AFL Round 18 Adelaide v St Kilda: All the news and analysis as the Crows prove they are up for the fight
On Saturday night in horrid conditions against a dogged St Kilda, the Crows proved what Matthew Nicks has been saying all along. MATT TURNER looks at who – and how – they did it.
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Matthew Nicks has always said his players are up for the fight.
They needed to be to overcome torrid conditions, a dogged St Kilda and a slow start on Saturday night.
Adelaide football director Mark Ricciuto told Fox Footy the Saints were tougher and cleaner in the first quarter.
Crows captain Jordan Dawson said post-game that his side did not start as hard as it needed.
Statistics proved it.
At the first break, St Kilda led contested possessions 47-33, tackles 28-21, clearances 14-8 and inside 50s 14-10.
The Saints were also able to control the ball in the wet when they needed to be well ahead in disposals (94-71) and marks (18-6).
Crucially for Adelaide though, it was down by just eight points.
The Crows gritted their way back into the game by getting their hands dirty.
In the second term, they won contested possessions 46-41, tackles 25-24, clearances 13-6, inside 50s 18-8 and disposals 94-76, taking a four-point lead on the scoreboard.
By game’s end, Adelaide trailed in contested possessions 177-160 but was ahead in tackles (110-95), clearances (54-46), inside 50s (52-39) and prevailed by 32 points.
Dawson, Ben Keays, Lachie Sholl and Sam Berry were among the most instrumental Crows to the fightback.
The Crows skipper was a little down in last week’s 11-point loss to Brisbane at the Gabba, registering 16 disposals, and he made a few early errors on Saturday night.
But Dawson helped turn the game in the second term against the Saints.
“He was the one that arrested the momentum for his football club”, according to Fox Footy’s Jack Riewoldt.
“They put him wherever they need him – behind the ball when the wanted to kill it late.”
In the game-changing second quarter, Berry registered five disposals (four contested), six tackles, two intercept possessions and a goal assist.
The 22-year-old showed the hard-at-it approach at the ball we have come to expect but also some precision and guile.
With Adelaide down 29-19 midway through the second term, Berry claimed a ground ball, earned a free kick for a high tackle, then hit Darcy Fogarty 30m from goal with a pinpoint pass that resulted in a major.
Minutes later, Berry won a contested ball in the middle of the field by patting the footy to himself, away from an opponent, then surged away, even taking a bounce, before delivering inside 50, a passage that ended with a near goal to Ben Keays.
“At quarter-time it wasn’t looking good for us, but in the end, that’s probably the most pleasing part … that we were able to turn the game around,” Nicks said.
“We were being convincingly beaten in the contest, so it showed some maturity.
“We felt as a group that that game demanded a certain mindset and we delivered it for three quarters. To be under pressure and turn it around, that was a really good ‘growth’ game for us in an area that we haven’t been able to do as well as we would’ve liked to up to this point.
“That’s player led.
“They’re showing some really positive signs in that space right across the board, from the first-gamer (Hugh Bond) to Taylor Walker. It was really pleasing.
“It builds belief, but we’ve still got a way to go. We might be a percentage chance of getting to the finals, but we’ve still got a way to go.”
Berry is out of contract at season’s finish and has put talks on hold to concentrate on his football.
Adelaide is optimistic he will re-sign.
With the form he is in he definitely deserves a new deal.
Only Saints wingman Mason Wood (16.2km) covered more ground than Keays (15.9km) and Sholl (15.6km).
Sholl’s gut running was rewarded with two majors, the second of which came after a delightful low pick-up in the wet in the goalsquare in the third term.
The 17-disposal performance continued his most consistent season.
Keays, who kicked 1.3, led all players for ground ball gets – a key statistic on a rainy night – with 13.
Two 30m chases helped cause a turnover in the middle of the ground that led to Sholl’s second goal.
Keays also had more sprints (26), inside 50s (eight) and score involvements (six) than anyone.
A pair of wins from three matches is a good patch for Adelaide to build on after losing three of its previous four.
“It was good from quarter-time,” Dawson said on Fox Footy of Saturday night’s triumph.
“It was a tough game and hard work.”
LYON’S PHONE FURY
– Jason Phelan
The telephone in the away team coach’s box copped the wrath of Ross Lyon as the Crows worked back into the contest in the second quarter to take a four-point lead into the main break.
A frustrated Lyon was forced into some running repairs when he smashed the handset into the desk after a Riley Bonner error led to a laser-like Sam Berry pass and a superb mark and goal to a hard-leading Darcy Fogarty.
Adelaide hit the front through a Ben Keays soccered goal in the shadows of half-time, but Lyon had learnt his lesson, catching himself in time to gently tap the phone on the desk.
Fox Footy boundary rider Ruby Schleicher cheekily asked Lyon at half-time if he expected to be billed for the broken phone.
“I think it was put together in the ‘60s!” the coach replied with a grin.
Post-match, Lyon quipped: “It was pretty bodgy, I’ve whacked some phones harder than that, it just fell apart.
“How about you invest in some infrastructure in this stadium?
“You’ve got everything but a decent phone system.”
The tense final term got the better of Lyon, however, with the phone split in two pieces and thrown to the side.
SUB-THORPE?
After a tough season to date, the Crows faithful received positive news with the inclusion of Thilthorpe for his first game of the season after recovering from a pre-season knee injury.
But his coach didn’t come to the party, Nicks making the key forward the substitute.
“I just can’t believe it … starting as the sub?” Jack Riewoldt said on Fox Footy before the game.
“After two games back in the SANFL, surely we want to see him in the starting line-up.”
Thilthorpe saw action when he replaced Elliott Himmelberg at the three-quarter time break, with the home fans giving him a rousing reception when touched the ball for the first time early in the tense last quarter.
Scoreboard
CROWS 2.1 5.5 6.10 10.11 (71)
SAINTS 3.3 4.7 5.8 5.9 (39)
PHELAN’S BEST CROWS: Laird, Sholl, Dawson, Keays, O’Brien, Soligo, Dowling. SAINTS: Marshall, Wanganeen-Milera, Phillipou, Steele, Jones, Clark, Sharman.
GOALS CROWS: Thilthorpe 2, Sholl 2, Murphy, Keays, Fogarty, Rachele, Dowling, Himmelberg. SAINTS: Wood 2, Sharman 2, Phillipou.
INJURIES CROWS: Nil. SAINTS: Nil.
UMPIRES Brown, Nicholls, Jones, McGinness
34,549 at ADELAIDE OVAL
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
JASON PHELAN’S VOTES
3 Laird (Adel)
2 Sholl (Adel)
1 Marshall (StK)
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