AFL round 7: Fremantle makes finals statement with emphatic win over Adelaide
Adelaide has been dealt a harsh reality check in the west, falling to a disappointing loss against Fremantle which left the club with injury and MRO concerns. See full SuperCoach takeaways and reaction here.
In the six games before Friday night, Adelaide trailed their opponents at the end of a quarter just four times.
That tally has now doubled though — to eight — after Fremantle dominated Adelaide in an 18-point win at Optus Stadium on Friday night.
A week earlier, the Crows impressed with their best clearance work in a fighting win over Greater Western Sydney.
RECAP THE BIG TALKING POINTS AND SUPERCOACH BELOW
They struggled all night in that area against the Dockers in their 12.13 (85) to 9.13 (67) loss.
The margin does flatter Adelaide a bit. The game was over at three-quarter-time, with the home side leading by 42-points.
This was a good response from Fremantle, who a week earlier had looked very ordinary in a disappointing loss to a previously winless Melbourne.
A week absolutely is a long time in football.
CROWS IN NEW POSITION
Trailing by 20 points at halftime, it was the first time this season Adelaide had gone into the second half trailing on the scoreboard.
Fremantle had led the Crows by 36 points early in the second term after its best start to a season and after Josh Treacy kicked his second goal.
Those goals also sent the powerful Dockers forward to the top of the Coleman Medal tally board, with 20 goals.
After not touching the ball in the first term, Riley Thilthorpe picked up four disposals in the second. He kicked the last two goals before half-time, bringing the Crows back into the contest.
But his third didn’t come until the fourth term, when the margin had got back to six goals.
No Crow managed a goal in the third term.
Despite a 2-4 record, Carlton remains the only side to lead after two quarters in every game they have played in 2025.
BIG GUNS DELIVER
Adelaide got on Friday night what any team will get if they give Dockers midfielders Andrew Brayshaw and Caleb Serong as much room as Adelaide did.
They pair had 69 possessions between them.
There was some pressure on Serong; 26 of his 32 possessions were handballs.
But he also had 10 clearances, although the Crows managed only 30 between them all for the night.
The Dockers pair also had 35 contested possessions between them.
It wasn’t a great night for the Crows midfield, with Matt Crouch subbed out of the game at three-quarter-time as a tactical move.
CROWS SCORING POWER
When Jake Soligo kicked Adelaide’s first goal of the night, early in the opening term, the Crows became the first side to kick 100th goal for the season.
The closest team to Adelaide’s 99 goals going into round 7 was Geelong, with 87.
Top side Collingwood, who had played its seventh game hours before Adelaide did on Friday, has booted 93.90.
The Crows now have 108.
Of the other sides to have played seven games, Fremantle now has 89 goals while Melbourne and Richmond have just 70 goals apiece.
Originally published as AFL round 7: Fremantle makes finals statement with emphatic win over Adelaide
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