AFL 2021 West Coast v Adelaide: Shane McAdam a shining light for Crows in loss to Eagles
He might not have left Perth with four premiership points, but Matthew Nicks had plenty to like in his side’s loss to West Coast on Sunday.
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Only six weeks ago, Adelaide had its own Jack Darling — a big-bodied key forward brushing aside the “ageing veteran” tag to prove himself evergreen and kick a bag of goals to seal a big win.
But on Sunday, Taylor Walker, was having a “planned rest”, while Darling put on a second-quarter display, kicking five goals and picking up 15 touches to help seal a 30-point win for West Coast.
Darling now holds the new record for most individual goals kicked in a single quarter at Optus Stadium, while the Crows have endured their fifth straight loss.
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Compare the two: Walker, a 31-year-old former captain with 211 career games and 468 goals. Darling, a 28-year-old with 223 games and 434 goals (including his bag of five). Heading into this Round 9 clash, Walker had 27 goals for the 2021 season, which placed him second in the Coleman Medal. Darling had 21.
But the Eagle now sits behind Walker — who’s still in second place in the race for the Coleman — by just a goal.
Prior to the West Coast clash, Crows coach Matthew Nicks said Walker’s omission was not based on form.
“By no means is it about performance — this is pre-planned, this one was in the diary,” he said.
So, expect Walker to come back in for the Crows’ Round 10 clash against top-placed Melbourne at Adelaide Oval this Saturday, most likely at the expense of Billy Frampton.
But despite the five-goal loss, there were some positive signs for Adelaide’s young, Walker-less forward line.
From a mammoth 56 inside-50s, they produced 21 scoring shots and their highest score this month.
In particular, the leaping Shane McAdam, who came back into the side after a week in the twos, was a bright light and took a screaming mark that should see him rewarded with a “mark of the year” nod.
Then in the third term, he was rewarded with his second goal when he intercepted an Eagles’ defensive kick in the goalsquare.
McAdam will have impressed coaches with his three goals and five marks, and should be backed in to stay in the forward line when Walker returns.
Meanwhile, James Rowe had a career-high 22 touches, Sam Berry kicked two — the
first time in his AFL career he’s kicked multiple goals — and Riley Thilthorpe took a couple of impressive marks in the goalsquare and kicked two majors.
Then there was Darcy Fogarty, who’s often considered as Walker’s direct replacement as a key forward.
The Fog was influential in the first half, and had six touches for the first quarter, all of them contested.
At one point in that first term he took on three Eagles in the centre, which showed a toughness to send Crows fans’ hearts aflutter.
He threw Brad Sheppard to the ground with one arm, fended off a diving Tom Cole with ease and then left Jack Redden in his wake.
Fogarty seemed troubled by a hip issue in the third quarter and spent time in the hands of the trainers, but returned to the ground and kicked a goal to bring Adelaide back within 24 points. He finished with 12 touches.
THE QUARTER WHICH WILL HAUNT NICKS
When Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks is looking at the replay of the Crows 30-point loss to West Coast on Sunday, he will focus heavily on the second half of the second quarter.
That’s when Eagles forward Jack Darling took control of the game and tore it away from Nicks side.
Darling booted five goals for the term to give the Eagles a 29-point lead at halftime.
The 16.10 (106) to 11.10 (76) win was the Eagles third on the trot, as their season builds momentum.
They remain in seventh spot on the table, only percentage out of third.
Adelaide’s season continues to free fall.
This was their fifth defeat in as many games. Only North Melbourne and Collingwood have also lost five consecutive games this season.
After winning three of their opening four games, the Crows dropped to 15th on the AFL ladder after the loss the Eagles.
Things could get less a lot worse before they get a chance to get any better.
They host an unbeaten Melbourne on Saturday and then travel to the MCG to face reigning premier, Richmond.
SCOREBOARD PRESSURE COUNTS
The first of Darling’s five second-term goals came 14 minutes into the quarter.
He hadn’t looked like troubling the Crows before that. Defender Tom Doedee had done an exceptional job, keeping him to just one handball for the entire first term.
The Crows had dominated the start of the quarter, but failed to finish off their hard work.
How many times have we seen it? One team gets all the play for an extended period of time, but fail to hit the scoreboard.
Twice in a minute before Darling erupted, Darcy Fogarty had shots on goal that he should not have missed.
He missed.
The Eagles and Darling made the Crows pay.
That first goal from Darling’s boot put the Eagles back to within one point of Adelaide after they had led by seven.
TERRIFIC TERM, DARLING
Within six minutes of Fogarty’s second miss, Darling had three goals and the Eagles led by 11 points.
The Eagles tall forward all gave the Crows a tough time, especially in the first half.
Josh Kennedy and Oscar Allen each kicked a goal in the second term, having done the same in the first.
But Darling’s five goals in the second term set the game up for the Eagles.
With a 29-point lead at the main break, West Coast’s three tall forwards had kicked all nine of their goals.
Kennedy showed no sign of the calf injury that threatened to see him sidelined for another week.
He finished with three goals, as did Allen.
SOME LIGHT FOR THE CROWS
Rory Sloane returned for the Crows and took some time to settle into the game.
He finished with 22 touches, but it was Rory Laird (35) and Ben Keays (32) that saw the Adelaide right in the game early.
The Crows dominated contested possession when they hit that seven-point lead.
With Taylor Walker being rested, Fogarty stepped up and set the tone for the game.
What Adelaide was lacking in talent, they were making up for endeavour.
Shane McAdam consistently looked the most dangerous Crow forward though, finishing with three goals.
Having had eight more inside 50s than the Eagles (56-48), it would have been interesting to see how much the Crows would have benefited from having Walker inside their attacking 50.
EAGLES FINDING FORM
Again, Tim Kelly, Andrew Gaff and Jack Redden were good in the midfield for the Eagles.
It’s as though they took that hammering against Geelong three weeks ago personally.
Kelly has averaged more than 32 touches per game in the three since that shocking loss to the Cats.
Jeremy McGovern’s return from injury and Jamie Cripps’ performance against the Crows are what Eagles fans should celebrate.
McGovern was solid in defence, with 22 disposals and 10 marks. Cripps had 25 touches and kicked a goal and also had an incredible 11 score involvements.
NICKS: ‘WE ARE LEARNING THE HARD WAY’
If you’re an Adelaide Crows fan, you would be taking some comfort in knowing that the players they are barracking for are being hit just as hard by their current string of losses.
The expectations brought about by three wins from the first four rounds of the season is shared by your players.
And, according to coach Matthew Nicks, they are desperate to return to the winners’ list.
While some teams are being criticised by fans for being too upbeat after losses — not caring — Nicks said his side was left in dejected in the Optus Stadium rooms on Sunday after a 30-point loss to West Coast.
It was their fifth loss on the trot, but they were in the game right up to their eyeballs.
They clearly lacked the experience and the polish to make the most of their chances.
The past three losses have been against teams either in the top eight (Eagles and Port Adelaide), or knocking on its door (Greater Western Sydney), but the players are taking the results personally.
Nicks said the lessons are being learned.
“We’re getting lessons now, it’s been a month of lessons,” he said.
“That’s going to make our group better. We’re a very young group; we debuted another one today (Ronin O’Connor).
“But we sit here with a reasonably dejected change rooms, where young players are learning the hard way.”
“It was a disappointing game in the end, but a real positive game in terms of when we had the game in the fight, at times, we looked super competitive.”
The Crows led by seven points midway through the second term before Jack Darling went on a romp and kicked five quick goals to end the quarter.
What hurt every Crows player more was they had shots on goals before Darling emerged a match winner that would have taken them even further ahead.
Scoreboard pressure is key in AFL football and the Crows failed to land it.
They won more contested possessions than the Eagles and had the ball in their forward line more than West Coast did.
Even though the Eagles led by 29 points at the main break, the Crows fought back and had a chances late to get the margin back to within three goals.
Missing a snapped shot from 10m out didn’t help moral.
That five-goal loss comes after defeats to Port (29 points), the Giants (35), Hawthorn (28) and Fremantle (2).
They still have to face top side Melbourne next week, Richmond (Round 11), Collingwood (Round 12) and St Kilda (Round 13) before their bye.
They should welcome back Taylor Walker and Ned McHenry to bolster their forward line against the Demons.
Walker was rested for the trip West and McHenry will need to pass concession tests during the week before being cleared to play.
“At the moment we have a really tough run of opponents. and every time you drop away for five or 10 minutes you are going to get punished,” Nicks said.
”And that happened today (against the Eagles).”
“The expectations are high. They get to where they are at because of who they have been as junior footballers. We don’t come here to finish second, we come to win and today we had chances to do that.
“The group is invested in what we’re doing.
“They want to get themselves back to the winners’ board.”
EAGLES TAKING FLIGHT AT RIGHT TIME
West Coast’s easier chunk of the draw has landed for them at the right time this season.
As the Eagles have been forced to work through injuries to some of their stars, they have played teams that are either struggling with personnel themselves, or who aren’t expected to feature late in the season.
Three straight wins against Fremantle, Hawthorn and Adelaide, has them in seventh spot win six wins after Round 9; one win ahead of Richmond and equal on points with third-placed Geelong.
Again though, percentage looms as being a big issue for the Eagles later in the year.
But the soldiers are returning for Simpson.
Jeremy McGovern and Tom Barrass played in the 30-point win against Adelaide on Sunday after stints on the sidelines with injuries.
While livewire forward Liam Ryan and Shannon Hurn, another key to their defence, are expected to be available for the trip to Sydney next weekend to play Greater Western Sydney, in one of the more important games of Round 10.
The Giants could fall two wins and percentage outside of the top eight if they were to lose that game.
The Eagles will be even closer to returning to full strength when classy midfielder Elliot Yeo returns around the bye, which for West Coast is Round 13.
The Eagles still have to play the Giants, Essendon and Carlton before having a week off, allowing them time to prepare for a massive fortnight when they return to play — hosting Richmond (Round 14) and Western Bulldogs (Round 15) at home in consecutive weeks at Optus Stadium.
Simpson obviously can’t wait to get his best side back on the park.
“We’ve got a shorter list with Willie (Rioli, who is suspended) and Dan Venables (injured); we only had 40 available players at the start of the year,” he said.
“Liam’s been swimming, which is new. I think he’s pretty ready to get back into it. He trained fully. He’s got to get through the week, but I think he’ll be available.
“And Shannon signed off yesterday, so he should be in the mix for this week as well.
“It’s been great to get some exposure into some of our younger players, but it will be good to get those guys back.”
Luke Shuey and Liam Duggan are not expected back before the bye.
The result of having an inconsistent team on the ground each week, is an inconsistent performance.
But besides the thumping they copped at the hands of Geelong in Round 6, they have found a way to be competitive — and generally win.
Simpson warned that he felt his side was still building and has enjoyed the consistency they have shown in the three weeks since the mauling at the hands of the Cats.
“We’re still building with what we’re trying to achieve,” he said.
“After Geelong — it was a really disappointing four quarters there — since then we have been pretty consistent.
“Today, we were really happy to get the win (against the Crows), don’t get me wrong, but I think we had too many basic skill errors, a couple of fumbles here and there, fundamentals.
“Our best was great today, but our worst looked quite vulnerable. The last couple of weeks before that has been more even.”
SCOREBOARD
EAGLES 2.5 9.6 14.7 16.10 106
CROWS 2.3 4.7 8.8 11.10 76
ELBOROUGH’S BEST
Eagles: Darling, Cripps, Kelly, Redden, Naitanui, McGovern.
Crows: Laird, Keays, Smith, Schoenberg, McAdam, Sloane.
GOALS
Eagles: Darling 5; Kennedy 3, Allen 3; Waterman 2; Cripps, Petruccelle, Jones.
Crows: McAdam 3; Thilthorpe 2, Berry 2; Schoenberg, Rowe, Laird, Fogarty.
INJURIES
Eagles: Nil.
Dockers: Nil.
UMPIRES
Margetts, Dalgleish, Johanson.
Venue: Optus Stadium
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
BRAD ELBOROUGH’S VOTES
3 Darling (Eagles)
2 Cripps (Eagles)
1 Kelly (Eagles)
Originally published as AFL 2021 West Coast v Adelaide: Shane McAdam a shining light for Crows in loss to Eagles
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