Richmond Tigers delivered a knockout blow to a woeful Adelaide Crows side who had a day they will want to forget
THE Tigers were amazing but the Crows were woeful, writes Reece Homfray.
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IT was Josh Jenkins who this month said you have to be punched in the mouth before you can come back and start throwing punches yourself.
Adelaide wasn’t just punched in the mouth at the MCG yesterday, it was KO’d.
When you’re just a bit off in a Grand Final you pay a monumental price. The Crows were jittery early and completely fell apart the longer the game went.
Hanging by a thread when they trailed by 27 points in time-on of the third quarter, Richard Douglas tried to pinpoint a pass inside the corridor coming out of defence.
It just missed its mark, the Tigers pounced, Jason Castagna kicked a goal and it was game over.
But Douglas shouldn’t be hung out to dry on his own, he was on the end of one of those missed kicks in the first quarter which had catastrophic consequences.
A foot pass fell just short of him in the middle meaning he had to stop, was caught holding the ball, and it resulted in a Bachar Houli goal.
Then to open the second quarter Jack Riewoldt’s kick around his body only just made the distance but no Crow was on the line.
Adelaide was again just a little bit off but paid dearly.
That goal started with Alex Rance’s spoil on Taylor Walker at half-back. Walker looked headed for a certain chest mark and Rance only just got his fist to it but again small margins with big consequences.
Soon after Charlie Cameron was streaming forward with two teammates in front of him but his kick was just short of Riley Knight. Instead of it sitting up for an open goal it bounced the wrong way. Missed it by that much.
Adelaide can talk about mental toughness all it likes and stare down its opponent before the game but in the heat of battle it crumbled under Richmond’s pressure.
Trailing by nine points at half-time they were suddenly in unfamiliar territory.
For so long this season and certainly this finals series the Crows had jumped their opponents and never looked back.
But this time their opponent fought back, and how would the Crows respond? They were jumped. They were belted 17-8 in inside 50s and 5-1 in goals in the third quarter alone.
The Tigers were amazing but the Crows were woeful.
Apart from two goals to Walker in the second half they got nothing out of their tall forwards and at one stage had kicked an inaccurate 5.11.
The final insult was when David Mackay’s kick-in from a behind late in the final term missed its mark, Jacob Townsend chopped it off and kicked the goal.
It said so much about Adelaide’s day that it will want to forget but never will.
reece.homfray@news.com.au