The Lowdown: All the likes and dislikes from Gather Round
The Crows arguably have the best key forwards in the league, but Reilly O’Brien isn’t putting in the performances Adelaide needs in the ruck. See the full likes and dislikes in The Lowdown.
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For the third year in a row, the AFL collectively descended on Adelaide for a lauded Gather Round, which produced its fair share of highlights,
LIKES
1. SA IS GREAT
You could have Gather Round in Western Australia or Tasmania, of course you can. But it just wouldn’t be the same. Sure Optus Stadium would be impressive, but Perth is just too far away for the mass migration of footy fans from Victoria. Plus, the footy festival and suburban grounds wouldn’t be in such close proximity to the CBD – plus the regional game would be too far out. As Peter Malinauskas said last week, the Barossa Valley is less than an hour away from the city – Margaret River is three hours from Perth.
A Devils’ 2028 launch Gather Round special would require Tasmania to host two mini Gather Rounds – one in Hobart and one in Launceston – and unless you got a mass ferry fleet to get fans across the Derwent to Bellerive the city and the footy is too disconnected. North Hobart Oval could be a suburban option given the history there and you could tie into the North Hobart restaurant strip, but the Norwood Food and Wine festival was bigger than last year’s. Burnie and Devonport would love games but their ovals have bike tracks around them – do you reckon the AFL would want the prospect of players being tackled onto that? Adelaide and South Australia is the perfect place for Gather Round.
2. POWER SURGE
It wouldn’t have been season done and dusted if the Power did not get up against Hawthorn on Sunday night. But this win was one Port desperately needed. After the game senior coach Ken Hinkley said “we just needed to find a win” and the Power sure did that. It hadn’t been a good start to the season at all for the Power given the lack of effort, intensity and workrate against Collingwood and Essendon but on Sunday night Port showed just how damaging a team it can be when it gets things right. The Power go to Sydney to take on the Swans one win off the top eight with renewed optimism about its prospects for 2025. If Port can continue to play like it did in the first half then watch out.
3. JOE RICHARDS
The former Collingwood small forward and teacher’s aide is rated highly internally at Port Adelaide. We saw why on Sunday night. Rightly so Connor Rozee for his brilliant game at half-back and what Zak Butters and Jason Horne-Francis were able to do in the midfield has been praised but in the review at Alberton Richards first quarter will get plenty of love. He kicked the first goal of the game and had another goal, eight disposals, a goal assist and three score involvements in the barnstorming first term that blew the Hawks away. It is always going to be tough for him given he was part of the trade that led Dan Houston go to Collingwood but more performances like this will help.
DISLIKES
1. WINGS GETTING CLIPPED?
A week is a long time in footy and with a match against GWS on Saturday, it could be three weeks that feel like a lifetime for Adelaide fans. Should the Crows go down to the Giants, for all the excitement about their start to the season Matthew Nicks’ side will be 3-3 and the lid will be well and truly back on. On Thursday night while Geelong lifted it was the Crows who really shot themselves in the foot and continued a theme of not being able to get the job done in those tight contests. The ball use coming out of defence is allowing teams to have way easier shots at goal than they should have. The defensive profile is actually better than what we have seen from the Crows over the past four years, but work needs to be done if they are to win these big games.
2. OH NO O’BRIEN
Reilly O’Brien is in a big form slump. Plain and simple. After being monstered by Gold Coast’s Jarrod Witts the previous week, O’Brien was able to win the hit-outs against the Cats’ Rhys Stanley. But there was little else than the hitouts from the Crows’ ruckman on Thursday night. Rounds 2 to 5 so far this season has been the lowest rated four-week stretch across his career to date, and by some way.
He is one of three ruckmen in the competition yet to take a contested mark this year, with O’Brien’s ability to go behind the ball and take marks previously very important for the Crows. Sam Draper might not be the answer but you can see why the Crows are keen on him and his status as an unrestricted free agent and Nick Bryan going down with an ACL means the dollars could come for the Reynella product. But this season could we see Lachlan McAndrews make his debut for the Crows sooner rather than later?
AND THE LOWDOWN ON …
Do Crows fans need to stop booing Patrick Dangerfield? Of course as paying punters they have the right to boo Dangerfield for leaving for Geelong. But those at the Cats believed that the reception he got from the Adelaide Oval crowd on Thursday night helped fuel his four-goal display to down his former side.
Originally published as The Lowdown: All the likes and dislikes from Gather Round
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