They endured a week of scrutiny but the Crows responded on the Gold Coast

Adelaide makes some happy memories on the Gold Coast at last but the hapless Suns don’t give a true guague of performance. Plus; recap with quarter-by-quarter reviews.

• Match centre: All the stats and SuperCoach scores
• Match report: Suns have no answer for hungry Crows

There’s nothing quite like beating up on the wooden spooner to make yourself feel good again.

The Crows were always going to respond to their self-described Showdown “embarrassment” last weekend and their second consecutive loss.

But Gold Coast was so bad on Saturday night it’s hard to get a gauge on whether this was the Crows back to their best or not.

They were allowed to move the footy far too easily, often with little or no pressure on the ball carrier, prompting Jonathan Brown to utter the words “cakewalk” and “diabolical” from the commentary box.

The way Tyson Stengle got his first goal as a Crow was simply unforgivable as far as the Suns are concerned.

Tyson Stengle of the Crows is congratulated by Wayne Milera after he kicked his first goal for Adelaide. Picture: AAP Image/Dave Hunt

As Rory Sloane lined up for a set shot from 20m out, Stengle was allowed to stand unmarked in the goalsquare and Sloane honoured the club’s debutant with a handball over the top.

It was a dream scenario for Adelaide — unleash Stengle in his first game for the club alongside Eddie Betts — not in place of him — and play Betts back into form at the same time.

The pair finished with nine goals between them but for Betts he did more than enough to justify coach Don Pyke’s faith when there were calls for him to be dropped.

After two goalless games in a row, Betts kicked six against the Suns for the second time this season, but it was his creativity for others, pressure up the ground and workrate to win possession in defence that would have pleased Pyke the most.

As easy as Adelaide seemed to have it over the team now destined to finish last this season, the Crows still did the unconditional things you would expect of them regardless of whether the margin was 1 or 100 points. Such as Rory Sloane’s desperate smother late in the second quarter and his repeat efforts on the wing to keep the ball in play and moving forward with Brad Crouch.

Taylor Walker of the Crows celebrates a goal with Eddie Betts. Picture: Getty Images

There was Rory Atkins going back with the flight of the ball and into heavy contact from Jesse Joyce, Hugh Greenwood’s three consecutive tackles in the one piece of play deep in defence and Sloane's crunching hit on Darcy MacPherson late in the final quarter.

Key defenders Daniel Talia, Alex Keath and Kyle Hartigan were not in the mood for pleasantries either and refused to allow the Suns’ forwards any time or space.

But after leading by 64 points at half-time, the only thing that would truly satisfy Adelaide supporters was a four-quarter hiding.

Being ruthless also meant being smart and after wasting opportunities in the first half the Crows went on to win by 95 points. Only the harshest critic would find disappointment in the margin not cracking 100 points.

As well as finding their confidence and touch, the big winner was their percentage. The Crows went into Round 17 sitting eighth on the ladder but with the second worst percentage (105.0) of the top nine teams.

David Swallow of the Suns after their big loss to the Crows on Saturday night. Picture: Getty Images

By night’s end on the Gold Coast they’d jumped to sixth and improved their percentage to 112.8.

They had 10 goal kickers including four to Josh Jenkins and three to Taylor Walker and wingman Rory Atkins had a season-high 34 disposals.

So are the Crows back or is this a false dawn? Too hard to say, but you suspect Friday night’s game against Essendon will reveal more.

But after heading north on Wednesday for the sunshine while Adelaide shivered through four days of rain, it was very much mission accomplished for Pyke’s men. Turns out the Gold Coast isn’t such a bad place for them after all.

QUARTER-BY-QUARTER UPDATES

FIRST QUARTER
Suns 2.3 (15)

Crows 5.7 (37)

The Crows are off to a flier! #AFLSunsCrows pic.twitter.com/Z7hfj9J3mJ

— AFL (@AFL) July 13, 2019

Adelaide is dominating Gold Coast early with five goals to one in a blistering opening quarter.

Taylor Walker, Eddie Betts, Luke Brown, Reilly O’Brien and Wayne Milera all hit the scoreboard in the first term as the Crows had 12 scoring shots to five.

Debutant Tyson Stengle almost joined them when he had a flying shot on goal mid-way through the term but just missed.

Brad Crouch has been his usual busy self in the midfield but the early surprise for Adelaide has been Milera who had 10 disposals to start the game.

Like last week’s Showdown, both he and Brodie Smith started forward and have had an impact around the footy.

SECOND QUARTER
Suns 2.5 (17)

Crows 12.9 (81)

Lachie Murphy offering out some candy! 🍭#AFLSunsCrows pic.twitter.com/AM5ue8tI8D

— AFL (@AFL) July 13, 2019

Adelaide is on track for a 100-plus point win over Gold Coast after continuing its domination of the Suns in the second term.

The Crows moved the ball from end-to-end with ease and kicked 7.2 to 0.2 to extend their lead to 64 points at half time.

Tyson Stengle's kicked two on his Crows' debut! #AFLSunsCrows pic.twitter.com/MWFubg6RHC

— AFL (@AFL) July 13, 2019

Tyson Stengle kicked his first goal as a Crow when he was left unmarked in the goal square and got the handball over the top from Rory Sloane, while his housemate Betts kicked his second goal of the half in a lively performance.

Wingman Rory Atkins is Adelaide’s leading ball winner with 18 disposals while defensive trio Daniel Talia, Kyle Hartigan and Alex Keath are repelling almost everything that even remotely resembles a Gold Coast attack.

THIRD QUARTER
Suns 4.7 (31)

Crows 19.10 (124)

Eddie's kicked four now!#AFLSunsCrows pic.twitter.com/WqGTQHUf5Q

— AFL (@AFL) July 13, 2019

Eddie Betts kicked his fourth goal as the Crows continued to put Gold Coast to the sword, extending their lead to 93 points at three-quarter-time.

The combination so many fans had been waiting for all season ‘Stengle to Betts’ and vice versa unfolded in the third term as the two goalsneaks caused chaos for the Suns’ defence.

Taylor Walker also found his range from beyond 50m with his third goal as did Josh Jenkins who regained his tough in his second game back from injury.

Gold Coast showed some brief fight at the start of the third quarter with physical intent but they were unable to sustain it.

FOURTH QUARTER
Suns 8.8 (56)

Crows 23.13 (151)

High five, Eddie! 🖐#AFLSunsCrows pic.twitter.com/w2JwsjlgD6

— AFL (@AFL) July 13, 2019

Adelaide has belted Gold Coast by 95 points while playing its forwardline back into form.

For the second time this season Eddie Betts kicked six goals against the Suns while Crows debutant Tyson Stengle added three in their first game together.

Josh Jenkins (four) and Taylor Walker (three) also hit the scoreboard as Adelaide gave its percentage a much-needed boost.

The margin looked headed for 100 points before Sam Day and Alex Sexton kicked the last two goals of the game for Gold Coast to salvage a tiny piece of respect.

GOLD COAST V ADELAIDE

Saturday 6.55pm at Metricon Stadium

Weather: Fine, Max 24C

TV: Fox Sports 3, Channel 7 (live)

Radio: FIVEaa, TripleM, ABC891

Live stream: Kayosports.com.au

SUNS

B: Lukosius, Hombsch, Harbrow

HB: Joyce, Hanley, Heron

C: Weller, Brodie, Fiorini

HF: Sexton, Corbett, Miller

F: Lemmens, Day, King

FOLL: Witts, Swallow, MacPherson

I/C: Ballard, Miles, Rischitelli, Scheer

EMG: Dawson, Horlin-Smith, Murdoch, Wright

IN: Lemmens, Rischitelli

OUT: Martin (injured), Powell (injured)

CROWS

B: Smith, Talia, Keath

HB: Kelly, Luke Brown, Laird

C: Atkins, B. Crouch, Mackay

HF: Greenwood, Walker, Knight

F: Jenkins, Betts, Murphy

FOLL: O’Brien, M. Crouch, Sloane

Interchange: Seedsman, Hartigan, Stengle, Milera

Emergencies: Otten, Jacobs, Douglas, Davis

IN: Riley Knight, Tyson Stengle

OUT: Jordan Gallucci, Richard Douglas