AFL 2021 Essendon v Adelaide: Low-flying Crows register lowest score in listless performance, Tom Doedee injury update
Adelaide defender Tom Doedee was subbed out of Friday night’s loss after a big collision. And he’s unlikely to return to the action right away.
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Adelaide defender Tom Doedee is expected to miss next Sunday’s home game against West Coast due to a suspected concussion.
Doedee was involved in a heavy collision in the first quarter of the Crows’ 63-point loss to Essendon at Marvel Stadium on Friday night when he ran back with the flight of the ball and crashed into Bombers forward Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti.
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The 24-year-old was subbed out of the game then had blurred vision and a chest injury while being assessed in the rooms.
Doedee is now subject to the AFL’s 12-day concussion protocols, which will rule him out of facing the Eagles.
In-form midfielder Paul Seedsman will be monitored during the week after receiving a knock to his calf in the third quarter and finishing the game on the bench.
Key defender Jordon Butts will also be assessed in coming days after sustaining a corked hip in a marking contest.
He also required stitches for a cut to his head but was able to finish the game.
Record low: Nicks can’t explain Crows horror show
- Ronny Lerner
Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks says his team “embarrassed ourselves” on Friday night in what he described as the most disappointing performance of his short time in charge of the Crows.
Essendon held Adelaide to their lowest-ever score of 2.9.21, which was also the worst score recorded in the 22-year history of Marvel Stadium, as the Crows crashed to a 63-point drubbing.
“It goes against the body of work we’ve put together for the year, it’s one out of the box that I can’t explain ... the effort wasn’t at the level it needs to be able to play AFL footy,” a perplexed Nicks said post-match.
“It’s a hard one to swallow, I feel for our members and our supporters ... this one is a huge step backwards.
“Credit to Essendon, they owned us, we didn’t bring much of a fight unfortunately.”
Nicks said his players struggled to explain the sheer ineptitude of their performance immediately after the game.
“We tried as much as we could, players and coaches, of what we could try to do to stop the bleeding,” Nicks said.
“I can’t explain why our contest wasn’t at the level, I can’t explain our skills and our lack of intensity ... by the end of it we looked like we were out of gas.”
Nicks envisaged quite a few changes to Adelaide’s line-up for their next match against West Coast and he was hopeful forward duo Taylor Walker (neck) and Elliott Himmelberg (illness) would be inclusions.
One of the players that will probably have to be replaced is defender Tom Doedee, who had to be subbed out in the first quarter due to a suspected concussion after a sickening collision with Essendon’s Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti, running back with the flight of the ball.
The clash left Doedee with blurred vision, and chest soreness, and Nicks agreed that the 24-year-old was probably too courageous for his own good on that occasion.
“I think it’s something we’ve got to keep working on because I’m not sure that ball is ever there to go for,” Nicks said.
“At the time I was praying that he pulled out.”
Match report: Appalling Crows inherit shameful 971-game record
Adelaide’s season has hit rock bottom after they were held to the lowest score in their history by a far superior Essendon outfit at Marvel Stadium on Friday night.
The Crows’ score of 2.9.21 was also the lowest ever recorded at the Docklands venue in 971 games and 22 seasons.
It was a dirty night for the Crows on a historic level as they were also held to their lowest ever quarter-time, halftime and three-quarter time scores against Essendon, on the way to suffering their second-worst loss to the Bombers, and their biggest defeat against them in 26 years.
The Bombers kept their finals hopes alive with the effortless dismantling of a woefully lacklustre Adelaide who were non-competitive for large parts of the match.
And if Essendon kicked straighter in front of goal, the final margin probably would’ve been greater than 63 points.
After a horrible first quarter, which failed to produce a goal for 23 minutes, despite the game being played in perfect conditions, the Bombers quickly asserted themselves as the superior outfit in the second term.
The hosts kicked the first five goals of the contest, including a pair of long bombs from young gun Archie Perkins, to take total control of the game and swiftly put paid to any semblance of resistance the Crows were offering.
The Crows almost tripled the Bombers for clangers (16-6) in the first term — they would finish the game with 62 to Essendon’s 43 — and failed to kick their first major of the game until an hour after the first bounce.
Not only were Adelaide beaten up around the ball in the midfield, but played a predictable brand of footy as they refused to move the ball forward with any fluency, making life for Essendon’s defenders very easy.
The Bombers had a whopping 19 more inside 50s (31-12) in the first half, and ended up smashing the Crows in that category 61-30, as they effortlessly kicked further ahead after halftime to complete a comprehensive victory.
The result saw the Bombers get within two points of the top eight heading into the weekend, but Ben Rutten’s team will probably have to win five of their last six games to give themselves a genuine chance of September action and with tough encounters against GWS, Sydney and the Western Bulldogs awaiting in their run home, they’ll certainly be made to earn it.
MERRETT MASTERCLASS
Zach Merrett was head and shoulders above the rest, setting up the victory in the first half and finishing the game with 35 disposals, 505 metres gained, eight score involvements and a goal assist. Meanwhile Archie Perkins positioned himself as the clubhouse leader for the round 17 rising star nomination, ending up with 18 touches, nine score involvement and three goals. He could have had four or five goals, but missed a few easy shots. The Bombers rookie kicked the goal of the night midway through the second term, though, as he broke the Ben Davis tackle and slotted a sensational banana goal from the pocket.
DOEDEE CLEANED UP
Tom Doedee had to be subbed off in the first quarter due to concussion after being involved in a spectacular collision with Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti in Essendon’s forward pocket. Doedee came off second best as he flew back with the flight of the ball, and got cannoned into by the Essendon forward coming the other way.
DRAPER GOES FOR A GALLOP
Sam Draper set the crowd alight early in the second quarter when he burst clear of the traffic on the wing and took a bounce, but the excitement quickly dissipated when he hacked it forward with an indiscriminate mongrel punt, capping off a curious couple of minutes for the raw ruckman who failed to make the distance from a set shot 35m out beforehand.
NO TEX, NO CROWS
Adelaide struggled to win the ball in the middle of the ground, and even on the odd occasion when they did manage to get the ball forward, the absence of injured forward Taylor Walker was telling. Without a genuine focal point in attack, the Crows stood no chance of kicking a big score.
SCOREBOARD
BOMBERS 2.5 6.8 9.12 11.18 (84)
CROWS 0.2 1.3 2.7 2.9 (21)
LERNER’S BEST
Bombers: Merrett, Hind, Langford, Parish, Perkins, Snelling, Redman.
Crows: Laird, Jones, Seedsman.
GOALS
Bombers: Perkins 3, Wright 2, Hooker, Stringer, Waterman, Jones, McDonald-Tipungwuti, Snelling.
Crows: Schoenberg, Murphy.
INJURIES
Bombers: Langford (hamstring).
Crows: Doedee (concussion), Seedsman (calf)
LATE CHANGE
Elliott Himmelberg (illness) was replaced in Adelaide’s selected side by Will Hamill.
UMPIRES
Deboy, Chamberlain, Whetton
VENUE
Marvel Stadium
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
LERNER’S VOTES
3 Z.Merrett (Ess)
2 N.Hind (Ess)
1 K.Langford (Ess)
Violent collision draws conflicting views over Crow’s act
It was the bone-rattling collision between Adelaide’s Tom Doedee and Essendon’s Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti that rocked Marvel Stadium and had onlookers questioning the increasingly fine line between sheer courage and “stupid brave”.
The first 24 minutes of the Bombers-Crows clash lacked intensity and physicality … but that changed in a heartbeat with a long, high ball into Essendon’s attack.
Doedee went back with the flight of the ball, with his eyes fixed on it, almost oblivious of anything that was coming in his direction.
McDonald-Tipungwuti launched himself at the ball in an attempt to mark, and crashed into Doedee like a freight-train.
Both players hit the turf as the crowd rose in a mix of anticipation and fear for the players’ safety in the accidental clash.
Doedee came off the worse for wear after the heavy collision and was taken from the field by trainers before heading straight down into the rooms for a concussion test.
He initially emerged during the second term, seemingly trying to see if he could back on the field before the Crows thankfully subbed him out of the game with concussion.
“That was just stupid brave,” Triple M’s Nathan Brown said after the collision, with Luke Darcy adding: “As brave as it is, it is just not smart.”
Jason Dunstall said even though the decision had to be made in a split second, Doedee needed to be more aware of what was coming at him.
“If you are running back with the flight (of the ball), you should look at what’s coming … rather just keep your eye on the ball,” Dunstall said.
“You can have a quick look and better prepare yourself (for the contact) … that doesn’t stop you being courageous, but you need to do it to protect yourself.”
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