AFL 2024: Follow live updates, SuperCoach scores as Adelaide faces Melbourne in Gather Round
Adelaide’s left its charge too late against Melbourne and now faces an uphill battle to save its season. Relive all the action plus live SuperCoach scores here.
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Adelaide left its run at Melbourne too late and now faces an uphill battle to save its season.
The Crows kicked three goals in a row to push within 15 points of the Demons but couldn’t go any further, ultimately sinking to a fourth consecutive defeat.
Adelaide hasn’t played finals since 2017 and the odds are stacked against it to do so in 2024 after such a disappointing start to the season.
The challenges don’t get any easier for the Crows, who travel to Melbourne to take on Carlton next week.
Christian Petracca was electric all night but specifically in the final term when the Crows tested his Dees.
He finished with an impressive 141 SuperCoach points in yet another superb night.
The result isn’t all rosy for the Demons however, with Kozzy Pickett set to face MRP scrutiny for his high forearm on Jake Soligo.
SUPERCOACH LEADERS
Christian Petracca 141
Jake Soligo 128
Max Gawn 125
Judd McVee 118
Rory Laird 116
Relive all the updates and SuperCoach scores below.
10:07: CROWS PUSH LATE
Adelaide has had seven of the past eight scores as it pushes to save its season.
Staring down the barrel of a 0-4 start, the Crows are attempting to lift their season off from the canvas.
The Demons have gone 28 minutes without a goal.
Crows’ skipper Jordan Dawson is stuck on the bench with five minutes left.
10:01: BROWN SUBBED OUT
Ben Brown has been subbed out for livewire Taj Woewodin.
The Demons have gone for some late dash in its clash with Adelaide and removed Brown after a quiet night.
Brown touched the footy for the first time in the third term and finished with just five disposals.
9:48: MCVEE’S CAREER NIGHT
Judd McVee has enjoyed a career-best night during the Gather Round opener.
McVee had never reached a SuperCoach ton before in his career but reached the triple-figure milestone before three-quarter time against the Crows.
McVee had struggled against Adelaide in the past, with the Crows being the opponent he had scored his lowest career scores against.
McVee, who costs $351,000, had a projection of only 64.
9:43: THREE TONS TO 3QT FOR DEES
Melbourne’s third-quarter dominance around the ball is reflective in the SuperCoach scores with three Dees already cracking the SuperCoach ton.
Christian Petracca, Max Gawn and Judd McVee have all raised the bat ahead of the final change and are poised for enormous finishes.
The Dees kicked four goals to skip away from Adelaide, which is staring down the barrel of a 0-4 start to 2024.
THE LEADERS
Max Gawn 105
Christian Petracca 102
Judd McVee 100
Jake Soligo 92
Rory Laird 88
9:24: BERRY IN WHILE DEES SCHOOL CROWS
Adelaide has activated substitute Sam Berry at an alarming point in the match.
The Crows have allowed Melbourne to kick away by letting Bayley Fritsch off the leash, with three goals in the third term.
Berry has come in for Chris Burgess.
McVee leads all comers in SuperCoach points with 94 halfway through the quarter.
8:59: IS PICKETT IN TROUBLE?
Melbourne will sweat on the findings of the MRP after star forward Kozzy Pickett collected Adelaide’s Jake Soligo with a high bump during the second quarter.
Pickett left the ground and dropped his forearm to hit Soligo high in the middle of the ground.
Soligo continued to be one of Adelaide’s better players in the second term but the action itself has found a selection of players sidelined for a week this season.
Max King and Marcus Windhager have been sanctioned with a one-week ban for similar actions.
Pickett, 22, got a one-match suspension for a high bump on Western Bulldog Bailey Smith in Round 1 of 2022.
During the Fox Footy coverage David King called the action “a dumb thing to do” while Leigh Montagna tipped Pickett would be “in trouble”.
Kozzy Pickett caught Jake Soligo high here - will he face scrutiny from the MRO?#AFLCrowsDeespic.twitter.com/4itOD41OB1
— 7AFL (@7AFL) April 4, 2024
8:51: HT — GAWN LEADS DEES INTO MAIN BREAK LEAD
Melbourne has opened up a 17-point lead on Adelaide courtesy of a sizzling quarter of footy from skipper Max Gawn.
Gawn has 79 SuperCoach points to the main break, behind on Judd McVee, who had 60 at quarter time.
There were six lead changes in this encounter before the Dees kicked away late.
THE LEADERS
Judd McVee 86
Max Gawn 79
Christian Petracca 73
Rory Laird 66
Jake Soligo 65
8:42: A WIN FOR WINDSOR OWNERS
Melbourne’s Caleb Windsor has shown he’s at home at AFL level with a couple of composed possessions during this second term.
He’s collected 10 disposals for a return of 38 SuperCoach points with five minutes left in the second stanza.
Windsor costs $233,000 and has a break even just 37.
8:25: WHERE’S BLAKE?
The most owned SuperCoach player in this match has hardly been sighted.
Melbourne’s Blake Howes — who is owned by more than half of SuperCoaches — has -1 SuperCoach points during the second term.
Howes has had just one handball and looks a mile away from his break even of 30.
Blake Howes #SuperCoach@magicmoments000pic.twitter.com/fcSUUjd28J
— Tim Michell (@tim_michell) April 4, 2024
8:18: DAWSON HURTS EARLY TRADERS
The 2.6 per cent of SuperCoaches who traded Adelaide star Jordan Dawson this week will be feeling the early pain after his 36-point opening term.
Dawson was good over the footy and also took a strong contested mark in his eight-disposal quarter.
10 per cent of coaches still own Dawson.
8:11: QT — WASTEFUL CROWS STILL LEAD
A late goal to Darcy Fogarty has allowed Adelaide to take some scoreboard reward into the first change.
Fogarty kicked the Crows ahead in the dying stages of the term after the Crows had kicked 1.5 from their first six shots on goal.
Steven May has been excellent on Taylor Walker, shaking off his rib injury from 12 days ago to take three intercept marks.
Izak Rankine has looked dangerous but his direct opponent — Judd McVee — has had an impressive SuperCoach quarter.
THE LEADERS
Judd McVee 60
Steven May 41
Mark Keane 40
Brodie Smith 37
Max Gawn 36
8:02: RANKINE LOOKING OMINOUS
Adelaide excitement machine Izak Rankine is looking ominous on the big stage with two early shots on goal.
His first was a clever and tidy left-foot snap which resulted in the Crows’ first and his second just slid across the face.
Judd McVee has the job on Rankine but is doing some damage of his own with 39 SuperCoach points already.
7:56: WOUNDED MAY
Steven May appears to be in some discomfort with his ribs in the early stages of the match.
The stats might suggest a different story — with the star defender already clunking two intercept marks — but he is grimissing whenever he hits the ground or faces contact.
He is lined up on Taylor Walker and has 18 SuperCoach points with 10 minutes left in the first.
An early test for Steven May playing just 12 days after suffering cracked ribs.
— Fox Footy (@FOXFOOTY) April 4, 2024
📺 Watch #AFLCrowsDees on ch. 504 or stream on Kayo: https://t.co/c5VwhmeFbG
âœï¸ BLOG https://t.co/Ain60pDHbc
🔢 MATCH CENTRE https://t.co/B7UmGcjvGapic.twitter.com/3MWxxEW3oz
7:45: THE IRONY!
Melbourne’s Harrison Petty has kicked the first of tonight’s big Gather Round clash against Adelaide.
Petty was heavily linked to the Crows during the off-season but ultimately remained a Demon.
He converted the set shot after a free kick was paid for chopping the arms.
Crows’ defender Mark Keane has started strongly again with 14 SuperCoach points just minutes into the match.
7:15: STOP IT, EDDIE!
Eddie Betts has shown he’s still got it during the Fox Footy coverage pre-game.
Western Bulldogs legend Brad Johnson insisted Betts had a shot from the pocket after the two had completed their live cross.
Betts obliged, making a dribble kick from the pocket look far too easy.
After kicking the goal Betts said current Crows livewire Izak Rankine can have the pocket they were standing in as the opposing pocket, the one in front of the famous Adelaide Oval hill, was his “real estate”.
Some things never change.
— Fox Footy (@FOXFOOTY) April 4, 2024
It's always Eddie's pocket ðŸ˜
📺 Watch #AFLCrowsDees on ch. 504 or stream on Kayo: https://t.co/c5VwhmeFbG
âœï¸ BLOG https://t.co/Ain60pDHbc
🔢 MATCH CENTRE https://t.co/B7UmGcjvGapic.twitter.com/nCXHii2fhf
6:50: FINAL TEAMS, SUBS NAMED
Sam Berry and Taj Woewodin have been named as the respective Adelaide and Melbourne substitutes.
Berry is a solid rookie option for SuperCoaches with a breakeven of -2 while Woewodin holds an eyebrow-raising break even of 78.
Neither side has had a late change.
GATHER ROUND TEAMS
A third of SuperCoaches will quickly scramble to find a cheap defender after North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson swung the axe over Toby Pink.
Pink struggled on Good Friday against Carlton’s two-pronged attack, giving away a trio of free kicks in a disastrous first term.
Other coaches will contemplate their stance on Collingwood’s Nick Daicos with tagger Finn Maginness recalled for Hawthorn.
Maginness played a starring role on Daicos in their last encounter before the star Magpie left the field with a knee injury.
Alex Sexton’s omission from the Gold Coast Suns’ lineup is also a pain for more than half of SuperCoaches who were hoping to hold onto another trade.
Click here to see full Gather Round teams
HINKLEY HITS BACK
By Simeon Thomas-Wilson
Port Adelaide senior coach Ken Hinkley has staunchly defended South Australia’s right to host Gather Round, saying there is no better place in the country to have it.
Ahead of the second Gather Round kicking off, interstate clubs have moaned that the festival of footy gives Adelaide and the Power an unfair advantage by giving them an extra home game and creating an “imbalance” in the fixturing .
With the extra game at Adelaide Oval as part of Gather Round, the Crows and Power play 13 games in SA this year - including the two Showdowns.
Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon play 17 of their 23 home and away matches this season in Melbourne., while Melbourne, Richmond and St Kilda play 15 games in the Victorian capital.
The Tigers and Saints also play a match each an hour out of Melbourne in Geelong.
Geelong coach Chris Scott said this week that if Gather Round was to remain in Adelaide, then the Crows and Power should face off in a Showdown.
“I’m not sure that the two Adelaide teams should just get an extra home game against an away team,” he said on SEN.
“The clear and obvious solution to the compromise is that there should just be another Showdown.”
On Thursday Hinkley rejected this suggestion and said he believed no other state could do Gather Round better than SA.
“That is Chris’ opinion I suppose,” he said.
“I think Gather Round is in a great spot, I think it is in the right town.
“If someone can do it better than what last year was it will probably be Adelaide this year, because we are doing it pretty well already from what I can see.”
Hinkley also said the argument of too many games at Adelaide Oval for the Crows and Power did not make sense.
“Without going tit for tat, the MCG has the grand final every year,” he said.
The SA Government will host Gather Round until 2026 after the roaring success of last year’s inaugural edition.
There are plans to host a game in the Barossa Valley next year.
Hinkley backed the Government to hold onto Gather Round.
“What you look at is results and results say it is going to be hard to be better than Adelaide,” he said.
“The premier (Peter Malinauskas) is doing a good job, I’m sure he can make sure we can keep it.”
Originally published as AFL 2024: Follow live updates, SuperCoach scores as Adelaide faces Melbourne in Gather Round
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