AFL Round 23 Adelaide def West Coast: The costly blunders that killed off Crows’ season

It’s official – Adelaide has the most-potent attack in the competition. So how did the Crows finish 10th? Matt Turner looks at what really went wrong in 2023.

Izak Rankine looks dejected after a loss to the Magpies mid-year. Picture: Getty

Adelaide finished the season in 10th place and as the highest scoring team in the competition.

The last time the top scorer missed the finals was in 1968.

Adelaide made sure it acknowledged the achievement in leading the league in points for after a game that could and perhaps should have served as the lead-in to the club’s first finals campaign in six years

Reality hit for the Crows once the siren sounded in Perth on Saturday night that while their win tally, scoring and various other measures had improved, their season was over.

Adelaide ended its campaign by kicking 17.21 (123) in a 45-point triumph over West Coast.

It was the eighth time this year that the Crows cracked the ton – a feat not achieved since its 2017 grand final campaign when they did it a whopping 15 times.

Adelaide entered the match ranked 10th in the league this year for goalkicking accuracy and butchered a raft of opportunities against the Eagles.

Even though they won on Saturday night, wayward shots, particularly in crunch moments, was a major factor behind the Crows narrowly missing the finals.

They were a combined 128.148 in losses and 191.130 in wins.

Taylor Walker has had another monster year for the Crows. Picture: Getty

Other key reasons behind missing the top eight include coughing up leads, a 1-5 record in games decided by a goal or less, ranking ninth for most points conceded and winning just twice on the road.

Two late-game umpiring howlers also proved costly.

The Crows blew sizeable second-half leads against:

■ GWS in round 1 (28 points at half-time)

■ Collingwood in round 7 (16 points at three-quarter time)

■ Gold Coast in round 12 (17 points at half-time)

■ GWS in round 18 (17 points at half-time)

Adelaide consistently showed it could match the best sides, but not beat them.

It had victories against top-three teams Port Adelaide (twice) and Brisbane, but would rue five losses by six points or fewer to finals-bound outfits Collingwood (twice), the Lions, Melbourne and Sydney.

As for the Crows’ away performances, Saturday night’s victory left it with a 2-8 record this year.

Adelaide’s controversial defeat to Sydney proved incredibly costly. Picture: Getty

The only other win was against 16th-placed Hawthorn in Launceston in round 6.

“You look back on a number of things,” Adelaide leadership group member Ben Keays told this masthead.

“There were games we were in front and gave up leads.

“Even in round 1 against the Giants, we were up by so much and we just gave momentum to the other team.

“Even our first three quarters against Sydney, to be so far behind (by 32 points at three-quarter time) and have to fight all the way back is another one.

“We’re able to match it with some of the best teams but we weren’t able to beat them, so that’s the next step next year.

“And our away form is definitely a work on going into next season.

“There’s a number of areas you can look back on, pick out and say ‘that might have cost us’ but there’s no use dwelling on it.”

Ben Keays has pinpointed where the season went wrong for the Crows. Picture: Getty

Keays said Adelaide ranking ninth for most points conceded probably summed up its overall ladder standing.

Wooden-spooner West Coast tallied 12.6 (78) on Saturday night.

“We give some run-ons to teams, we obviously lost some games from pretty strong positions, just giving up momentum, so we’ve got to find ways to hold that momentum,” Keays said.

“That’s a clear focus.”

The Crows’ offence has been a big reason behind the climb up the ladder.

And Taylor Walker’s outstanding form is indicative of its ability to kick big scores.

Walker booted nine goals against the Eagles – after kicking a career-high 10 versus them in round 13 – to make it 76 majors for the season.

It is the 33-year-old’s most prolific campaign and must earn him his first All-Australian blazer.

Taylor Walker kicked a career-best 76 goals this season. Picture: Getty

Keays said put the team’s firepower this year down to personnel, forwards coach James Rahilly, being braver with the ball, playing more off instinct and developing more ways to move the footy.

“The boys have a lot more confidence to back themselves,” he said.

Scoring quickly helped the Crows kick away from West Coast in the last quarter on Saturday night and stage a stunning fightback in the finals-crushing one-point loss to Sydney last week.

Keays could have been the hero against the Swans, but instead his shot with 70 seconds remaining was erroneously ruled a behind, leading to a second AFL apology this season.

The former Brisbane Lion was yet to play finals in 113 games, a wait that would now go on.

“It was frustrating and quite sad,” Keays, who was “pretty certain” that his shot was a goal, said of last week’s outcome.

“Personally, I haven’t been in that position (of making finals) my whole career and just falling short by such a slim margin was really crushing.”

For the sixth season in a row, the Crows will miss the finals. Picture: Getty

Keays described this past week as crazy.

“Walking around, I had so many people coming up and saying it was a goal or this and that,” he said.

“But I didn’t have a choice but to move on.

“We had to quickly dust ourselves off, get ready and go again.”

Keays had not heard from the AFL since the Swans match and did not expect to.

“It’s a club thing, I just happened to be the one who kicked it,” he said.

In light of last week’s goal umpiring howler, Keays was not at all surprised at how many score reviews there were against the Eagles, as a string of seemingly obvious majors were checked.

“I don’t think they wanted another mistake like last week,” he said.

“It is what it is.”

Keays said last week’s result and the way the Crows’ season ended “puts fire in the belly for next year, that’s for sure.”

“The extra sting’s going to be good for us to work harder, but I’d like to think that everyone’s always been motivated to be in that final eight,” he said.

Keays said the team’s youth, scope for growth, connection, culture, staff and how hard everyone worked gave him confidence it could play finals next year.

“It’s going to be hard watching them from home (next month), but there’s no point getting upset about it, we’ve got to move on and get better,” he said.

“Finals is always the most entertaining footy and it’s good to pick up on what the best do.

“Hopefully you visualise yourself being there in the future.”

Izak Rankine looks dejected after a loss to the Magpies mid-year. Picture: Getty

TEX IS BEST: EAGLES DEMOLITION GIVES WALKER COLEMAN EDGE

By Brad Elborough

As 47,027, mostly West Coast, fans at Optus Stadium farewelled stars Luke Shuey and Shannon Hurn on Saturday night, spare a thought for Victorian teenager Harley Reid.

Expected to be the number 1 pick in the upcoming Draft, no-one was potentially more impacted by the clash between the Eagles and Adelaide, than Reid, who was surely watching keenly on the opposite side of the country.

The outcome would almost certainly determine where he plays in 2024.

After the Crows beat the Eagles by 45 points, Reid will now likely don a blue and yellow West Coast jumper next season.

But Saturday would have been a roller-coaster ride for the youngster.

When he woke up, he’d have thought his future was at Arden Street with North Melbourne.

By mid-afternoon, he could have been packing for a move West to join the Eagles, with the Kangaroos pulling themselves from the bottom of the ladder with a win over the Gold Coast.

The Eagles made the Crows work for their win. (Photo by Daniel Carson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Back in Perth, 10 minutes into the first term, Jack Darling put West Coast in front of Adelaide, sending the Roos back to the bottom of the ladder.

No one would have forgiven Reid for turning the telecast off before quarter-time, with the lead changing four times in the quarter.

It changed another 10 times and scores drew level four times, before Adelaide’s Taylor Walker started to hit the scoreboard, the Crows winning 17.21 (123) to 12.6 (79).

As bad as the Eagles season has been, they only cemented the wooden spoon in the final round; and it’s only the second time they have finished last.

TEX THROWS CHARLIE A CHALLENGE

Carlton’s Charlie Curnow needs to kick two goals against Greater Western Sydney on Sunday to claim his second consecutive Coleman Medal, outright.

Taylor Walker needed to kick eight goals to draw level with the big Blues tally of 75 and he booted nine, finishing on 76.

The big Crow showed his intent early, kicking 2.2 from six shots in the opening term.

He finished with 9.4 from 19 shots on goal, including three goals in the third term and four in the last.

There is a bit for the All-Australian selectors to think about too.

North Melbourne’s Nick Larkey bagged nine goals in the Kangaroos win over the Gold Coast earlier in the day, and jumped ahead of Walker with 71.

Is there room for all three of them in the 2023 All-Australian team?

Once again it was all about Taylor Walker against the Eagles. (Photo by Daniel Carson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

SCORING NOT THE PROBLEM

Walker’s return of 76 goals is his best from his 15 seasons, beating the 63 he booted in 2012.

It’s the most in a season by a Crow since 1997 when Tony Modra booted 84.

Scoring was the Crows issue this season though.

Along with Walker, Izak Rankine has kicked 36 goals and Darcy Fogarty 34.

The last time the Crows had three forwards kick more than 30 goals in a season was 2017 when they won through to the grand final.

Saturday wasn’t pretty though, the Crows squandering opportunities. They had 26 more inside 50 entries and only kicked away in the final term.

EAGLES FAREWELL CHAMPS

West Coast will be without Shuey and Hurn next season, both stars of the 2018 premiership.

The pair played their last games on Saturday night, while retiring three times All-Australian ruckman Nic Naitanui was also celebrated before the game.

The challenge for the Eagles is replacing them. Hurn and Shuey are both still very good players.

Hurn finished with 22 touches and six marks.

Shuey had 25 possessions and four clearances and kicked a terrific left-foot goal in the first quarter.

Tim Kelly was again their best with 35 disposals.

While Oscar Allen kicked 4.1, taking his own tally for the season to a respectful 53 goals.

ENJOY YOUR SUMMER COACHES

Should Adam Simpson and Matthew Nicks start 2024 in their respective coaching roles, early losses next season will surely have both under pressure.

For Simpson, that’s nothing new, having been in the spotlight for much of this season on the back of five triple-figure losses.

Nicks finished his fourth season at the helm with a 11-12 record.

He’s now coached 83 games, the fifth most for Adelaide, for a 29-54 record, the worst of any of the Crows full-time coaches.

All four ahead of him took the Crows to finals.

In 2024, he’ll catch Graham Cornes (89 games) and Don Pyke (93) and maybe Gary Ayres (107) if they do see September action.

Adam Simpson may have coached his final game for the Eagles. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

EAGLES 3.1 8.3 12.4 12.5 (78)

CROWS 4.5 5.10 11.17 17.21 (123)

BEST PLAYERS:

Eagles - Kelly, Shuey, Duggan, Allen, Hurn, Darling.

Crows - Walker, Laird, Crouch, Dawson, Soligo, Hinge.

GOAL KICKERS:

Eagles - Allen 4; Darling 3; J Williams, Shuey, Jones, Cripps, Cole.

Crows - Walker 9; Rachele 3; Soligo 2; Keays, Gollant, Fogarty.

Votes

3 T Walker (CROWS)

2 R Laird (CROWS)

1 T Kelly (EAGLES)

Originally published as AFL Round 23 Adelaide def West Coast: The costly blunders that killed off Crows’ season