Australian Football

Match Report

First up for this week's wrap, in the first of two Saturday games we head north to the My Money House Oval in Elizabeth for the clash between the Bulldogs and the Crows. These two sides shared the points in last year's two encounters, with the Dogs taking a nine-goal win in Round 3 and the Crows winning the return bout in Round 10 by six goals. There's still some ill feeling from many at the kennel, their heavy defeat in the 2016 Elimination Final still gets talked about. Both sides copped losses last weekend, with the Dogs going down to Westies at home while the Crows remained winless after a loss to South. Adelaide's understrength lineup would have Centrals fans salivating at the prospect of putting the Crows to the sword and they wouldn't be disappointed. 

In the unseasonal 30-degree heat the Crows kicked just 1.1 for their opening quarter, the Dogs rammed through 8.2 to lead by 43 points at the first change. That gap would be stretched to an even 10 goals by the half-time break, the Crows having very little luck at the opposite end where they kicked 2.3 to the Bulldogs' 5.2. The gap would continue to widen in the third quarter, the Dogs adding a further 6.2 to Adelaide's 3.3 to go into the final term with an unassailable 77-point lead. But one concern for the Dogs fans would have been the wasteful final term, where they could have fully buried the Crows but instead had their winning margin cut back to 70 points, Adelaide outscoring Centrals with their four goals to 2.5. 

Luke Barmby enhanced his chances of state representation with this best afield honours for Centrals, the Crows named Douglas Hadden as their standout.