AFL Round 12 Gold Coast v Adelaide: All the news, action and fallout from the Crows’ trip to Darwin

Adelaide have suffered a major blow at the halfway mark of the season with Tom Doedee’s scans revealing a severe injury. See the details here.

Max Hatzoglou and Matt Turner

6 min read

June 4, 2023 - 7:35PM

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Adelaide defender Tom Doedee’s season is over after the knee injury he suffered against Gold Coast was ruled as an anterior cruciate ligament rupture.

The 26-year-old, who is part of the Crows leadership group, suffered the injury to his right knee in a contest in the first quarter of Adelaide’s loss to Gold Coast in Darwin on Saturday night and was subbed out of the game.

He returned to Adelaide on Sunday where scans revealed that he had suffered the season-ending injury.

On Sunday evening the Crows said he would consult with the club’s medical and high performance team in coming days ahead of surgery.

The news is not great for Tom Doedee.

Crows High Performance Manager Darren Burgess said it was a disappointing blow for Doedee.

“Unfortunately it’s not the news we were hoping for and scans have confirmed that Tom has ruptured his ACL,” Burgess said.

“He was clearly in some discomfort after coming from the ground on Saturday night and now we have confirmation of the injury which will sideline him for the rest of the season.

“We all share Tom’s disappointment and we are supporting him as best we can as he prepares for surgery and then rehabilitation.

“What we know of Tom is he is of high character and the utmost professional, and having been through this process once before, knows what it takes to get back to playing at the highest level.”

It is the second ACL injury Doedee has suffered in his career, with his previous one coming in 2019.

That one however was to his left knee.

Tom Doedee will miss a year of football.

Doedee is out of contract at the end of the season and is a restricted free agent.

After Jordan Dawson was chosen as the Crows new captain to replace Rory Sloane Doedee’s future was the subject of fierce discussion with Victorian clubs waiting if he decided to move back home.

But the Crows have been increasingly confident that he would re-sign with them after their impressive start to the season and the development they have made in 2023.

Doedee has played 82 games for the Crows.

NICKS SAYS CROWS MUST IMPROVE AWAY FORM

Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks says his players “have to better on the road” following their fourth loss away from Adelaide Oval this season.

The three-point win over Hawthorn in round 6 has been the sole triumph for the Crows from five away trips this season.

Nicks’ side had the chance to rectify the poor run when they got out to a 35-point advantage in the second term against the Suns on Saturday night in Darwin.

But they threw it away, letting the Suns get the next nine goals and get in front by 21 points midway through the third term.

Nicks said the 56-point turnaround, which led to a 24-point loss, was “a tough one to swallow.”

“We had our chances, obviously, the start of the game was on our terms,” Nicks said.

“But we were well beaten in the contest tonight.

“And then when conditions changed and it became a bit slippery, they adjusted far quicker than we did to those conditions.

“And that put us on the back foot and momentum changed.

“In the end, I felt the effort to get ourselves back in the game and get our noses in front again in that second half after a really poor period ... that was a positive tonight, but probably about the only one.”

Jordan Dawson after another Crows away loss. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images

The Crows lost the contested ball count 174-136.

Nicks credited the Suns but said his players “didn’t impact consistently enough” in the dewy Darwin condition.

Another loss from the evening came early in the match when Crows defender Tom Doedee went down with a right knee injury.

The 26-year-old’s injury occurred in a marking contest when he was out-manoeuvred by Levi Casboult.

Nicks was staying positive about the extent of the injury post-game.

“He will obviously get some scans from here, so we don’t know a lot at this point, but we will just remain optimistic,” he said.

“We want to stay positive with that and hopefully we get a good result from those scans.”

The ninth placed Crows will return home to take on West Coast next week as they look to improve their 6-6 record before heading into the bye.

Crows get another reality check as Suns tame Rankine

Gold Coast has announced themselves as a finals contender following a stunning come-from-behind win over Adelaide in Darwin.

Jack Lukosius kicked five goals for the second week in a row to help power the Suns to a remarkable 25-point win after being down by 35 points in the second term.

The Crows have thrown themselves in the pack of five teams from seventh to 11th who are on six wins and striving for top eight spots.

And Matthew Nicks’ side also continues its poor form away from home with a fourth loss on the road with Adelaide’s only on-the-road win coming against Hawthorn by three points in Tasmania.

For the Suns, they jump from 13th to 11th after their two-week trip in Darwin where they have now won both their pair of matches in the Top End over the past two seasons.

Jack Lukosius was the star of the show on Saturday night. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos

The momentum was flowing the way of the Crows when Lachlan Murphy snapped for his side’s third in a row at the start of the fourth.

But the lead was quickly taken back by the Suns, through snap goals from Levi Casboult and Lukosius to give the Gold Coast a nine-point lead.

It turned into a Lukosius special when he put through his fifth goal and gave the Suns a 15-point buffer at the fifth minute mark of the last quarter.

But a strong contested mark from Darcy Fogarty, and a bullet kick on a tough angle, kept the Crows in it as the margin cut to nine points.

Then controversy struck, as a 50 metre penalty against Crows midfielder Chayce Jones was paid for going over the mark.

The call led Suns forward Bailey Humphrey to the top of the square where he put his side 16 points ahead mid-way through the fourth.

Key forward Ben King kicked his third 10 minutes later and the Suns rose to a triumphant 25-point lead.

Crows skipper Jordan Dawson was the leading possession getter with 30 disposals, while Gold Coast midfielder Noah Anderson was top class with 28 touches and two goals.

Star Adelaide recruit Izak Rankine was held goalless by his former side for the first time in Crows colours.

Ben Keays was one of Adelaide’s better players through the midfield. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos

Big 50m penalty call ‘very harsh’

A controversial 50m penalty against Crows midfielder Chayce Jones for going over the mark led Bailey Humphrey to the top of the goal square, where he put the Suns 16 points ahead.

The tight call with just under 12 minutes left Jones shaking his head following the decision.

“Might have been a little stiff, he didn’t even get a call back.” Ben Dixon said on Fox Footy.

“In the spirit of the game, that is very harsh,” Dwayne Russell added.

Fire alarm the good luck charm

Plenty is made of match preparation, but have Suns tapped into a secret weapon no one would have thought of?

The Gold Coast were the better acclimatised side being in the Top End for more than a week, while Adelaide arrived mid-afternoon the day before.

But something else could be at play in favour of the Suns.

The night before their Bulldogs encounter Gold Coast was rudely awakened by a fire alarm at their hotel, they went on to win.

Another fire alarm disrupted the Suns’ prep mere hours before the Adelaide match with the players pulled from the Michael Long centre to join spectators on the field of TIO Stadium.

Interesting start to match day ðŸ˜…ðŸ”¥ðŸš¨

(No one hurt ðŸ™) #weflyasone pic.twitter.com/4uYasVFzqQ
— Adelaide Crows (@Adelaide_FC) June 3, 2023

Crow coach Matthew Nicks came down to the bench to try and inspire his players in the second half. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos

The nine-goal blitz

The Suns had a 56-point turnaround after piling on nine straight goals to go from 35 points down in the second quarter to 21 points ahead mid-way through the third quarter.

Lukosius special

After scoring five goals last week against the Western Bulldogs at TIO Stadium, Lukosius repeated his remarkable feat.

The 2018 pick number two kicked four second half goals, including back-to-back six pointers in the final quarter to extend the Suns margin to 15 points.