AFL Round 10: Adelaide v St Kilda result, news and stats

Reilly O’Brien was destined for a stint in the SANFL – then he produced one of the most dominant games ever seen by a ruckman. What do the Crows do now?

James Rowe celebrates a goal.

Adelaide assistant coach Nathan van Berlo says the Crows won’t rule out playing a dual ruck combo of Kieran Strachan and Reilly O’Brien after the dumped big man’s huge game in the SANFL.

One of the Crows leadership group members, O’Brien was dropped two weeks ago after some poor form.

But O’Brien well and truly did his best to ensure his stint in the SANFL could be a short one, after he put in what van Berlo said was “the most impressive game” he’s seen from a ruckman.

Against Woodville-West Torrens, O’Brien had an incredible 37 disposals, 42 hitouts, 11 marks, 16 clearances and a goal – worth 255 SuperCoach points – in the Crows’ win over the Eagles.

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The Crows have said they would like to give Strachan a good three-to-four week spell as the No.1 ruck.

But van Berlo said O’Brien was challenging those plans.

“I don’t think the three-to-four weeks is categoric,” he said on SEN SA.

“When we bring guys into the team, whether it is Jackson Hately, Kieran Strachan or Lachie Gollant, it is the best if match committee can give you a three or four-week block at AFL level to show your wares.

“We have certainly explored that with Kieran, and Rob couldn’t have done much more. It was the most impressive game I’ve seen from a big fella with his influence on the game and numbers.”

Reilly O’Brien dominated in the SANFL. Picture: Keryn Stevens

Strachan did his best to keep his spot in the team in the Crows’ loss to St Kilda on Saturday night, having 17 disposals and 19 hitouts against the Saints’ star duo of Paddy Ryder and Rowan Marshall.

“Ryder and Marshall are a deadly duo and he held his own and not let them do what they pleased at the ruck contest and let our midfield get to work,” van Berlo said.

The two played together in 2020 when the Crows were embarrassed by North Melbourne.

Van Berlo said the Crows could look at this again.

“Yes, there definitely is (a world where the two can play together), whether that is this week or we have a crack later down the track,” he said.

“We have seen teams play two rucks. It is something that we haven’t really done in the period of time since I’ve been at the club.

“We will definitely have that discussion but it will be about what the mix is ahead of the ball as well. We’ll explore that.”

One positive from more Crows pain

– Matt Turner, Jason Phelan

Jackson Hately’s emergence is one of the positives from Adelaide’s four-game losing streak.

The former GWS player impressed again on Saturday night in the 21-point home loss to St Kilda, backing up his career-high 27 disposals versus Brisbane the previous week.

Both of those performances came as an inside midfielder, the position Hately made his name as a junior before being drafted by the Giants at pick 14 in 2018.

Hately had been hoping to break into the Crows’ engine room when he joined the club at the end of the 2020 campaign.

Instead, he became a SANFL regular in his debut season, playing 10 state-league games and just three in the AFL side.

It led plenty of people outside of West Lakes to wonder if and when the recruit would have an influence at the next level.

The answer looks like it is now.

Jackson Hately tackles Sebastian Ross as he impressed again for the Crows. Picture: James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty Images

And a key reason is Hately is fit after overcoming a nagging groin problem.

Not that it was well known how much it was affecting him.

“Some guys have tough years and people don’t know what they’re going through body-wise,” Hately told News Corp.

“I was putting my hand up to play each week and was playing SANFL.

“I know people around me would know (about the extent of the injury) but when external people don’t know, you can think about it a little bit.

“You want to come in your first year at a new club and play (AFL) right away but it didn’t go my way.

“It was definitely frustrating.

“It was a tough year.”

Hately’s groin problem began in February last year and he had a few weeks off during pre-season because he could not get it right.

“It was an overuse injury, so whether I was trying to do too much coming into a new club, getting fit.

“It definitely taught me about balance.”

Hately received his first AFL matches as a Crow in rounds six and seven last year, then was dropped and spent the next six games in the SANFL.

After a week as the medical substitute, Hately featured twice more in the state league.

“My form wasn’t knocking the door down and my body was struggling,” he said.

“Some days you’d feel good and other days I was feeling terrible.

“I tried to battle out last year as long as I could.”

Adelaide ultimately decided in August to shut down Hately for the campaign, wanting him to rest ahead of the pre-season.

“My only focus was on getting my groins right,” he said.

Hately spoke to club physiotherapists Tim Parham and Tim Cook almost daily.

Teammate Ned McHenry was also important, offering advice given his own groin issues the previous season.

Although he overcame his injury, Hately started this year in the SANFL.

His first game was quiet then after a total of 62 possessions in two weeks, he was called up for the clash with the Western Bulldogs in Ballarat.

“I had to earn my spot,” he said.

“I was really confident in the work I put in and knew my chance would come.”

Hately initially lined up at half-forward or on a wing.

A pre-training chat with coach Matthew Nicks before the Carlton game gave him a surprise first taste on the ball — a tagging role on Blues captain and superstar Patrick Cripps.

“He pulled me in and I wasn’t sure what to expect,” he said.

Hately has overcome a nagging groin problem. Picture: Sarah Reed/AFL Photos via Getty Images

“Nicksy told me he wanted me to play on Crippa and it rattles you a little bit.

“Although we didn’t get it done as a team and he still had a good day, it did give me a little bit of confidence that I could play in the middle with those sort of guys.

“My conversations with the coaches was how can I get a crack in there and thankfully I stayed in there for the Brisbane game and didn’t have a run-with role.”

Hately offers Nicks something different on the ball.

In an era where big-bodied midfielders like Cripps, Marcus Bontempelli and Jack Macrae are among the competition’s best players, Hately (191cm) has size in a midfield lacking it without him in the engine room.

He is comfortably taller than Rory Laird (178cm), Ben Keays (186cm), Matt Crouch (182cm), Rory Sloane (183cm), Sam Berry (182cm) and Harry Schoenberg (183cm).

Sydney recruit Jordan Dawson is 192cm and is spending time in the middle.

But Nicks is using him in a variety of roles, including defence and half-forward, as he determines in games where he can best influence them.

Hately believes his height, spread and ability to play in or outside the contest are some of his main weapons.

“I just want to keep getting better,” he said.

“I want to be a consistently great AFL midfielder for us.”

With Crouch averaging 35.5 disposals from his two SANFL games since being dropped and the Crows’ top team on a four-game losing streak, Nicks will again seek the right mix at selection, this time to tackle Geelong at GMHBA Stadium next week.

Hately said Nicks was glass half-full after Saturday night’s defeat, knowing the team’s inaccuracy and ball use cost it the game.

“Losing four in a row, you don’t want that and everyone wants to rectify that,” he said.

“The last couple of weeks we’ve played some really good footy for three quarters against really good sides.

“Everyone hates losing but we can’t sit around and sulk and think ‘poor us’, we’ve got to keep fighting and think about what we’re doing well.”

Adelaide was in a similar spot last season.

Like this year, it started 3-3 then fell in a hole.

Twelve months ago, it was five consecutive losses.

Now it is four ahead of next week’s tough road trip.

While there were similarities on the ladder, Hately was adamant the side was much more advanced than at this stage of 2021.

‘Frustrated, angry’ Crows vow to change after meltdown

Adelaide’s frustrated players will roll up their sleeves and get to work on fixing their broken goal-kicking radar in the wake of Saturday night’s heartbreaking loss to St Kilda.

The Crows did a lot right to lead the top-four hopefuls by 11 points at three-quarter time at Adelaide Oval, but shot themselves in the foot with horrendous conversion in front of goal in the 14.6 (90) to 9.15 (69) loss.

It was Adelaide’s fourth defeat in a row, which left Matthew Nicks’ side with a disappointing 3-7 record after a bright start to the season.

“We’re all frustrated and angry and I know our supporters are,” Nicks said.

“We’re not here to lose, but in saying that I was really positive with our group because we ticked 10 or 12 boxes of things we got right.

Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks knows exactly where it went wrong. Picture: Getty

We can pinpoint exactly what it was that cost us the game.

“We know what to work on and we’re already working on that, we’re already putting the hours in, and we know that it will turn quickly.

“Sometimes it’s contagious, you miss three or four early and all of a sudden the goalposts seem like they’re closer to together.

“We’ll get to work, we stay positive, put our heads down and get to work.”

The Crows can ill afford a repeat of the wayward performance when they face Geelong at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday, a venue where they haven’t won since 2003 and are on an 11-game losing streak.

Young star Josh Rachele is in doubt to make the trip after he was subbed out late in the loss to the Saints with a corked hip with Nicks hinting a rest is on the cards for the 19-year-old who has played every game 10 rounds into his debut season.

Inexperienced ruckman Kieran Strachan is under pressure to keep his spot. Picture: Getty

Nicks has several selection queries to ponder ahead of the clash, in particular at the ruck position where inexperienced big man Kieran Strachan has been preferred over Reilly O’Brien for the past two matches.

O’Brien pressed his case for an AFL recall with a sublime 37-possession, 42-hitout display for Adelaide’s SANFL team, but Nicks liked what he saw from Strachan who gathered 17 disposals and had 19 hitouts pitted against Paddy Ryder and Rowan Marshall.

“We were pleased with Strachanie’s game,” the coach said.

“Around the ground he ended up with 17 (possessions) and we thought our midfielders fought it out really well and that’s what we’re after.

“It’s the group, not the individual, in that area.

“We knew coming in … that it’s not necessarily going to be a game where you are going to win hitouts but what he did was the work on the ground and I thought Strachan was very good around the ground.

“I was really pleased with the way that Strachanie fought.”

BRAD CROUCH, SAINTS SINK WASTEFUL CROWS IN MAJOR FADE-OUT

St Kilda has broken Crows’ hearts with Max King booting six goals in a stunning come-from-behind 21-point win on Saturday night.

Adelaide was brave but horribly inaccurate in front of goal, with the deadeye Saints consigning Matthew Nicks’ men to a fourth loss in succession with a stirring 14.6 (90) to 9.15 (69) win at Adelaide Oval.

The Crows led by nine points at three-quarter time but fell behind when Brad Crouch followed King’s fifth major with a clever goal in traffic against his old side.

Josh Rachele and Taylor Walker gave the home fans hope with goals in an enthralling final term, but the Saints rattled home with an eight-goals-to-three last quarter that secured their seventh win of the season.

Brad Crouch celebrates a goal. Picture: Mark Brake/Getty Images

“We didn’t play very well and credit to Adelaide, they won the contest and they worked a bit harder than us in the first half,” Brett Ratten said.

“Sometimes you can’t play perfect footy or it’s pretty ugly and maybe you don’t deserve to win but you find a way.”

The Crows scored a memorable win over Melbourne in the corresponding fixture last season and looked set to repeat the dose, but instead find themselves well off the pace with a 3-7 record.

St Kilda was missing Jack Steele and Jack Higgins from the line-up that defeated Geelong, but Brett Ratten’s men dug deep when their top-four aspirations were threatened.

Bradley Hill starred in his 200th AFL match with 30 possessions and a goal, with Crouch and Jack Sinclair also prominent.

Brodie Smith and Ben Keays led the charge for Adelaide, with Jordan Dawson also important with a strong presence around the ground and two goals.

“We did everything that we wanted to do exactly the way we wanted to do it except put the ball between the two big sticks,” Nicks said.

“In the end it cost us a game of footy, so we come away extremely frustrated.”

Jordan Dawson loves putting the Crows in front from this spot 👀#AFLDeadly | #AFLCrowsSaintspic.twitter.com/2BvLOr9PDG

— AFL (@AFL) May 21, 2022

MURRAY VS KING

With regular fullback Jordon Butts out, the Crows went in with a smaller back six with Nick Murray sent to star tall forward Max King.

Adelaide led the inside 50 count 18-9 at quarter-time but trailed by two points on the back of their poor conversion.

King, who looked in ominous touch, had no such issues as he got on top in the pivotal duel with goals resulting from two strong first-quarter grabs.

With a nightmare evening looming, Murray fought back strongly in the second term with King cutting a frustrated figure.

The star Saint was back on top of the engrossing duel in the third quarter when he booted back-to-back goals.

His fifth came after he was too strong for Murray in a marking contest and took the honours when he kicked the sealer following yet another contested mark.

Max King slotted half a dzen for the Saints. Picture: Sarah Reed/AFL Photos via Getty Images

MCADAM MAGIC

Shane McAdam provided some timely inspiration for the home side on a couple of occasions.

The talented forward showed immense courage to mark going back into a pack early in the second quarter and proudly grabbed his Sir Doug Nicholls Round guernsey after he put Adelaide back in front with his first major.

With surging St Kilda back in front in the third term, McAdam stepped up once again.

He outpointed two defenders in a marking contest to bring the ball to ground and was quickest to the loose ball which he soccered through for a superb major.

SCOREBOARD

CROWS 1.5 4.8 6.13 9.15 69

SAINTS 2.1 3.3 6.4 14.6 90

PHELAN’S BEST
CROWS: Smith, Keays, Dawson, McAdam, Laird, Doedee.
SAINTS: Hill, King, Crouch, Sinclair, Wilkie, Gresham.

GOALS
CROWS: McAdam 2, Dawson 2, Walker, Rachele, Rowe, Soligo, Thilthorpe.
SAINTS: King 6, Membrey 2, Marshall, Hill, Sharman, Wood, Ryder, Crouch.

INJURIES
CROWS: Rachele (hip).
SAINTS: Nil.

UMPIRES Rosebury, O’Gorman, Harris.

ADELAIDE OVAL

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

JASON PHELAN’S VOTES

3 Brad Hill (StK)

2 Max King (StK)

1 Brodie Smith (Adel)

SELECTION HEADACHES: WILL CROWS TURN TO STARS TO END STREAK?

— Matt Turner

Selection will again be a key topic at West Lakes and outside it after the Crows’ let slip a chance to beat St Kilda at home on Saturday night.

What does Adelaide’s best 22 look like?

And when does coach Matthew Nicks pull the trigger on recalling club champions Reilly O’Brien and Matt Crouch from the SANFL, where they are carving up the opposition?

How far away is the return of the classy Wayne Milera, who has been out of the AFL side since the opening round?

Those questions will be hotter discussion items given Adelaide’s last-quarter fade-out and four-game losing streak.

Matt Crouch has spent weeks in the reserves. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Nicks could be loathe to swing the axe.

Not just because he made seven changes before the previous round, but given there was a lot to like from several fringe players who were made to earn their spots.

Jackson Hately, Jake Soligo, Kieran Strachan, Shane McAdam and Sam Berry all had bright showings on Saturday night.

That group has spent the bulk of the season in the SANFL, but is now getting chosen ahead of Crouch, O’Brien and Milera.

Nicks might have been tempted to go with the big-name trio on the back of three consecutive defeats.

Instead, he chose 10 players with fewer than 30 games to their names, determined to reward form and give guys a chance over multiple weeks.

The Crows did not win the game, hampered by erratic goalkicking and a three-majors-to-eight last term, so perhaps more experience was needed to right the ship.

Adelaide has copped its share of criticism in recent weeks for who it has chosen and overlooked.

Hately was one of those who came under fire from outside West Lakes after not having much influence his first three AFL games of the season from rounds six to eight.

But on Saturday night, the ex-GWS on-baller made it two good games in a row.

First-year midfielder Soligo had registered 19 disposals in total across his previous matches.

He equalled that number against the Saints and also booted the first goal of his career after winning a holding the ball free kick.

Jake Soligo celebrates his first goal. Picture: Sarah Reed/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Strachan improved on last week while toiling against St Kilda duo Paddy Ryder and Rowan Marshall.

McAdam kicked two goals, making it seven in his past three games.

Berry’s pressure was again enormous.

The second-year tough nut had a game-high nine tackles after a whopping 13 last week.

O’Brien had 37 disposals, 13 clearances and a goal in the Crows’ SANFL win over Woodville-West Torrens on Friday night, while Crouch chalked up 35 touches and seven clearances.

They are clearly dominant at that level but it will be interesting to see if Nicks brings them back next week after some encouraging performances from guys picked ahead of the duo.

Originally published as AFL Round 10: Adelaide v St Kilda result, news and stats