By Jake Niall
There are another eight games remaining in this Gather Round, but it’s doubtful that any will exceed the quality of the first, in which Adelaide and Geelong traded goals, highlights and shifts of momentum.
The Crows’ offensive power has been a hallmark of their early season campaign, and it was showcased again in this superb contest. But Adelaide confronted cagey opponents who knew how to come off the ropes and unleash their own barrage.
Patrick Dangerfield’s decision to leave Adelaide and join Geelong remains one of the most consequential in modern AFL history. It is reasonable to ask whether the Crows would have won the 2017 flag with “Danger” in their side, and it is clear that the Cats wouldn’t have remained perennial contenders had they not landed the champion nine years ago.
It’s also hardly a stretch to say that the Cats wouldn’t have won the 2022 premiership had they not prised Jeremy Cameron out of the Giants. And, in Bailey Smith (35 touches), they might have snatched yet another gun, who, even if shy of Dangerfield and Cameron, could keep their never-ending contending period intact.
In this game, it was the intervention of Geelong’s veteran champions, Cameron and especially Dangerfield – and the enormous efforts of recruit Smith – that enabled the Cats to surge from behind to snatch the lead and then power further ahead to win by 19 points.
Dangerfield booted four goals, two of them in the final term, when Cameron banged through two that helped the Cats grab the lead and then hammered home his third for the last quarter to complete an impressive victory for the more seasoned outfit.
Bailey Smith starred for the Cats.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images
Adelaide had played a ballistic brand in the first half, but as the game wore on, Geelong’s composure and professional approach – and superior defensive work – saw the Cats steadily gain control, first whittling the Adelaide lead and then powering ahead, as Dangerfield and Cameron capitalised on the toil of the headbanded brigade, Smith and Ollie Dempsey, with Max Holmes becoming increasingly influential in the second half, too.
The Cats had entered the game without one of the game’s premier defenders in Tom Stewart, and the important Jack Henry, who might have manned either Darcy Fogarty or Taylor Walker.
Chris Scott, thus, was compelled to compensate by shifting Mark Blicavs back to defence to man the triple threats, supported by young Connor O’Sullivan.
At one point in the second quarter, the Crows led by 30 points and were scoring as if they were playing a Twenty20 game, as Fogarty booted four goals in that quarter; to half-time, Adelaide had nine goals from three players – Fogarty’s four backed up by Ben Keays’ three goals and a pair of sublime conversions from Walker, who retains his nimble feet at 35 years of age.
Patrick Dangerfield stepped up for Geelong.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images
Geelong’s fightback was impressive.
Propelled by the efforts of Tom Atkins and Smith, the Cats cut that lead to just 12 points at half-time. Then, after a treble of goals (Holmes, Brad Close’s soccer and Dempsey following a hanger in the goal square), they briefly snatched the lead.
Scott singled out the efforts of Atkins in keeping the Cats close “when the heat was on” in the first half.
Dangerfield was menacing in attack, more dangerous deep than when upfield.
The key question, at the mid-point of the third quarter – as goals were traded and the Crows had edged back in front following goals to Zac Taylor and Sid Draper – was whether either team could defend well enough for long enough to prevail.
In the final 40 minutes, it was clear that Geelong had the greater composure, running capacity, defensive capability and that while the Crows’ attack was formidable, the age-defiant duo of Dangerfield and Cameron demonstrated why they’ve been a cut above all but a few players in the AFL for many years.
The Crows, as ever, were well-served by the indefatigable Rory Laird, and that loaded attack, in which Keays, Fogarty and Walker each took turns. But the supply lines were cut off in the second half. The Crows tired, blundered with the ball and couldn’t match Geelong’s intensity.
Izak Rankine, who had been in doubt due to a corked calf, used his pace and skills to telling effect, albeit his full arsenal was not deployed.
Adelaide have lost a string of games in which they’ve not “managed the moments”, as Collingwood coach Craig McRae would say. On this night, they discovered that fast, free-flowing footy isn’t sufficient to be a contender. It must be coupled with the defensive grit and decision-making in tense situations that marks the best sides.
It was Geelong that managed those moments. The Cats – young, old and mid-career – remain formidable.
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