Australian Football

Match Report

This had the potential to be a tantalising match with Adelaide and even West Coast a chance to play in the finals if they were to win and Carlton to go down to Port Adelaide. Unfortunately for both the Crows and the Eagles, by the time this game got underway, Carlton had come from behind to pip the Power by a point and turn the match into a dead rubber.

With little but pride on the line, the Crows came out and played an excellent match, while West Coast's display could be described as not much better than insipid. As a result, Adelaide jumped to an early lead and were never headed. The Crows led by 25 points at quarter time, by 30 points at half time, by a whopping 72 points at the last change and finished the match 86 points to the good of a very disappointing Eagles outfit.

The Crows had many fine players, including Paddy Dangerfield (three goals and 29 touches), Brad Crouch (29 touches and two goals) and veteran Scott Thompson (33 disposals and two goals). There were few highlights for the Eagles, but Matt Priddis (35 disposals), Scott Selwood (32 possessions) and Dean Cox (27 hitouts and 27 touches) never stopped trying.

A disappointing season had an even more disappointing end for West Coast, with the Eagles losing their last three matches by 66, 62 and 86 points. The Eagles year was disrupted by injuries to several players but such a finish would nonetheless be seen as unacceptable by the West Coast hierarchy. It remains to be seen whether John Worsfold will again coach the club in 2014.

The Crows also endured a disappointing season, but the dual losses of key forwards Kurt Tippett to Sydney and Taylor Walker to a knee reconstruction played a big part in their downfall. Despite the loss of those two player, Adelaide were competitive in most games and still managed to win 10 for the season. Coach Brenton Sanderson can look forward to 2014 with at least some degree of confidence.

GOALS
West Coast: Tunbridge 2; Smith, Dalziell, Wellingham
Adelaide: Dangerfield, Otten, Grigg 3; Couch, Sloane, Thompson 2; van Berlo, Smith, Callinan, Tambling

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
West Coast: Cox, S.Selwood, Priddis, Rosa, Dalziell
Adelaide: Dangerfield, Thompson, Crouch, Otten, Douglas, Smith, Sloane

BEST - SPORTAL.COM.AU
West Coast: Priddis, S. Selwood, Rosa, Cox, Tunbridge
Adelaide: Dangerfield, Smith, Crouch, Thompson, Douglas, Otten

COACHES' COMMENTS
John Worsfold (WCo): The season's been well below what we expected. There are a lot of reasons behind that and it's not really acceptable. It's a year that our club won't cop. We're not happy with it. There's a lot of lessons to learn out of it, that's the great thing. As I said to the players, I've learnt massive lessons this year. The challenge for me personally is to learn from those lessons and put things into place.

Brenton Sanderson (Adel): We needed to tell the players [that Carlton had won against Port Adelaide and the Crows could not make the finals] and for them to respond the way that they did, they did show a bit of character today. I think some players took their frustrations out on the result. You saw how ruthless they were today and I'm really proud of their efforts. Unfortunately, not good enough on the season, though. 10 wins and 12 losses, you shouldn't qualify for the finals anyway.

INJURIES
West Coast: Jack Darling (hamstring) replaced in selected side by Bradd Dalziell
Adelaide: Nil

SUBSTITUTES
West Coast: Adam Selwood replaced Mitch Brown during the third quarter
Adelaide: David Mackay replaced Ian Callinan during the fourth quarter

UMPIRES: Fleer, Wenn, Foot

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Fox Footy

COMMENTATORS: Matthew Campbell, Dermott Brereton, Tony Shaw, Barry Hall