The Lowdown: The ‘criminal’ call to leave Lachie Neale unchecked which put Crows behind eight-ball
Some matches are lost before the ball has been bounced, and one decision by the Crows – either in the coach’s box or in the players – put Adelaide at a massive disadvantage. SIMEON THOMAS-WILSON unpacks it in The Lowdown.
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Port Adelaide has continued its bounce back from a horror run of form with a dominating win over the Western Bulldogs, while Adelaide was gallant in defeat to the Lions at the Gabba. SIMEON THOMAS-WILSON runs through his likes and dislikes from Round 17.
DISLIKES
1. Lachie let loose
The Crows showed some promising signs, but how the hell did they let Lachie Neale almost do what he wanted in the first half? Everyone knew that the Lions gun was in some absolute ripping form – but there was a slight blip when he was clamped by St Kilda. It is hard to completely tag Neale out of the game but it was criminal the amount of space the Crows gave him in the first half. Too often he was in far too much space and able to find the ball and hurt the Crows. At the same time Josh Dunkley was also hurting the Crows, but more had to be done to stop Neale.
The Crows did put small forward Lachie Murphy on him in the second half and while the leadership group member does cop it on social media he did a relatively decent job of at least halting Neale – who had four disposals in the third quarter and then nine in the final term. But you can’t give him and the Lions a 23 disposal, three goal head start. After being passed over by the two South Australian clubs in the draft, the late Crows recruiter Matt Rendell would consistently say that Neale was the “one that got away” after Adelaide instead went with Nick Joyce – who never played an AFL game – Neale seems to play especially well against the Crows and Power. Surely Adelaide saw this coming.
2. Can’t get it out of their back half
A better kicking team might have torn the Lions to shreds on Sunday at the Gabba. The Crows could barely get it out of their back half, especially when it looked like they might be a chance of an upset victory. The loss of Mitch Hinge to a tight adductor hurt a lot given he can be a line-breaker defender. Fellow leadership group member Brodie Smith was solid on his return to the team after being dropped, but the Crows need him handballing far less than the 11 he had on Sunday. Mark Keane has bounced back very well after his poor game against Sydney and while the Crows do have a promising defence just a lack of experience and ability to break lines hurt them on Sunday.
3. Mitch to miss
The trip to the Gold Coast to take on the Suns is a massive one for the Power. Win that and with bottom of the ladder Richmond next week the Power can go into its tough run home with four wins in a row. But the Suns are a strong opponent when they play at home and surely will be steaming after going down to North Melbourne and Damien Hardwick’s blunt statement post-game. So the Power did not really need its most in-form forward Mitch Georgiades out through suspension for striking the Bulldogs’ Nick Coffield. The resurgence of Georgiades this year has been quite incredible, not only because he suffered an ACL injury last year but prior to the season-ending injury he was out of the senior side. His five goals against the Dogs was his career high, and he also has a bag of four against Carlton, and three efforts of three goals so far this season. Despite the big win over the Dogs, Todd Marshall, Jeremy Finlayson and Ollie Lord kicked the one goal between them. Charlie Dixon’s three-match ban is up but who knows how going that long without game time is going to impact him. Make no mistake Georgiades is a big loss for the Power.
LIKES
1. Midfield marvels
We like to say Port Adelaide’s midfield group is one of the best in the competition, but for the last three to four weeks it has only really talked the talk. Against the Western Bulldogs on Saturday the Power’s on-ball brigade walked the walk. After the game Power captain Connor Rozee told the ABC group still thought they were one of the premier mixes in the competition and they had taken lowering their colours personally. They played like it as they raced out the blocks. Many would have thought the Dogs more experienced midfield would have continued the pain for the Power, but led by Rozee Port’s brigade were sensational. He had 36 possessions, eight tackles and a goal after an outstanding first quarter, Zak Butters had 33, 10 marks and a goal and Ollie Wines 30 and nine clearances. It’s funny in footy just how much an outlook can change in a week or two. The Power’s midfield is back to being one of the toasts of the competition. Can they back it up against Gold Coast’s formidable mix?
2. Logan Evans
The Power have found one here. The mid-season draftee was the rare bright spark in Port’s heavy loss to Brisbane and in the two games since he has rarely put a foot wrong and continued his strong start to his AFL career. He wants to take the game on with his kicking and at 189cm is a nice size for the Power’s defence. The Power have a decision to make on whether it goes with three key defenders or two key defenders after how the backline has held up without the injured Esava Ratugolea. Evans allows the Power to go with two if it wants to, and possibly play Miles Bergman as a third tall – where he has impressed before. On top of this, as the Power and Crows push for better access to top-up players in the SANFL you can’t say that allowing Evans to be at Port Adelaide as part of the league’s Rookie Program prior to being picked up has not been a massive success.
3. Ben Keays
Keays wasn’t the only Crows leader to be down on form when Adelaide’s season sunk to its lowest ebb. But in the last two weeks, like the Crows, he has bounced back. Against his former side Brisbane, Keays kicked a career-high four goals and kept the Crows in it at times. Sometimes the polish isn’t there, especially by foot, but you can rarely say that Keays doesn’t give Adelaide plenty of effort. It is why he is in line to become the first Crow to play 100 consecutive games. That this is happening is a testament to Keays, who hasn’t missed a game since he debuted in Round 2, 2020.
AND THE LOWDOWN ON …
Continuing on Georgiades, was he lucky to just get the one week suspension for the strike? Good footage of the incident has been sparse, but it was reported by the on-field umpire who was understood to have an excellent view of it. Those at the ground and saw it in real time were pretty adamant Georgiades had no real defence. The fact the Power quickly decided to not challenge it, with forward coach Chad Cornes said he was “not sure there is an argument” against it said quite a lot from the club’s end.
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