles!

Then there was the lion-hearted Reilly O’Brien. He contested an incredible 99 ruck contests and was still competing at the end when the game needed to be won. Not renowned for his hit outs to advantage, his tap which resulted in a goal to Rachele at the two-minute mark of the third quarter was exquisite.

His contract negotiations will not have been harmed.

So on the bleakest of Adelaide’s nights, the Crows and Brisbane played out a classic. The weather could have spoiled the spectacle but it was a game that pulsated with breathless anticipation.

Finally, Adelaide prevailed over a genuine top-four team and at the end of the night were sitting in third spot on the ladder with a healthy percentage.

Given other teams had games in hand, it’s unlikely they will stay in third spot by weekend’s end but a top-four finish at the of the year is now a genuine chance.

Two weeks ago when Adelaide thrashed the West Coast Eagles by 11 goals at home and slipped into the top four, the cynics doubted they would stay there. They hadn’t beaten any of the top teams, so surely they would be tested by games to come against Sydney, Brisbane and Hawthorn under lights in Launceston.

The first two have been dispatched, now for the Hawks. Supporting the Crows is not so difficult these days.