The Lowdown: Key defenders stand up as Crows, Power bounce back after pressure-fuelled weeks
It was a bumper weekend for the Power and Crows, with both coming into must-win games under intense pressure. Simeon Thomas-Wilson runs through his likes and dislikes in The Lowdown.
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It was a bumper weekend for the Power and Crows, with both coming into must-win games under intense pressure. Simeon Thomas-Wilson runs through his likes and dislikes from the weekend of South Australian football.
LIKES
1. Key defender bounce back No. 1
Port Adelaide’s defence has been under fire for most of this season, after it was identified that it was the area the Power needed to address. Esava Ratugolea was out with a hamstring injury, but Aliir Aliir and Brandon Zerk-Thatcher well and truly stood up for Port against St Kilda. If both or one of them was along with Ratugolea on the sidelines the Power would have lost to the Saints and the pressure on Ken Hinkley would have been dialled up to a new level. It was just find a way type of stuff for the Power as the Saints made a late charge and Port’s two twin towers in defence embodied this.
Under significant pressure they both just stood up and repelled the Saints attacks. It wasn’t surprising for Hinkley to give Zerk-Thatcher a shout-out post game. He’s been interesting since he has arrived from Essendon. After conceding the most goals by a defender in 2023 at the Bombers, early on it looked like a pretty shrewd move by the Power. But he was the sub against Hawthorn and was subbed out in the horror show against Brisbane. Hinkley said it was a “really big moment for us and him” on Zerk-Thatcher’s game. It could also be a big moment for Aliir as well. He hasn’t looked like the dominant interceptor we know he can be for much of 2024. His decision to try and punch rather than mark in the opening minute of the loss to the Lions set the tone for the Power in that heavy loss. He was back to his intercepting best against the Saints. The Power now face a bit of a dilemma when Ratugolea returns.
2. Key defender bounce back No. 2
The last time the Crows played Mark Keane was given an absolute bath by Sydney’s Joel Amartey. He bounced back against GWS. The Giants were pretty woeful against the Crows on Saturday night at Adelaide Oval, but they weren’t really given a sniff by the Crows. This was despite the inside 50 count being pretty close, the Crows ended up being plus four. Jesse Hogan and Jake Riccardi kicked two goals each, but the Crows key defenders would have definitely felt like they took the points against the Giants forwards. It was an impressive response from Keane, who is still pretty raw in the game, coming off the toughest game of his career.
3. Tex still looms key
Izak Rankine is the Crows best and most important player, but Taylor Walker is still up there. And it creates an interesting dilemma for the Crows. He isn’t reaching the levels he did last year, but it would have almost been a miracle if he did. But for all the debate about if he should be at the Crows in 2025, Adelaide’s forward line looked better with him in it against the Giants. We’ve been here before with speculation around if Walker could look to end his career at another club if the Crows do not re-sign him. The day will come when Walker isn’t of use to the club, but he still has something to offer the Crows with his leadership, experience and footy nous. Darcy Fogarty has put together the most consistent patch of his career of late, Riley Thilthorpe should return to the side soon. You still feel like those two need the experience of Walker – at the very least off the field – for another season.
DISLIKES
1. Port’s turnovers
Port Adelaide’s two-point win over St Kilda on Sunday was a tough watch for most of the game. Early on the ball use was downright ugly. Brownlow Medallist Gerard Healy said early on that the game was on record pace for intercept possessions. It was a comment in jest, but the sides did their best to create that bit of history. Kane Farrell had six turnovers himself, and he is one of if not the best kick in the team. His turnover to Liam Henry, which led to a Rowan Marshall goal, summed up just how sloppy the Power was with the ball. The Saints kicked six goals in the first half and all of them came from turnovers. The Power showed plenty of grit to hold on and claim an extremely important win. But it can’t afford to be so sloppy in the future.
2. Adelaide Oval crowds
We get it, it’s cold, it rained all day and GWS doesn’t have massive support. But the crowd of 29,802 was the lowest Crows crowd at Adelaide Oval since Covid-times. The Crows average 33,806 when they play the Giants at home and they couldn’t really get that close to it despite the offer of kids going free. It follows on from the Power just getting 32,862 against Brisbane in the 20-year anniversary of Port Adelaide’s one and only AFL premiership. And as the Power got smashed the crowd only got thinner and thinner. That scheduling by the AFL was a strange one. It should have been a Saturday night clash. But had the respective losing streaks of the two South Australian sides resulted in many fans just deciding to stay away? The numbers suggest so.
3. Debutants as the sub
It is nowhere near as bad as when debutants were named as the medical sub, and in some cases didn’t actually get activated. But it doesn’t really feel right for a debutant to be the sub in their first game. Both the Crows and Power debutants of Zac Taylor and Will Lorenz had the elation of finding out that they were playing their first games this weekend – although in Taylor’s case it was a call-up after Chayce Jones hurt his back. But then they have to sit on the bench until the third quarter in Lorenz’s case and the final quarter in Taylor’s case. Maybe it does allow them to ease their way into their first AFL game but there isn’t a great feel about the debutant being the sub. The push to get rid of it and have five on the interchange continues to get momentum.
AND THE LOWDOWN ON …
It was fascinating the way the Power chose to address, or not address, the mounting pressure on the club and Hinkley from fans last week. Rather than get chairman David Koch or chief executive Matthew Richardson to go out publicly and address the backlash – or even put out a letter to fans – the Power decided to try and not “fan the flames” and keep it business as usual. But it wasn’t a normal week for the Power and the approach says a lot about the club’s relationship with its fans that they thought having their leaders come out and speak would have that reaction. The win eased the pressure for this week, but the Power are still going to be a big watch for the rest of the season.
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Originally published as The Lowdown: Key defenders stand up as Crows, Power bounce back after pressure-fuelled weeks
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