Adelaide’s AFL win against Geelong was a great night for football

IT wasn’t entirely unexpected. The Crows have a history of bouncing back from horrible defeats in Melbourne, but it was just a great night, writes Graham Cornes.

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IT wasn’t entirely unexpected. The Crows have a history of bouncing back from horrible defeats in Melbourne to stunning, stirring victories on their home ground the very next week.

So it was on Thursday night.

It was a magnificent match with all of the attributes of our great game on display.

Of course it was all about Rory Sloane. The crowd, all knowing, cheered his every touch, and willed him into every contest — not that the courageous Sloane needs any more urging to put his body where it can do, or receive, the most damage.

But the most telling moment came towards the end of the third quarter when, having earned the free kick for yet another belt around the head, he went back and from 50 metres slotted a vital goal.

Rory Sloane of the Crows reacts after scoring a goal against Geelong.

Everyone of his teammates ran from all parts of the ground to touch and to celebrate with him.

It’s a ritual normally reserved for players who kick their first or milestone goals.

They obviously love him, just as the fans love him. He played the game with the determined Scott Selwood, a cruder version of his more famous brother, scragging and impeding his every move.

He never reacted, never retaliated and just kept getting the ball. He stayed with the club when we all thought he was going. He’s a beauty.

The club got Darren Jarman back in 1995, but in the context of this season’s setbacks this was the most important re-signing of a player in the club’s history.

Geelong’s season is just as delicately poised as Adelaide’s. The Cats could very well drop out of the eight after this weekend and they played with a desperation that indicated it.

That star-studded midfield of Joel Selwood, Patrick Dangerfield, Gary Ablett and Mitch Duncan, dominated the stoppages and the clearances, and the often maligned full-forward, Tom Hawkins, was at his dangerous best.

Yet somehow the Crows found a way to win. Sometimes it’s just the home ground advantage.

Both teams had a fierce desire to win but the Crows simply could not afford to lose in front of such unbridled passion and support.

Some of the passages of play were as exhilarating as those of last year when the Crows set the standards for the rest of the competition to follow.

Coach Don Pyke finally got his structures right. He erred terribly last week against Richmond by being too top heavy in his forward line.

Of course, you could sense his dilemma. In the previous week, after the team had played so well against West Coast, he did not want to drop players who had contributed to a good win.

However the young Darcy Fogarty, whose long-term future seems assured, and Curtly Hampton, who was clearly played out of position, had to make way for smaller, quicker, pressure-intent players.

Pyke made the same mistake going into last year’s grand final.

Loyalty and rewarding performance is important but in modern football, structure is vital and tough calls often have to be made to create that team balance.

Lachlan Murphy, the unlikely kid from Ivanhoe Grammar, Rory Atkins, who has learned that consistency is as vital as natural talent, and the explosive Jordan Gallucci vindicated those tough calls.

The football strategists will ponder over how the Crows could possibly win when they were so convincingly beaten in the critical stats of contested possession, tackles and clearances from stoppages.

Apart from the ball handling errors Geelong made at crucial stages, the answer lies in the Crows’ defence.

Rory Laird, whose status in the game is approaching greatness, won the ball 43 times and used it with an astounding 86 per cent efficiency.

Alex Keath covered for the injured Daniel Talia. Kyle Hartigan provided his usual heart-in-mouth moments but stuck to his task on Hawkins.

Luke Brown was predictably and inconspicuously effective and went forward to kick a vital goal.

The youngster, Wayne Milera was superb, drawing comparisons with the great Andrew McLeod and showing just why Taylor Walker two years ago made the bold claim that he might very well become the best Crows player of all time.

The others, Kyle Cheney, Jake Kelly, Tom Doedee and Bryce Gibbs, when he was thrust back there, all contributed to a fine win.

Then there was Tom Lynch, another player celebrating re-signing with the Crows providing the conduit from defence to attack and finishing with four goals from 22 hard-running possessions.

Ah yes, it was a grand night. The Crows are not dead yet.

The pulse is weak and the likelihood of making the final eight is still slim but where there is life, there is hope.