AFL Round 20 Adelaide v Carlton: All the news, action and fallout from Adelaide Oval
Ben Keays endured a nervous week after being handed a big job by coach Matthew Nicks. How he responded says everything about where the Crows are heading.
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The words that describe what Ben Keays does really well on a football field are reflective of what Matthew Nicks wants the Crows to be.
Hardworking, selfless, dogged, energetic, in-your-face and team-first.
You can critique Keays’s disposal, as you have often been able to do with Adelaide as a side this year.
But you cannot question his effort and attitude.
You have rarely been able to do that about the Crows this year either, even though they are 15th on the ladder.
Adelaide has fought valiantly plenty of times against finals contenders in 2022 and fallen short, usually down to a lapse costing a run of goals or the team’s kicking struggles.
On Saturday night, it was rewarded for a relentless, four-quarter performance that had more than a sprinkle of polish to beat seventh-placed Carlton by 29 points at home.
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The whole side played with Keays-like workrate from the opening bounce to the final siren.
Usually, he flits from contest to contest as a hard running, ball-winning midfielder.
On Saturday night, the 25-year-old again did his best Energiser bunny impersonation.
This time it was as a negating half-forward on Adam Saad, in what was a brilliant coaching move by Nicks.
It was far from a lockdown role.
Keays gathered 21 disposals, kicked a career-best three goals, had a game-high four goal assists and registered 11 score involvements, with no centre-bounce attendances.
He easily could have booted two more goals that he handed to teammates at close range.
Nicks joked Keays’s role could only have gone better if he had kicked those and made it five majors.
Even though he became a run-with player in his first year at the Crows in 2020, Keays told News Corp he was nervous earlier in the week when the coach asked him to shadow Saad.
“I’ve trained a couple of seasons now and played in the midfield, and you get used to it,” Keays said.
“To switch up that role is a little bit daunting, especially on a player like Saad, who’s All-Australian calibre, having an outstanding year and is really dangerous.
“I got into this team in 2020 doing run-with roles and they’re tough.
“I just tried to prepare as best I could, put faith in the coaches that they knew the role was going to help us win and then just perform, and execute.”
Keays made Saad pay at least twice for flying for marks and not killing the ball.
He slipped into space behind the contest, used his powerful running to charge towards goal, received a pass and it led to a Crows major.
Punishing Saad for getting too sucked in to where the ball was and not worrying about his opponent was not something Adelaide focused on.
Instead, Keays’s main task was negating his rebound.
“He has a lot of running bounces and a lot of metres gained, so it was putting someone who the coaches thought would have the smarts and was able to play that,” he said.
“The forwards played a great game and got the ball in my hands for a couple of snags.”
As of Sunday morning, Keays ranked 14th in the league for disposals per game this season, averaging 28.4.
His averages for clearances (11th with 6.11), inside-50s (16th with 4.74) and tackles (22nd with 5.11) were also among the competition’s best.
Keays said he had always been the type of player that worked hard and buzzed between contests, but he was not mentally prepared to become a consistent performer at the Lions.
The Queenslander, who was playing for the club he supported, managed 30 games in four seasons on the list.
“I’m a Brisbane boy, I love the city, love my family, was a (Brisbane) supporter, so to get out and grow as a person away from home probably helped as well,” he said.
“Just to mature as a person, then I kept working really hard.
“I was always big on delayed gratification and thought all the work I put in would repay me some way in the future.
“I didn’t know what that was going to look like but I just thought, ‘Keep putting your head down, it’s coming’.”
Finishing fifth in the Crows’ best-and-fairest in his first season in 2020, runner-up last year and being added to the club’s leadership group in February have been some of his rewards.
He is likely heading for a top-five placing in the Malcolm Blight Medal again this campaign.
Keays believed he was just scratching the surface.
“I still feel like I’m only in my second full season at AFL level in terms of playing every week, so I’m still learning and still growing,” said Keays, who played 16 of Adelaide’s 17 games in what was a shortened 2020 campaign.
“I felt like I was a late bloomer physically and still have a long way to go.
“I’m just excited.
“I really enjoy the grind of AFL footy and just working hard.
“Whatever role the coach gives me I try to take on and take as a bit of a personal challenge.”
Nicks said Keays did his job to perfection on Saturday night.
“Saad’s an outstanding player and very influential on games,” Nicks said.
“Playing on a player like that is a really tough role.
“But when you’ve got 21 teammates that are doing it with you at the same time – and I don’t want to take anything away from what Keaysy’s done, it was outstanding – we did it as a team tonight.”
So many Crows shone.
Among them were Wayne Milera in his best performance since 2019 before his major injuries, Josh Worrell in just his second match, Brodie Smith with a whopping 1019 metres gained, Rory Laird with another 32 disposals and Taylor Walker with three goals.
The efforts across the ground ensured Adelaide got the scalp it needed.
Even though it may not publicly say as much.
Beating a finals contender for the first time since the round 6 triumph over the Western Bulldogs gives the Crows more belief internally and externally quietens doubters who question whether the club has improved this year.
Although it had been close to beating several quality sides, Adelaide’s only victories from its previous 12 games were against the bottom two teams, West Coast and North Melbourne.
They also happen to be Adelaide’s opponents these next two weeks.
Wins in those two clashes would take the club above last year’s total of seven in what would be a further sign of progression.
Crows fans shouldn’t be surprised by big scalp
Adelaide finally took another scalp on Saturday night in what was a brilliant and well-deserved win, but not totally surprising result.
Although seven victories and eight ladder spots separated the sides pre-game, the Crows did what they had done all year – were very competitive against a finals contender at home.
Some of those other times they took it up to a team presently sitting in the top eight for a half or three quarters.
In round one, Adelaide lost to Fremantle by one point.
Then there was a 19-point win over Richmond four weeks later.
Adelaide’s biggest loss to a top-eight team so far this year was by 36 points against Brisbane in round 9 – but even in that game the hosts were three ahead at halftime.
In the 21-point defeat to St Kilda, the Crows were up nine at the final break.
They were one point behind at halftime against Melbourne before fading and losing by 29.
Then, a fortnight ago versus Collingwood, Adelaide was up by three points at three-quarter time and could not hang on, losing by five.
On Saturday night, the home side finished the job.
The Crows have played better with the underdog tag for most of the season.
But since the fantastic victory over the Western Bulldogs in Ballarat in round 6, their only triumphs have been against the bottom two sides, West Coast and North Melbourne.
At home against some of the competition’s best teams, its chasing and tackling have been features.
Adelaide out-tackled the Blues 14-8 inside their respective attacking 50s, but also won the territory battle, having 64-47 entries.
“This is just enormous pressure by the Crows,” Fox Footy’s Gerard Healy said during the third quarter.
The polish Adelaide had been missing in some of those other defeats to top-eight teams was also better against the Blues.
Wayne Milera was as slick as he had been since 2019, before his injury-hampered past two seasons, and Taylor Walker and Jordan Dawson lasered some kicks to teammates.
The team in general was far tidier at ground level and able to move the ball laterally and swiftly on plenty of occasions.
“That’s what they’ve been all night the Adelaide Crows – clean when the ball hits the deck,” Brad Johnson said on Fox Footy.
Another positive for the Crows was the performance of second-gamer Josh Worrell, who came into the side for the sore Tom Doedee
From his sprint to spoil a ball early, winning a one-on-one against Coleman Medallist Harry McKay, outmarking Tom De Koning, kicking cleanly, winning frees and generally positioning himself in good spots in marking contests, he did a lot right.
Adelaide has been adamant all season its depth is strong, as evidenced by its high-flying SANFL team.
In these final rounds, Crows fans would want a window into the future and Worrell gave it.
Adelaide would be hoping the result and performance was a glimpse into what the rest of the season and beyond might look like too.
Fogarty steamrolls blues in boilover
– Jason Phelan
Carlton went to Adelaide Oval looking to stamp its ticket to the 2022 finals series but the stunned visitors were outmuscled by the hardworking Crows, Brodie Smith and Ben Keays starring in a 29-point win that could cost the Blues a top-four finish.
The Crows led by 15 points at three-quarter time and held off a late rally before accelerating away to score an inspired 12.12 (84) to 8.7 (55) on Saturday night.
Two goals to Matthew Cottrell slashed the margin in an engrossing final term, but Darcy Fogarty evaded two tackles and fended off Adam Cerra to score a superb goal that helped keep Carlton winless at the venue after six attempts.
“We had composure and we had a game plan going in that the guys were outstanding in (executing),” Matthew Nicks said.
“They didn’t waver from it and embraced it.
“We knew that Carlton had a lot of weapons and if we were off in a few areas we’d be exposed and there were periods in the game when they did get control.
“To battle back and get it on our terms again … for a young group to perform the way that they did and just continue to grind was so pleasing to watch.”
The upset loss could prove costly for the Blues, who slipped to a 12-7 record, while Adelaide snapped a four-game losing run with its sixth win of the season.
Smith was everywhere with 37 touches, 13 inside 50s and a whopping 1,019m gained.
In a masterful coaching move by Matthew Nicks, onballer Ben Keays played as a negating forward on Carlton playmaker Adam Saad.
Not only did he curb Saad’s influence, Keays also slammed through a career-high three goals and had a hand in several others.
Walker was the focal point for the home side with three goals, with Rory Laird, Jordan Dawson and Wayne Milera all influential.
For the Blues, Patrick Cripps and Sam Walsh finished with 41 and 40 possessions respectively, but too many of their midfield colleagues failed to have an impact.
TRIPLE THREAT
The omission of Jack Silvagni was a big talking point heading into the clash, with his departure paving the way for Tom De Koning to join Harry McKay and Charlie Curnow in a three-pronged attack some dubbed the ‘three-headed monster’.
All three big men were involved in the passage of play that led to Carlton’s first goal but it was Matt Owies who put the finishing touches on it.
With Tom Doedee sidelined with injury, the Crows were undermanned down back but replacement Josh Worrell impressed, in just his second AFL game, alongside fellow key defenders Jordon Butts and Nick Murray.
And for large chunks of the game, the Blues also didn’t give their talls much of a look in one-on-one as they struggled to move the ball efficiently against the Crows’ superior pressure.
The visitors led by three points at quarter-time after Fogarty rose high on former Crow Mitch McGovern’s shoulders and converted a spectacular mark.
It was the first of four unanswered majors that set up a four-point Adelaide lead at the main break.
PRIME MOVER
Smith was the prime mover for the Crows’ alongside Dawson, with the pair providing plenty of drive off half-back.
Smith had 21 possessions in the first half and gained a staggering 713 metres, a figure that was 318m more than Sam Docherty who was the next best on the ground.
SAVE US, SOS!
Silvagni was subbed into the game shortly before halftime after Corey Durdin succumbed to a shoulder injury and Carlton was a player down on the bench soon after when Nic Newman sustained a nasty cut to a knee.
The Son of SOS promptly jumped up and kicked a much-needed goal after the Crows had edged out to a 15-point lead.
Silvagni continued to have an influence and might have worked his way back into next week’s starting 22 with his 13-disposal effort.
“They just had a greater desire than us,” Michael Voss said.
“There’s not too many games this year where we’ve walked away and lost the ground ball number that we did, there’s not too many games where we’ve been on the side of contested possession.
“That effort, work rate, outnumber and winning contests … that’s got to be the cornerstone of your game every time you play.”
HUGE grab from Darcy Fogarty, perfectly finished with a goal before the siren 🔥
— Fox Footy (@FOXFOOTY) July 30, 2022
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Scoreboard
CROWS 2.4 5.6 8.9 12.12 (84)
BLUES 3.1 5.2 6.6 8.7 (55)
PHELAN’S BEST
CROWS: Smith, Keays, Walker, Dawson, Laird, Milera.
BLUES: Cripps, Walsh, Docherty, Cerra, Kennedy, Saad.
GOALS
CROWS: Keays 3, Walker 3, Fogarty 2, Milera, Himmelberg, McHenry, Murphy. BLUES: Curnow 2, Cottrell 2, McKay, Motlop, Silvagni, Owies.
INJURIES CROWS: Nil. BLUES: Durdin (shoulder), Newman (cut knee).
UMPIRES Fleer, Fisher, McGuinness
ADELAIDE OVAL
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
JASON PHELAN’S VOTES
3 Smith (Adel)
2 Keays (Adel)
1 Cripps (Carl)
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Originally published as AFL Round 20 Adelaide v Carlton: All the news, action and fallout from Adelaide Oval
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