AFL round 16: The Crows standing up as Adelaide defeats GWS Giants to ease pressure on coach Matthew Nicks
Adelaide’s season hasn’t gone to plan, but four players are emerging as bright spots and they were all among the Crows’ best in a win over the Giants. Plus the two players the club should re-sign.
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Clubs learn a lot about players when the chips are down.
For all the Crows who have stagnated or regressed this year – and there are quite a few – others are emerging as bright spots of the club’s frustrating, five-win campaign.
Like wingman Lachie Sholl, who is having perhaps his finest season.
Key forward Darcy Fogarty is in the most consistent patch of his career.
Half-back Mitch Hinge looks on track for a top-three finish in the best-and-fairest.
Then there is pinch-hitting on-baller Izak Rankine, who is on his way to earning his first Malcolm Blight Medal and All-Australian blazer.
All four were among Adelaide’s best in its impressive 16-point home victory over GWS on Saturday night.
Sholl registered 18 disposals and kicked a goal.
The 24-year-old has been a skilful, smart player, but has ended the past three campaigns out of the side or having stints as the substitute.
In 2024, he is averaging career-highs in disposals (21.1) and tackles (two).
Sholl called his individual form pleasing, saying he felt settled in his wing spot.
“It comes back to role and trying to help the team win,” Sholl told The Advertiser.
“If I can keep doing that, it’ll hold me in good stead.”
Fogarty’s three-goal haul on Saturday night made it eight games in a row he had kicked at least two majors – easily the longest streak of his seven years at the top level.
After going goalless in three of his first five matches this season, he has booted 20 from his past eight.
Fogarty, also 24, took strides in the absence of veteran spearhead Taylor Walker while battling the opposition’s best defender.
Contested marking is a noticeable improvement area.
In Walker’s return match against the Giants, Fogarty took a match-high three, making it 22 from his past 10 outings.
He grabbed just one from his opening five games this season.
Now with 23, the Lucindale product and first-year leadership group member is ranked 11th in the AFL for total contested marks in 2024.
He was 40th in the league last year (24 from 20 games) and 47th in 2022 (24 from 17).
Fox Footy’s Gerard Healy described Hinge as one of the competition’s most underrated players during Saturday night’s broadcast.
Hinge had a team-high 31 disposals (31) and a game-best 622 metres gained.
The defender is averaging a career-high disposals (24.1) and the best kicking efficiency (79.4 per cent) in four years as a Crow.
Like Brodie Smith did at his best, Hinge plays with the dare Adelaide needs more often, starting several attacking forays against the Giants via daring dashes from the defensive 50.
Rankine was the spark plug on Saturday night who was everywhere early for the Crows, continuing his stellar season flitting between the forward line and midfield.
He probably should have kicked his second bag of four goals, instead finishing with 2.3.
Clubs also learn plenty about footballers when they are playing for their futures.
Uncontracted for next season, Sam Berry had his best performance since 2022 and collected his most disposals (21) since the last round of that campaign.
The hard nut has had an unusual 18 months.
After averaging the most tackles (9.5) in the AFL in 2022 and playing 18 games that year, Berry featured in a mere five matches last season.
Adelaide football director Mark Ricciuto dubbed him the forgotten Crows midfielder during a standout summer trial against West Coast.
Berry has gone from forgettable to little-used.
The Victorian has been the substitute or subbed off in seven of his 10 games this year.
Saturday night was one of the three times he avoided those unwanted titles, getting an opportunity for a full match after starting as the 23rd man versus Sydney pre-bye.
One strong performance does not make a career.
But the 22-year-old looks to be a player the Crows need to re-sign.
One win also does not erase the Crows’ problems from the first half of their season or mask the holes in their list.
Save for some sort of late-season miracle, Adelaide is not going to play finals, which means it will fall short of internal expectations.
The Crows definitely need to bolster their squad to make the top eight in 2025.
Their depth is not good enough, as proven by some of the team’s performances when missing several key players this year.
What the returns of Taylor Walker, Rankine, Nick Murray and even Reilly O’Brien show though is that when Adelaide has something close to its best 23, it can beat good sides.
For all the suggestions the Crows should cut ties with Walker at season’s end, the former captain is still so vital to their fortunes.
Adelaide has a 29-1-39 (42 per cent) win-loss record with him in the side over the past four seasons, compared to 2-11 (15.3 per cent) when he has been sidelined.
That is not by accident – his leadership, goalkicking, marking, footy nous and experience help win games for the Crows, and he typically takes the best defender.
Walker kicked two majors in his comeback match on Saturday night.
The next piece of Adelaide’s first-choice puzzle is not far away.
Key forward Riley Thilthorpe, who injured his knee in that West Coast pre-season match, kicked three goals in his SANFL return on Saturday as the Crows beat reigning premier Glenelg by 39 points.
Could we see the bulked-up big man against Brisbane at the Gabba next week?
Buoyed by what Thilthorpe has produced in training and in his return match, Nicks will surely be tempted.
“It was good to see him come back,” Nicks said.
“The main thing for me was that he got through the game.
“I thought he was a really important contributor.”
The coach may also be inclined to wait another week because the West Adelaide product is so important for the future and his rejuvenated team suddenly has some selection options.
SWEET RELIEF FOR CROWS, NICKS AS RANKINE INSPIRES BREAKTHROUGH
That is the performance Adelaide has been unable to produce for a month.
One that eases pressure on the club and Matthew Nicks.
One that shows why the coach has remained optimistic in the face of external unrest.
One that offers hope to supporters that this team and list is better than the ladder suggests.
For weeks the Crows have struggled to stop opposition momentum or scoring runs.
At Adelaide Oval on Saturday night, GWS could not halt theirs.
From a goal down at quarter-time, the Crows booted seven majors to one in a sizzling second-term blitz that opened up a 33-point lead at the main break.
Keays is always ready to pounce 💪#AFLCrowsGiantspic.twitter.com/7JTs9wUBL1
— AFL (@AFL) June 29, 2024
It was built off pressure, dare, winning one-on-ones, inside 50 dominance (18-8), contested possession ascendancy (46-36), goals from stoppages (six to two) and Izak Rankine.
Electric from the start, Rankine’s statistics after two quarters included 21 disposals, 12 contested possessions, five clearances, seven inside 50s, two majors and seven score involvements.
Inaccuracy – he kicked three behinds – was the only sour note to his night.
Few people would have been surprised when GWS fought back during the second half.
As the Giants cut the margin, the Crows’ nerves began to show.
Four Adelaide players flew for and spilt a mark, leaving an unmarked Toby Greene to snap the first major of the final term, bringing GWS to within 16 points.
But unlike in other games, the run of goals did not become five, seven or 10.
Ben Keays’ desperate holding-the-ball tackle on Stephen Coniglio that led to Jordan Dawson’s contested mark and Lachie Sholl’s close-range major stopped the streak at three.
When Jesse Hogan made it 16 points again, Adelaide replied instantly via Darcy Fogarty.
Fogarty (three majors) has now kicked at least two goals in eight successive matches.
Sholl has been one of Adelaide’s most improved players this year.
How did Rankine mark that? 😮#AFLCrowsGiantspic.twitter.com/acdBVKOwmB
— AFL (@AFL) June 29, 2024
Dawson started the game slowly, registering just seven disposals to halftime, but his leadership shone in key passages with the result in the balance.
Sensing GWS was coming late in the third term and with his team under pressure, the Crows skipper went behind the ball and made a crucial spoil then took a strong intercept mark.
In the final term, he beat Giants bull Tom Green in an important one-on-one to get the clearance.
Other notable performances came from underrated defender Mitch Hinge, whose dash set the tone for the way the Crows moved the ball, and hard nut Sam Berry, who played his best match in a long time.
And what about the youngsters?
Play the kids, the fans demanded as the losses piled up.
Well, third-gamer Billy Dowling all but iced the contest game by snapping truly with eight minutes remaining, putting Adelaide 28 points ahead.
Then he won two important clearances, one just outside the Crows’ defensive 50, the other inside it.
Debutant Zac Taylor made a great first impression after coming on as the substitute, hitting Lachie Murphy with a perfectly weighted pass inside 50.
Leading into its mid-season bye, Adelaide played like a team that badly needed the break.
The Crows emerged from it looking rejuvenated and hungry.
Eager to finish the season strongly, to show what they are capable of.
Maybe even to prove their doubters wrong.
“It was a bit of a statement game,” Fox Footy’s Gerard Healy said.
“The Crows are not as bad as people have been suggesting.
“They’ve got some holes, but they’ve got some injured players to come back into that and they’ve got a really good base to build on.
“He’ll be really relieved, Matty Nicks.”
The Adelaide coach has channelled Ted Lasso, the fictional television coach who urged his players to ‘Be a goldfish’ – to forget the bad stuff, move on, and go again.
“Although it hasn’t gone our way in the first half (of the season) we’ve now locked in on where we’re heading,” Nicks said.
“We’ve moved on from moments that we can’t do anything about and said ‘Let’s just play each moment as it comes’ and I thought the guys did that really well in a game where we were challenged.
“They kicked several goals in a row and that’s been an issue for us, but we were able to put it to the side … be a goldfish, move on, and go again.
“There were so many positives out of tonight from a team point-of-view and obviously some individuals had outstanding nights on the back of that.
“We found a way to bring ourselves back.
“Not just to get ourselves back in the contest, but to actually run over the top and knock through seven of our own.
“It’s an area we’re working on and have been for a number of years, it’s not something new, but tonight was a step in the right direction.”
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