Australian Football

Match Report

Next up we head back toward the city and over to the western side of town to Richmond, where the Bloods faced the Crows at Hisense Stadium. They didn't finish last, that's no doubt the line many at Westies told themselves after last year, finishing eighth. The Crows were one of the sides they were able to take points from, it was in Round 8 at Milner Road when the Bloods' five-goal third term and the Crows inefficiency on goal that saw the red & black home by 20 points. But in Round 17 it was a far different story in a horrid 68-point loss. The Bloods are again a team in re-build mode and it was most definitely going to show today, the Crows fielding a side of 17 AFL-listed players as compared to a side that had only four players with 50-plus game experience... pups against hunters. Adelaide didn't get going straight away, kicking 3.3 in the opening quarter. They would, however, choke the Bloods' attack and would not concede a single goal for three quarters of football. At quarter-time it was a 20-point lead, which would balloon to a 10-goal deficit at the long break with the board reading 9.8 to 0.2. Those two behinds to West were rushed. Not that the Bloods weren't trying, the possession percentage wasn't woefully against them with the final number being 44-56. Adelaide's attacking prowess was just miles ahead, with a dozen individual goalkickers. At the final change that lead was taken to 86 points, which could have been in excess of 100 well before if they landed every shot true. They scored 4.6 to four behinds in that term. The home side did finally find their sticks in the final term, but their 4.1 to the visitors' 5.4 would see them sustain one of their worst opening round losses in recent memory -- 95 points. The Crows would name Luke Nankervis as their best with 29 disposals, 11 marks and two goals, while the Bloods named veteran Kobe Ryan as their standout with 28 disposals, nine clearances and five marks.