South Australian footy’s likes and dislikes for round 11

Jordan Dawson was already a star, but he might have just added another string to his bow. Plus Port Adelaide’s predictable demise and more likes and dislikes from round 11 in The Lowdown.

There was one clear winner of South Australian footy again in round 11.

The Crows returned to the top four with a big win, while the Power sunk to 4-7 in Perth.

Simeon Thomas-Wilson names his likes and dislikes here.

Jordan Dawson is having a stellar year. Picture: Getty Images

LIKES

JORDAN DAWSON’S BROWNLOW CHANCES

The Crows skipper is rightly getting his flowers when it comes to the wider AFL world. There are plenty of good midfielders in the league playing well at the moment, but the Crows captain is in the All-Australian team right now. He is also a Brownlow Medal contender.

He should have three more votes for his 27 disposal and 2.3 game against West Coast on Sunday, that now has him in the lead of the Coaches Association’s award, which is a pretty good guide of how a player is going.

Of particular excitement for Crows fans at the moment should be his development as a front of centre player, with Matthew Nicks choosing to play him more forward than Dan Curtin with Taylor Walker’s late withdrawal. It might mean Dawson has a couple of less disposals for a game but he can be a much more damaging player for the Crows.

HAVE THEY MADE THE SHIFT?

It has been spoken about for a while, do the Crows need to tighten up their defence? Well it looks like Nicks has made the shift potentially needed to take the side to the next level. For the first time under Nicks they are ranked number one for points against over a six round stretch. Their clearance to score is first in the league over that period, while their intercept to score and score per inside 50 are both ranked second. The Eagles weren’t great with their composure going inside 50 in the first half on Sunday but the Crows defence again stood up under a barrage. That it has mostly come without Nick Murray after his knee surgery is even more impressive for the Crows. The watch will be on whether it will be to the detriment of their attacking potency.

Port Adelaide suffered another heavy loss. Picture: Getty Images

DISLIKES

SAME OLD STORY

The Power’s midfield outage has been a surprise this year. But once again the Power were inefficient going forward on Saturday night. Sure Port are missing some important players in the forward line such as Jack Lukosius and Todd Marshall but it was supposed to be different when it came to its offence in 2025. The Power actually won the inside 50 count against the Dockers but ended up being down by 49 points on the scoreboard with its 35.7 per cent efficiency inside 50 costing Ken Hinkley’s side dearly. The Power are going to use the mid-season bye to try and get its game plan working again and the midfield and ability to defend well behind the ball will be looked at closely. But Port also need to find a way to fix its attacking issues.

Taylor Walker didn’t face the Eagles. Picture: Getty Images

MISSED OPPORTUNITY

As Nicks said there will be a point for the Crows where they are going to have to do it without Walker. When that happens the Crows will need more from Darcy Fogarty than he produced against the Eagles. Coming into the game in good form with seven in his last two games, Fogarty was barely sighted in the first half and eventually got a goal in the second half with young Eagle Sandy Brock well and truly winning that match-up. Now in the end it didn’t matter as the Crows were able to eventually cruise to the win but in a game in which a statement could have been made it wasn’t Fogarty who took the opportunity, rather Riley Thilthorpe who finished with 2.3, 17 disposals and seven marks.

AND THE LOWDOWN ON...

The Crows had all but locked in during the week that Walker was going to rest for the game against the Eagles. But the original plan was for the former captain to be managed earlier on in the season. The trip west to take on Fremantle in Round 7 was originally earmarked as the game to give Walker a spell but Darcy Fogarty being out after his shoulder injury against GWS the previous week meant the Crows had to pivot from that plan.

Originally published as South Australian footy’s likes and dislikes for round 11