Winless Crows heading for wrong side of history
Time is running out for Adelaide to prevent itself from becoming the first club to go winless in an AFL season and since 1964 in the VFL.
Time is running out for Adelaide to prevent itself from becoming the first club to go winless in an AFL season and since 1964 in the VFL.
And aside from a six-minute spell in the first quarter against the Western Bulldogs at Metricon Stadium — after they had conceded the first five goals of the game — the Crows showed little to suggest they can taste victory in 2020 as they sunk to a 15th straight loss.
The last time the Crows played on the Gold Coast it was a horror show and after the Bulldogs came out firing in the first it looked like another woeful performance was going to be dished up by the Crows.
They did lift and kicked three straight in six minutes to spark some hope but once again the superior quality of their opponents came to the fore with Marcus Bontempelli outstanding and Aaron Naughton kicking a career-high six goals as the Bulldogs claimed a much needed 57-point win.
Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks said the Crows had taken “two steps up the ladder and then fall three back” with their performance against the Bulldogs.
“Just didn’t really bring did we,” he said.
“We were outmuscled, beaten in the contest convincingly the area we focus mainly on trying to keep ourselves in the fight and come away with games proud of what we put out there.
“We aren’t doing that, we didn’t do that today.”
Nicks said it again came down to the contest with Bontempelli having 12 clearances of his own while the Crows as a team managed 19.
“If you are not consistent in the contest you are not competitive, so we will go away and work and we will get hard,” he said.
“We’ve got five weeks to re-right the ship.”
The only downside for the Bulldogs was that important ruckman Tim English looked to have rolled his left ankle in the game’s dying minutes.
Matches against the Crows have come at the perfect time for their opponents in recent weeks.
North Melbourne snapped a six-game losing streak at the start of August against them, Melbourne was able to ease the pressure on coach Simon Goodwin and Collingwood overcame a huge injury list to claim a win in Adelaide’s last game.
The Bulldogs came into the match on the back of three straight losses and a win required to keep their finals hopes alive.
Coaches like to say there are no easy games in the AFL but they must be relishing coming up against the Crows.
Lachie Hunter had an “outstanding” return to AFL football Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge said as he praised the influence the former vice-captain of the club has over the rest of the team.
Hunter had a fine return to senior footy after taking time off to deal with personal issues, finishing with 29 disposals, nine score involvements and a goal in the Bulldogs big win over the winless Adelaide.
“He’s been an important player for our club for a long time and we miss his work, and he showed this afternoon what he’s capable of,” Beveridge said.
“That’s great for him because it’s been a difficult time for him and to come back in and feel part of it and be able to produce that sort of football for the team and for his teammates is outstanding.”
It was the game we’ve been waiting for all season by Bontempelli.
For some reason the Crows did not decide to tag the Bulldogs superstar and Bontempelli made them pay.
At quarter time he had more clearances then the whole Crows team, and a true captains goal to go along with them.
After the Crows kicked three straight following their horror start from the ensuing centre bounce Bontempelli first got a tackled in, then forced a turnover from Harry Schoenberg, arrowed a kick into the Bulldogs 50, found himself on the end of a handball and easily slotted a goal in a true passage of class.
Beveridge said it showed how important Naughton could be to the Bulldogs going forward.
“We’ve gave him good supply at times, we didn’t hesitate to kick it to him,” he said.
“He’s going to be really important for us in the future and it’s still early days.
“Against an All-Australian player like Daniel Talia, for him to kick six goals, that’s a pretty good afternoon.”
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