Adelaide laid 94 tackles in Showdown win over Port Adelaide and ‘Big Easy’ Elliott Himmelberg produced one of the best
When your key forward is chasing down and catching the opposition wingman holding the ball it’s little wonder Adelaide’s tackle count was off the charts in Showdown 46. See this week’s Moment on Monday, Power Rankings and game notes here.
Reece Homfray
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- Match report: Showdown spirit helps Crows turn off Power
- Analysis: Port Adelaide lacks scoring power
When your 198cm key forward is chasing down and lunging at the opposition wingman to catch him holding the ball it’s little wonder Adelaide’s tackle count was off the charts in Showdown 46.
Elliott Himmelberg is nicknamed ‘Big Easy’ but there’s nothing laid back about his attack on the footy and his tackle on Xavier Duursma in the third quarter showed why.
And as Garry Lyon said on Fox Footy: “the goal is the bonus”.
Like Alex Keath when Tom Doedee went down and Reilly O’Brien when Sam Jacobs was sent for knee surgery, the door of opportunity opened for Himmelberg when Josh Jenkins was out of form and what most thought would be a 1-2 week experiment could now become permanent.
In fact right now the most likely way for Jenkins — a 140-game, 278-goal forward in the leadership group — to get a recall is if he plays alongside the five-game, six-goal youngster rather than instead of him.
“He stays, that’s what footy’s all about, you’ve got to earn your spot and if you’re a young bloke in the SANFL you want to take it — and he’s taken it with both hands,” Lyon said.
Himmelberg only had six touches in the first half but his moment arrived late in the third term.
With seven minutes to go and Adelaide leading 55-28, Port Adelaide ruckman Scott Lycett tapped the ball between his legs to Duursma.
The fleet-footed wingman, looked at Himmelberg and ran away from him but either didn’t have an option up the ground or underestimated the big fella and held on to the footy a fraction too long.
Himmelberg lunged at him horizontally in the air to tackle him around the hips then went back and kicked a goal with a banana from the boundary.
THE BIG EASY!#AFLPowerCrows pic.twitter.com/Db6YOaLetN
— AFL (@AFL) May 11, 2019
“He always puts himself in the game somehow and he just finds a way,” Crows forward Tom Lynch said.
“That’s been the case in all his games he just finds a way to have an influence on the game and that’s all we ask — to keep competing in the air and you see the skill of the man to snap it around his body from 40m.
“Key forwards take a little bit of time and he’ll keep developing.”
In Himmelberg’s five AFL games, the Crows are 5-0 and he has kicked a goal in all of them, and interstate media is starting to take notice.
This from Jonathan Brown:
“He’s made a contest, he’s played with presence, he’s played like a big man — and now he’s playing like a little man at ground level.”
And more from Lyon:
“It has been an inspired coaching team selection.
“Josh Jenkins was struggling to have an impact, they gave this young man an opportunity and we’ve seen him mark the footy and hit the scoreboard — and now that sort of stuff.
“If he keeps doing that, he stays in the side, it is as simple as that.”
Himmelberg’s tackle on Duursma was one of an incredible 94 the Crows laid in the Showdown — significantly up on their tackle count in the seven previous games of 58, 63, 66, 52, 69, 50 and 58.
Rory Sloane laid a game-high 13 and small forward Lachlan Murphy 11 to highlight again his importance.
Lynch said Crows fans were seeing the result of developing young players, blooding them and then backing them in.
“Continuity, I took a little while, it’s just being able to play AFL footy regularly, front up for recovery and go again. It’s such a different feeling,” Lynch said.
“You feel a bit more part of the team instead of coming in for one game and then out.
“He’s starting to feel like he’s a part of the team the Big Easy, and so is ROB (O’Brien) and Lachy Murphy, these guys are playing with a lot of confidence and will only get better.
“I’m proud of the way the boys have got back to playing the way that wins us games of footy and that’s winning it at the contest.”
No surprise then that Himmelberg had 12 touches on Saturday and 10 were contested.
GAME NOTES
Crows v Power
THE midfield that some feared was too slow and one-paced has in fact been the very thing that’s turned Adelaide’s season around. Some weren’t convinced that Cam Ellis-Yolmen and Hugh Greenwood would both function in a midfield that already included the big-bodied Crouch brothers and Rory Sloane but their influence has been undeniable. Ellis-Yolmen came in at Round 4 and Greenwood at Round 5, and their contested-to- uncontested possession ratio has led the resurgence. Ellis-Yolmen is 60 (CP) and 64 (UP) while Greenwood is off the charts at 58 (CP) and 13 (UP).
KEN Hinkley said he was content with what his rucks provided around the contest on Friday night but just one mark and 0.1 between Paddy Ryder and Scott Lycett isn’t enough. Port is playing two rucks for a reason and they missed a chance to ram that home against the inexperienced Reilly O’Brien. I liked Lycett’s work around the stoppage but Port needed to hit the scoreboard. Or maybe we are underestimating O’Brien who doesn’t deserve to be dropped when Sam Jacobs is fit.
INJURIES forced Port’s hand at selection but it got nothing from three of the four inclusions — Kane Farrell, Steven Motlop and Aidyn Johnson on Saturday night. They weren’t expected to come straight in and dominate but they didn’t look dangerous and Farrell was the only goal kicker.
ONE Port player who did look dangerous was Tom Rockliff whose tackle on Rory Atkins to win a free kick late in the first quarter set the tone for a monster game.
ALEX Keath won the Showdown Medal with his 26 disposals but Daniel Talia only had half as much of the ball but also took five marks and was arguably just as good. Talia had a team-high 11 one per centers and his smother on Aidyn Johnson on the wing to thwart a near certain Power goal just before half-time was a standout of his game.
MR ONE PER CENTER
Who are the unsung heroes of SA footy? The players who have an impact on their team without hitting the stats sheet. Champion Data records one per centers by tallying spoils, knock-ons, shepherds and smothers every game. Here’s the leaderboard from Port Adelaide and Adelaide after Round 8:
69: Daniel Talia (Crows)
62: Dougal Howard (Power)
49: Tom Clurey (Power)
44: Jake Kelly (Crows)
43: Alex Keath (Crows)
42: Tom Jonas (Power)
34: Paddy Ryder (Power)
32: Scott Lycett (Power)
SUPERCOACH TOP 10
SUPERCOACHES are getting great bang for their buck from Rory Sloane, who only had 26 touches but laid 13 tackles, which took him to 138 ranking points in Showdown 46.
Here are the top 10 scorers from the big game:
1. Rory Sloane (Crows) 138
2. Dan Houston (Port) 125
3. Jarrod Lienert (Port) 123
4. Tom Rockliff (Port) 122
5. Tom Lynch (Crows) 111
6. Alex Keath (Crows) 108
7. Cam Ellis-Yolmen (Crows) 107
8. Scott Lycett (Port) 104
9. Dougal Howard (Port) 103
10. Rory Laird (Crows) 100
QUOTED
“It did surprise me, but I’ll take it that’s for sure. I’m very humbled and I feel very honoured.”
— Alex Keath after winning the Showdown Medal.
TIPS
AN early look at Round 9 tipping:
WEST COAST over Melbourne, COLLINGWOOD over St Kilda and the CROWS to beat Brisbane on the road. GEELONG to beat the Dogs, ESSENDON over Freo, NORTH to beat Sydney, PORT over the Suns, RICHMOND against Hawthorn and GWS over Carlton.
Last week: 7. Running total: 44.
POWER RANKINGS
1. GEELONG (7-1)
The Cats march on and move a step closer to being 10-1 but what was Gary Ablett thinking?
2. RICHMOND (5-3)
So impressive. A ruckman and a midfielder down by half-time and still beat Fremantle in Perth. Jason Castagna take a bow.
3. COLLINGWOOD (6-2)
Never looked like it until the final 10 minutes against Carlton but that’s what really good sides can do.
4. GWS (5-3)
Jeremy Cameron held goalless and the team kicked just five goals all day in big loss to Hawks.
5. ADELAIDE (5-3)
Good win but they needed it given what’s waiting for them in the next six weeks. Brisbane (away), West Coast (home), Melbourne (Darwin), GWS and Richmond (home) then Geelong (home).
6. BRISBANE (5-3)
Disappointing loss to the Bulldogs albeit in Ballarat which sets up a mouth-watering clash with the Crows this weekend.
7. WEST COAST (5-3)
Since coming back from that lengthy suspension, Andrew Gaff has had 35, 35, 32, 29, 35 and 30 possessions. Brilliant.
8. HAWTHORN (4-4)
Ended a horror month with a convincing win over GWS and not without a chance against Richmond this weekend.
9. ST KILDA (4-4)
Kicked four goals to one in the last quarter against West Coast but it wasn’t enough. How quickly they’ve gone from 4-1 to 4-4.
10. PORT ADELAIDE (4-4)
Should be good debate at match committee this week. Does Farrell, Motlop and Johnson deserve time to play themselves into form? Or will Port go with Billy Frampton given they’re crying out for a key forward?
11. WESTERN BULLDOGS (4-4)
Two in a row to get their season back on track and turnaround has coincided with Josh Dunkley going into the middle.
12. FREMANTLE (4-4)
Had their chances but couldn’t put scoreboard pressure on the Tigers and prime example was Brandon Matera.
13. ESSENDON (3-5)
Forget the goal post saga, that distracts Essendon from its real problems which were too many passengers and missed set shots.
14. GOLD COAST (3-5)
Heartbreaking way to lose a game but Gold Coast are proving a lot of people wrong this year.
15. MELBOURNE (3-5)
Melbourne comes home from the Gold Coast with the four points but a classic case of winning masking many problems.
16. SYDNEY (2-6)
Were bound to snap out of it sooner or later and finally did.
17. NORTH MELBOURNE (2-6)
Momentum of last week didn’t last long. Cats too good.
18. CARLTON (1-6)
A mark of Carlton’s improvement is they were shattered to lose to premiership fancy Collingwood, not content that they almost did.
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