AFL 2022 West Coast v Adelaide: All the latest news from the round 21 match
Key staff have mostly moved on but eight players who attended Adelaide’s infamous camp played in the Eagles win. Here’s how Matthew Nicks says the Crows are managing the fallout.
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Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks doesn’t expect the renewed focus on the infamous 2018 pre-season camp to impact the Crows upcoming pre-season.
Shocking new detail about the camp emerged this week when former Crow Eddie Betts’ new book was launched, again bringing the controversy into the spotlight.
Betts finally outlined some of the trauma that he experienced at the getaway.
Some players and staff, including coach Don Pyke, have moved on from the Crows since then – some voluntarily, some not. But many remain and there were eight players in the side that beat West Coast by 16 points on Sunday that attended the camp.
Nicks said that the extra outside attention had no effect on club this week, because they continue to provide support for those involved, whether still at the club and those not.
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He said conversations have continued over the past two-and-half years and he doesn’t expect the Crows 2023 season to be affected.
“Not at all,” he said. “We’re a professional outfit. I can’t question the professionalism around the footy club. That’s on-field, but it’s also off-field. We have an amazing group of people, from administration to football department.
“We had discussion ongoing all the time. We are open to where we are at, what we’re working on. We made sure we had support around everyone we could.
“I’ll continue to do that; talk to players who have retired and gone to other clubs. We’re always looking to put an arm around those who need it, also stay in touch with those who don’t.
“We’re doing a lot of work to look at the past, look at the history of this footy club; why we are; what we are. We have an incredible history.
“We’ll keep trying to bring those guys back and put support around.”
The camp controversy was set aside for a few hours on Sunday while the Crows posted their seventh win of the season, in Perth, beating the Eagles by 16 points.
Having trailed by two points at halftime, the Crows took the lead early in the third quarter and didn’t give it back.
Darcy Fogarty continued his recent terrific form, kicking four goals, including three in the tight final term.
But there are fresh concerns for Will Hamill, who was subbed out of the game in the second quarter with his sixth concussion. He has played just 38 AFL games, but looks set to miss the Crows final two games, against North Melbourne and Port Adelaide.
Nicks said Hamill would need to be monitored, but isn’t sure he needs to change the way he plays.
“It would be telling him not to compete,” Nicks said. “Will’s got a game where he loves to compete. He’ll go for every ball there.
“He doesn’t weigh as much as some of the players that run into him. It is concerning, But it’s something we’re on top of with Will.
“We won’t take any chances; everything we do with Will is about his welfare. We’ll make decisions around not taking any risks in that place.”
Crows crash Kennedy farewell party
Adelaide put a tough week off the field behind it to spoil the Josh Kennedy retirement party at Optus Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Not that the Eagles champ, with eight goals, didn’t to go out in style.
The Crows should have been celebrating a terrific win over Carlton during the week and looking forward to winning consecutive games for just the second time this season, against West Coast.
Instead, they were forced to relive the controversial 2018 pre-season camp after Eddie Betts’ book, launched during the week, released shocking new details.
And Kennedy’s final ever goal got the margin back to just six points after it had been 23 just before the final break.
Cruelly, he missed a set shot moments later that would have tied the scores and threatened to rub salt into the Crows newly-opened wound.
At the other end of the ground, Darcy Fogarty kicked his third goal of the quarter moments later to seal the 16-point win, 16.6 (102) to 13.8 (86).
Kennedy kicked the Eagles’ first goal, just 13 minutes into the game, slotting a difficult shot from the boundary line, 50m out, showing his famous stuttering run-up.
But the Crows already had three by then, two of them from the boot of Rory Laird, who was celebrating his own milestone, 200 AFL games.
Laird continued his great form and was clearly the Crows’ best, with 36 touches and 10 clearances.
GOOD, BAD AND GOOD AGAIN
The Eagles aren’t the biggest scalp the Crows have claimed this season.
They have registered wins against teams that have been in the mix late in the season, or still are, in the Blues, Port Adelaide, Richmond and the Western Bulldogs.
Sunday’s win is their first at Optus Stadium in four attempts; three of those against the Eagles.
Against Carlton last week, the Crows forwards were given plenty of chances and Taylor Walker and Ben Keays kicked two apiece. Fogarty booted two.
That trio managed just one between them at halftime on Sunday.
Walker had just one touch in the first half, his hands full with Tom Barrass. He didn’t see much more of the ball in the second half, but kicked an important goal in the third term.
STOPPING THE RUN
An inability to get the ball into the hands of their forwards is one reason why West Coast sits 17th on the ladder this season with two rounds to go.
In only two games prior to Sunday, the Eagles had more inside-50 entries that their opposition, giving up a massive 342 forward entries over their first 19 games of the season.
Only the 17th-placed North Melbourne has kicked fewer goals the Eagles.
The Eagles led 18-8 in inside-50s by quarter-time against the Crows, but couldn’t make the most of their chances, trailing by three points at the first break.
West Coast took control in the second term, dominating play across the ground. And by halftime they had 13 more journeys into attack and led by two points.
It was during the second term that young Crow Will Hamill was subbed out of the game with concussion after he got in the way of a Jack Darling lead.
Worryingly for the Crows, it is the sixth concussion for Hamill in just 38 AFL games.
The Crows lifted their rating after halftime though and started to restrict the Eagles’ run.
The opportunities to score dried up; they had only 16 forward entries in the second half.
END OF AN ERA
It was a fitting end of a great career for Kennedy, whose AFL debut came in Carlton colours against Essendon in July 2006.
He walks away after 293 games and 723 goals, in 21st spot on the AFL’s all-time leading goalkicking list.
Kennedy overtook St Kilda champion Nick Riewoldt (718 from 336 games) and Carlton’s Harry Vallence (722 from 204 games) during the day.
And he could yet claim his eighth West Coast leading goalkicker honour.
He is six goals ahead of Jack Darling, who still has two games remaining this season, against Fremantle and Geelong.
Darling will take on extra responsibility for the Eagles next season with Kennedy no longer there to take the opposition’s best defender.
The Eagles are also relying on Oscar Allen to return strong after missing the entire 2022 season due to a foot injury.
Scoreboard
EAGLES 3.3, 7.4, 9.5, 13.8 (86)
CROWS 4.0, 7.2, 12.4, 16.6 (102)
ELBOROUGH’S BEST
Eagles: Kennedy, Cripps, Barrass, Naitanui, Hurn, Kelly.
Crows: Laird, McAdam, Fogarty, Dawson, Berry, O’Brien.
GOALS
Eagles: Kennedy 8; Cripps 2, Darling 2; Duggan.
Crows: Fogarty 4; McAdam 3; Laird 2, McHenry 2, Himmelberg 2; Hinge, Murphy, Walker.
INJURIES
Eagles: Nil. Crows: Hamill (concussion).
UMPIRES: Foot, Johanson, Howorth
CROWD: 50,117 at Optus Stadium
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
BRAD ELBOROUGH’S VOTES
3. Josh Kennedy (WC)
2. Rory Laird (Adel)
1. Shane McAdam (Adel)
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Originally published as AFL 2022 West Coast v Adelaide: All the latest news from the round 21 match
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