Ruthless Crows give no quarter as Adelaide crushes the Fremantle Dockers by 100 points at Adelaide Oval

THERE was no hitting the snooze button for the Crows at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night, as a sparkling first quarter set the tone for a 100-point belting of Fremantle in rainy conditions.

Crow Eddie Betts breaks away from a gang of Fremantle defenders at Adelaide Oval. Picture: Ryan Pierse (Getty Images)

• Crouch brothers, Sloane reign in rain
• Simple plan paid off, says Atkins
• Adelaide back to best: Pyke

FOR A team that has hit the snooze button too often this season, Adelaide finally jumped out of the blocks last night and produced a first quarter — and complete performance — that coach Don Pyke will want to bottle.

Searching for a fast start, the Crows dominated Fremantle with 25-3 inside 50s and 14 scoring shots to just one in the first term ... and it was game over.

Adelaide went on to dominate every quarter, having 43 scoring shots to the visitors’ 13.

The only issue after that was finding the goals more often with 20.23 but it didn’t matter as Adelaide punished a woeful Dockers side, which looked nothing like the team that had won its past three games.

In the end it was a 100-point belting — the first time a team coached by Dockers boss Ross Lyon had taken a triple-figures whipping.

As the Crows continued to turn the screws in the second quarter there was a passage of play that highlighted the difference in class.

Rory Laird won a contest at full back on Bradley Hill, which allowed Jake Kelly to release Rory Atkins.

Atkins had two bounces on the wing, lowered his vision and hit Brad Crouch at half-forward. Crouch then produced an even better kick to hit Rory Sloane, who kicked the goal from 50m.

As classy as passages such as that were, Adelaide’s win was built on grunt and hard work, particularly from Sloane and the Crouch brothers who were all born to play in tough and wet conditions.

Rory Sloane gathers the ball against Fremantle. Picture: David Mariuz (AAP)

Sloane was tagged by Connor Blakely early but he in turn went to Nat Fyfe at stoppages and did what he does best.

He won 16 contested possessions on his way to 30 touches, 12 tackles and two goals for the night and while Fyfe fought hard, he and Lachie Weller were a two-man band for Fremantle.

By contrast Sloane’s sidekicks were Matt and Brad Crouch, who were awesome in the clinches.

For such a one-sided game there was still plenty for Crows fans to ponder as they left Adelaide Oval.

Josh Jenkins, who was one of the fall guys from the back-to-back losses came straight back in after a week in the SANFL and was good on a tough night for big men.

He took a contested mark and kicked a goal in the first five minutes and led hard all game.

Hugh Greenwood, who rightly held his spot after a stellar debut last week, again showed he belongs at this level.

Charlie Cameron beats Docker Stephen Hill to the ball at Adelaide Oval. Picture: David Mariuz (AAP)

Greenwood’s first three touches were sublime pick-ups in the rain and his contested mark in the second quarter showed his hands are as good as thee feet that kicked three goals last week.

Sam Jacobs is right in All-Australian discussion midyear after another strong 13-disposal, 40-hit-out and one-goal performance against the Dockers.

Andy Otten recaptured his best form as a forward with four goals, Atkins was at his hard-running best along the wing and Jake Lever was outstanding with 11 marks.

Every time Eddie Betts went near the ball the crowd held its breath waiting for his Indigenous Round goal-of-the-year nomination but Betts was more substance than style by winning his battle with Lee Spurr and Cameron Sutcliffe on his way to three goals.

Betts left the party tricks to Charlie Cameron whose third goal in the last quarter was a brilliant no-look snap over his shoulder from the pocket.

The Crows had sweepers right across the centre and Fremantle couldn’t penetrate the wall. Kyle Hartigan, Lever and Luke Brown all pushed up and Brodie Smith and Rory Laird were the runners.

Having arrested their two-week form slump and finally been switched on from the first bounce the Crows can now truly measure their progress when they travel to Geelong to play the Cats on Friday night.

CHRIS McDERMOTT’S FAST FIVE

1. The first game in very difficult conditions proved no trouble at all for the Crows. They handled the ball and the conditions with ease. Unlike the Dockers. The Crows had 14 scoring shots to one in the first quarter , 25 inside 50s to three and it was game over. So much for poor first quarters eh! Problem solved.

2. Rarely has there been such a massive gap between the quality of two teams. The Crows handled the ball and the conditions with skill and great quality, the Dockers to a man, including Nat Fyfe and Lachy Neale, were embarrassingly poor and reluctant to put their body over the ball. No wonder their coach was not happy.

3. It’s a stat I have never seen. It’s a stat you will never see again. It was a stat that says more about Fremantle than it did about Adelaide but it’s a stat that would make the Crows very proud in difficult conditions. The Crows had 47 Inside 50’s to Fremantle’s 10 in the first half. What would Nat Fyfe be thinking?

4. Ross Lyon’s first 100 point loss in his 250th game. It happens to the very best of them, Ross.

5. To a man we have been praising the evenness of the 2017 season. Until now. This was the most one-sided game in recent memory . It was laughable at times. Embarrassing at others. Quality men like Ross Lyon and Nat Fyfe cannot and will not accept this performance. Watch the Fremantle camp with interest this week.

SCOREBOARD

ADELAIDE 5.9 9.18 16.21 20.23 (143)

FREMANTLE 1.0 2.1 4.2 6.7 (43)

BEST — Adelaide: Sloane, B. Crouch, M. Crouch, Atkins, Cameron, Lever, Jacobs. Fremantle: Weller, Fyfe, Hamling.

GOALS — Adelaide: Otten 4, Betts, Milera, Cameron, Jenkins 3, Sloane 2, Walker, Jacobs. Fremantle: Weller, Tucker 2, Fyfe, McCarthy.

UMPIRES — N. Foot, B. Hosking, S. McInerney.

CROWD — 42,415 at Adelaide Oval

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Originally published as Ruthless Crows give no quarter as Adelaide crushes the Fremantle Dockers by 100 points at Adelaide Oval