Brodie Smith says he missed Eddie Betts’ incredible goal against Gold Coast while helping Rory Laird in a scrap

Brodie Smith had a front-row seat to the best show in town on Sunday night. But the 150-gamer missed Eddie Betts’ incredible goal because he was sticking up for good mate Rory Laird.

Brodie Smith with good mate Rory Laird. Picture: Sarah Reed.

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Brodie Smith had a front-row seat to the best show in town on Sunday night but missed Eddie Betts’ incredible goal because he was sticking up for good mate Rory Laird in a scrap.

As Betts wowed 40,000 people at Adelaide Oval and hundreds of thousands more watching on TV around the country with his left-foot checkside from the boundary, Smith didn’t even know it had happened.

Eddie Betts threads the needle from the boundary line. Picture SARAH REED

Eddie Betts celebrates the goal with his adoring fans. Picture SARAH REED

“Unfortunately I was in a bit of a tussle helping my mate Lairdy out, so I missed it,” Laird said post-match.

“He copped a hit behind the ball so I had to help him out, so I was down on the ground with Lairdy ... so I’ll have to go to the highlights to see it.

“He copped one behind the ball and I turned around and saw him on the ground and instinct kicked in so I went to help my mate.”

Betts kicked six goals in his 300th game and celebrated it with a big win over the Gold Coast Suns which also doubled as Smith’s 150th game and he produced a performance to match it.

The All Australian defender had 27 disposals and two goals including an inspirational solo effort from the wing.

Brodie Smith breaks away with the footy in Adelaide’s 73-point win over Gold Coast. Picture: Sarah Reed.

“Eddie took the limelight as he should and this week being his 300th made my 150th really special to be able to share that with him,” Smith said.

“He’s a superstar of the game and we all love him and to be able to share that moment with him and have a great win is a really good feeling.

“We were lapping it up the moment, obviously it was a huge milestone for Eddie and one for myself so we had a lot of friends and family in the rooms.

“There are a lot of good things to talk about this week, we were able to focus on the contest and then got back to some better ball movement.

“We spoke about it during the week that we weren’t far off, it was just a lot of little things in different areas, so if we tightened up across the board we knew it would come.

“We focused on contest and that’s why in the first quarter you saw that scrappy fight and not a lot of goals, but once we were able to break them a bit we got our ball movement going and in that second quarter is exactly how we want to play our footy.”

But the Crows’ focus will quickly turn to St Kilda at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night where a loss would undo a lot of their good work against the Suns.

“And a short week too so we have to put this one behind us and move on to the Saints really quick,” Smith said.

“They are in good form and we have to back it up next week.”

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