Australian Football

Match Report

The final game of round six, a top of the table clash between Adelaide and Richmond, promised much, and it delivered on that promise - for exactly one quarter. The Crows and Tigers played out possibly the best quarter of the year so far, kicking 11 goals between them in a shoot-out that saw Richmond ahead by nine points at the first break but the Tigers were blown away after that, the unstoppable Adelaide Crows kicking 16 goals to four over the last three terms to win in a canter.

A pulsating first quarter began with Crows skipper Taylor Walker marking and goaling within the first minute. Barely 30 seconds later Dan Butler accepted a handball from Bachar Houli and kicked the Tigers' first goal. The teams continued to swap quick-fire goals, Charlie Cameron's first answered by a first for Jack Riewoldt, and Josh Jenkins first goal responded to by Dustin Martin.

The Tigers broke the sequence with Oleg Markov giving them a second in a row to put them seven points clear midway through the term, but Eddie Betts had Adelaide back within a point just before time on when he kicked his first major. Two in a row to Daniel Rioli saw Richmond out to a 14-point lead, but the last goal of a cracking opening term went to the Crows' Richard Douglas and it was Richmond by nine at quarter time.

Another high-scoring term looked to be in the offing when Rory Sloane goaled for Adelaide two minutes into the second quarter, but it soon became evident that the goals would be going one way, in the direction of the Crows. Sam Jacobs' first put the home side back in front, and then two in a row from Walker had the Crows ahead by 20 going into time on. Riewoldt temporarily halted Adelaide's momentum with his second, but the Crows closed out the half with further majors to Brodie Smith and Matt Crouch, and they were ahead 27 points at the long break.

While the half-time margin was manageable for the Tigers, it soon blew out to alarming proportions. A mark and goal to Tom Lynch saw it out to 34 points, and then Sloane's second saw it slide past the 40-mark. Walker added another two to take it beyond 50, and the Crows did not stop there. They added further majors through Lynch, Andy Otten and Wayne Milera before Kane Lambert finally kicked Richmond's first goal of the third quarter just before it ended.

The Crows took a 68-point lead into the final term, but they did not let up. The first three goals of the quarter went Adelaide's way through Cameron, Lynch and Sloane, and the margin was 87 points and heading for three figures at the 11-minute mark. The Tigers to their credit salvaged something out of the game's last 20 minutes, kicking a final two majors via Oleg Markov and Jayden Short, but the sting had long gone out of the game and the Crows coasted to a 76-point win to stamp themselves as one of the teams to beat in 2017.

Adelaide had winners everywhere but Rory Sloane in particular stood out wing 33 possessions and eight tackles. For the Tigers, skipper Trent Cotchin (11 tackles, 26 touches) put in a valiant four-quarter effort.

The Crows will look to make it 7-0 when they travel to Hobart to take on North Melbourne at Bellerive Oval on Saturday, while Richmond (fourth, 5-1) faces another tough test on Saturday night, a match against the reigning premiers, the Western Bulldogs, at Docklands.

GOALS
Adelaide: Walker 5; Lynch, Sloane 3; Cameron 2; Jenkins, Betts, Douglas, Jacobs, Smith, M.Crouch, Otten, Milera
Richmond: Rioli, Riewoldt, Markov 2; Butler, Martin, Lambert, Houli

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Adelaide: Sloane, M.Crouch, Jacobs, Lynch, Walker, Laird
Richmond: Cotchin, Martin, Lambert, Nankervis

BEST - THE AGE
Adelaide: Sloane, Laird, Jacobs, Smith, M. Crouch, J. Lever
Richmond: Cotchin, Ellis, Martin, Lambert, Astbury, Rance

INJURIES
Adelaide: Nil
Richmond: Nil

UMPIRES: Rosebury, Stephens, Hosking

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Fox Footy

COMMENTATORS: Dwayne Russell, Gerard Healy, Mark Ricciuto, David King