The Lowdown: All the likes and dislikes for the Crows and Power from round 10
It’s hard for Crows fans not to be frustrated at the end sequence of their loss to the Pies, but it’s time to for fans to put an end to reverting back to the Victorian bias angle.
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A heart-stopping weekend for South Australian AFL fans with a devastating loss for the Crows and a thrilling, final-second win for the Power.
Simeon Thomas-Wilson runs through the likes and dislikes from Round 10.
DISLIKES
1. CLOSE GAME CROWS
Matthew Nicks said the Crows were “sick of learning” after losing yet another late game.
But Adelaide fans will be asking, are the Crows actually heeding the lessons from these close losses after the four-point defeat at the hands of Collingwood on Saturday.
Yes the Crows are a young side, but you can only be an inexperienced side that needs to learn for so long.
It will be a frustrating review at West Lakes, especially when it comes to the fourth quarter.
Why did Reilly O’Brien play on and hand it to Josh Rachele with 3.38 to go, rather than claim the mark and take some time off the clock and bomb it into the forward 50?
Why did Ben Keays try to go for goal with a hard kick rather than dish it to Rory Laird with 2.48 to go and then Collingwood go up and score through Jordan De Goey?
Adelaide had chances to ice the game and finally triumph over Collingwood in a close game.
But while the Pies are the close-game masters, it seems the Crows still have plenty to learn when it comes to these situations.
But you couldn’t say they have not had enough practice.
2. PORT’S START
Once the euphoria settles after Darcy Byrne-Jones’ incredible last second winner against Hawthorn, when does the Power ask the question – how in the hell did the Hawks get 41-points up?
It was a thrilling comeback that showed a lot about the Power’s character and can be a really important win in terms of morale and belief.
But how much should we read into the Power’s slow start to the match?
The Hawks were ultra-impressive for the first half on Sunday, but the Power were just off plain and simple.
He made the comments when the Power were losing but for four-time premiership winner Shaun Burgoyne – who works at Alberton – to say while commentating on Channel 7 that he thought Port “just didn’t come with the right mental attitude” was interesting.
Byrne-Jones told this masthead that the Power would have to look at why it started so slowly.
“We prepare the same every week and we came out really well last week against Geelong and did the opposite this week,” he said.
“We will have a look at it and what went wrong especially in the first half and see how we can improve.”
LIKES
1. DON’T FORGET ABOUT THIS KID
We looked to be in a good place when it comes to the next crop of future stars in the competition, if they aren’t them already.
The footy world has Harley Reid-fever, had Nick Daicos-mania for the last three years, somehow Harry Sheezel is giving North Melbourne fans some hope … well a little bit.
But don’t sleep on Jason Horne-Francis, who again showed why he is a Brownlow Medal winner in waiting.
Acting captain Zak Butters’ performance in the fourth quarter was described as one of the best of all time as the Power thrillingly came from behind.
But it was Horne-Francis why the Power were in the game.
When things have not gone the Power’s way this year Horne-Francis has been at the front and centre of any resistance by Port.
He was one of few players to really give it a crack against Collingwood at the MCG and looked to potentially spark a remarkable comeback at one stage in the Showdown.
Against the Hawks on Sunday with a lot of teammates not really at the races early on it was the 20-year-old who was setting the tone for the Power.
His 27 disposals were an equal-second best of his short career to date, but 21 one them were kicks.
The thing for Horne-Francis and Port will be how does the Power get more of the ball in the young star’s hands?
He has cracked 30 disposals once, against Essendon in Gather Round and we are yet to consistently see a centre bounce trio of Horne-Francis, Butters and captain Connor Rozee.
Maybe it is because they are all so attacking.
Without Rozee and Ollie Wines after quarter time Horne-Francis ended up at 63 per cent of the Power’s CBA’s on Sunday.
2. LUKE NANKERVIS
Amid all the discussion about how the Crows handled top draftee Dan Curtin against Brisbane by subbing him out of the game at halftime, there has been one thing that has gone under the radar – Luke Nankervis is getting better and better as a defender.
On the wing earlier this season the 20-year-old struggled, especially against Essendon at Adelaide Oval with some sloppy turnovers.
He has looked so much more comfortable as a defender, and back in the 22 he produced a performance against Collingwood that should have Crows fans very pleased with how he is tracking.
For the first time in his career he cracked the 20 disposal mark, 12 of them kicks at 80 per cent efficiency.
He also had seven intercept possessions and five score involvements.
Nankervis has stood as an interesting prospect ever since he arrived at the Crows with the second pick in the 2021 pre-season draft.
A half-forward originally, he has agility, athleticism, can kick the ball well and also has good hands.
But he has impressed since becoming a defender and adds to a promising Crows backline.
AND THE LOWDOWN ON …
Who would be an umpire?
The decision to ping Izak Rankine for running too far in the dying moments of the Crows loss to Collingwood has been widely criticised.
Much of it centres around that we rarely see the rule enforced during games, let alone in the last 20 seconds when the match is still well and truly alive.
Yet we also have umpires getting criticised for apparently putting away the whistle in the final minutes of games.
It’s a situation where they can’t win really, especially since the decision was the right one with Fox Footy’s lab gurus revealing after the game that Rankine had ran 24m.
Yet Crows fans raged about getting a raw deal from the umpires again in another close games.
Yes it’s another decision that has decided a close game involving the Crows, but they need to stop going to the default setting of “little brother” and raging at the idea of a Victorian bias in the league.
Inaugural Crows coach Graham Cornes hit the nail on the head on Sunday when he told his masthead that blaming umpire decisions for losses would only develop a “loser mentality” and a “persecution complex”.
It must be frustrating but Adelaide needs to take the umpire calls, good or bad, out of the equation when it comes to games.
The Crows just haven’t done this over the past two seasons.
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Originally published as The Lowdown: All the likes and dislikes for the Crows and Power from round 10
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