Round 23 – Adelaide Crows v Collingwood Magpies
Butterflies in the Stomach
Pregame
On a weekend when two other newbies (Dockers and Suns) to the pointy end of the season stumbled badly in their respective auditions for September action, all eyes now turn on the Crows as they throw their at in the ring for September glory at Adelaide Oval.
Standing in the Crows’ way is the battle hardened, fourth-placed Collingwood. The Pies’ recent form has been woeful, however, the question remains as to whether they are just playing ducks and drakes in the lead up to the finals, or are they in a real form slump?
On paper, this game probably means more to the Pies as they try to secure a top four position, however, the Crows are back from the wastelands for the first time since 2018 and they are desperate to prove their credentials against a Collingwood team they haven’t beaten in nearly a decade.
Given the high stakes of this Round 23 matchup, both teams and their supporters will have butterflies in the stomach when the ball is bounced to start this match.
Which team will handle the pressure better and establish themselves as the team to catch in September?
Round 23
Saturday Nights’ Main Event
Score
Crows: 01:02:08 / 06:03:39 / 07:04:46 / 09:05:59 defeated the
Pies: 05:03:33 / 05:04:34 / 06:08:44 / 08:08:56
Goals:
Crows: Fogarty 2, Walker 2, Curtain 1, Rankine 1, Cumming 1, Peatling 1, Thilthorpe 1
Pies: Membrey 2, Elliott 2, Houston 1, Cameron 1, Crisp 1, N. Daicos 1
Best:
Crows: Keane, Cumming, Worrell, Neal-Bullen, Milera, Bond, Murphy, Dawson, Thilthorpe
Pies: Cameron, Crisp, N. Daicos, Pendlebury, Frampton, Maynard
The Hoodoo is Broken
Collingwood have had the wood over Adelaie since late in the 2016 season with a record of ten-straight wins with some being close and some not too close. Adelaide have got close to beating te Pies over the last few years, who have just held sway winning their last five matchups by an average of just four-points.
Hoodoos, curses, or whatever you want to call them are not real, but they can play with players’ minds, especially when things start off wrong in the early stages of a game, and self-doubt creeps in. As was the story in this game.
At quarter time the Crows put their self-doubts to one side as they got on with the business of winning the game.
This contest was never going to be anything but close, and in the tightest of finishes, and by a margin of three-points, the CROWS BROKE THEIR HOODOO!
As is the norm between these two sides, there was some controversy in the dying minute when big Riley Thilthorpe kicked the ball away after it had gone out of bounnds. It should have been a free to Collingwood but as the saying goes, that’s show business. Remember the free against Rankine for running too far? Or the high hit to Dawson that wasn’t called?
That’s how it feels when the calls don’t go your way.Pies fans are livid now, just as Crows fans were livid in those pervious encounters.
Crows diehard may also say it makes up for Ben Keays’ goal that was ruled a point in 2023, while Collingwood supporters will light up talkback radio and social media for the next week saying they were robbed.
Our benevolent leader, the great HB Meyers is away at a wedding, as such I have the privilege of breaking down the game of the season.
In your Head – 1st Quarter
In the first quarter, Adelaide looked like they were wearing lead boots, and they seemed a bit starstruck as the Pies ran riot and jumped to a quarter time lead of 25 points.
I had a chuckle when the song ‘Zombie’ was played after Darcy Fogarty kicked the Crows first and only goal in the first quarter as the Pies ran them ragged, with the words, ‘in your head, in your head’, earworm ringing in my ears.
Was this hoodoo, or ruse, genuinely in the heads of the Crows? They were playing like Zombies, at points.
Given the meek performances of the Suns and the Dockers over the weekend who both fluffed their lines in front of their home crowd, it looked like Collingwood was going to do similar to Adelaide as they pranced around all starry-eyed.
Collingwood were right inside the heads of the Crows players in the first quarter, and they punished them.
One statistic stands out in the first quarter for the Pies, who dominated the game to such an extent the ball lived permanently inside their half with 24 inside 50’s and five goals, to the Crows six inside 50’s for a solitary goal to Fogarty.
Tim Membrey was on early in the game with two goals from strong marks setting the standard early, while Jamie Elliott and Dan Houston also played their part with a goal each. Darcy Cameron kicked truly after the siren, which resulted from a dumb free and 50 metres against Reilly O’Brien, stretching the Pies lead by a very healthy 25-points at the break.
Scott Pendlebury, Nick Daicos and Jack Crisp had the ball on a string and punished the Crows accordingly, while the Pies’ running halfbacks, lead by Issac Quaynor and Dan Houston, capitalised on the hard in-and-under work of Braydan Maynard, Darcy Moore and Harry Perryman, on the rare occasions when the Crows did go forward.
Twenty-one first quarter intercepts by the Pies blunted any impact the Crows forwards had on the game (apart from Fogarty). The Pies’ back six held Issac Rankine to three possessions, Taylor Walker and Daniel Curtain and two possessions each, and the raging bull Riley Thilthorpe could only scrounge one kick for the quarter.
Collingwood scored their goals from some well-choreographed chaos ball, creating havoc in their forward 50 to good effect, and at the first change it looked like the Pies were preparing the Crows to be little lambs to the slaughter.
Two positives for the Crows at the first break were the form of Issac Cumming on the wing who was providing some run for the Crows, while Lachlan Murphy locked down Josh Daicos in a defensive forward role, subduing his run and influence.
At quarter-time there was no indication the stunned Crows would turn this game around with the Pies dominating every statistical and variable measurable, but,,,,,
Enter Sandman (Mark Keane) – 2nd Quarter
Issac Cumming continued from where he left off in the first quarter, but he wasn’t alone anymore, with Jordan Dawson, the All-Australian Captain in-waiting, Jake Soligo, and Wayne Milera starting to win the ball out of the centre and around the ground, making the most of some very good ruck tap craft delivery from Reilly O’Brien.
For the first time since the first bounce of the game, the Crows put together a passage of play early in the second quarter which resulted in a goal to Fogarty.
Fogarty’s goal, which was the result of some great running play up the field, was a pivotal moment in the game, as the Crows awoke from their first quarter slumber and suddenly realised they were good enough to compete at this level.
Mark Keane and Josh Worrell are the best one-two punch defenders in the AFL. Remember that – this statement would have been laughed at in the pre-season, but as of right now, name one better. In the second quarter, they created a brick wall in defence which rendered the Pies forwards totally limp.
The Great Wall of Keane and Worrell repelled Pie attack after Pie attack. Brodie Mihocek, Jordan De Goey, Daniel McStay and Jamie Elliott were unable to get any meaningful possessions as the best defensive formation the AFL has seen in many years quelled any influence they might have on the game.
The performance of Hugh Bond locking down Jamie Elliott, not just for the second quarter, but the whole game, was one of the best seven possession games seen this year. The normally enigmatic Elliott was locked in a telephone by Bond for the entire game, having little to no impact on the game.
With Keane and Worrell being the gate keepers up back, Nick Murray, Mitchell Hinge, Hugh Bond, Wayne Milera, and James Peatling all played their defensive roles to perfection. The Crows’ defence after quarter-time was brilliant, and it is a defensive structure that will stand up to the pressure of finals football.
In a remarkable turnaround, the Crows lead by their defensive dominance held the Pies to a single point for the quarter, while they penetrated the Pies’ defensive wall to kick five goals to take control and momentum of the match into halftime.
Two of the Crows triple headed forward beasts, Fogarty and Walker, broke free from the clamps the Pies had put on them in the first quarter, with Fogarty bagging the first of the quarter, and the big Texan putting his stamp on the game with a couple of goals.
The second of Walker’s goals came from a strong mark over Darcy Moore he took about 55 metres from goal, and it became a certain goal when the Texan was awarded a 50-metre penalty after Houston ran past and knocked the ball out of his hands.
As good as Houston can be, and he was in this game, he suffers from moments of ill-discipline which have cost his team badly in the last month. Yes, it can be argued Walker staged a bit to put the ball in the path of Houston, but Houston has been around long enough not to fall for such a two-card trick.
In a game decided by moments, Houston’s brain fade was pivotal.
Players like Issac Rankine are as rare as hens’ teeth, and even when they are being well held, they only need a metre or two to do something special.
Darcy Cameron was setting himself for an easy halfback/wing defensive mark which was thwarted by a delicate deft touch by Rankine tweaking the ball from his grasp. Rankine’s control of the ball was exquisite as he handballed the ball on to a teammate which resulted in a goal to Daniel Curtin as the Crows flooded forward. It was the highlight of the match.
Again, late in the second term, at a throw-in Rankine ran forward of Issac Quaynor, while also throwing himself back at Quaynor to draw a free kick. The black and white army went berserk as Rankine feigned for a free kick that was duly paid.
Goal, Rankine, and the Crows in front at halftime by five points, while the Pies fans were still fuming.
The Queen’s Gambit
The Second Half
Not since the days of the Swans and Eagles in the mid-2000’s has a finer game of tight, no quarter given, surrender nothing, game of chess unfolded on an AFL field as it did in the second half of this classic.
Normally one goal each in the third quarter, followed by only two goals each in the last quarter could be written off as some kind of boring slug fest, but not this game.
Adelaide and Collingwood both came out to play in the second half, and it was intriguing to say the least, as the Pies couldn’t break the Great Wall of Keane and Worrell, while up the other end, Darcy Moore and Billy Frampton led a Collingwood back six which was just as impenetrable.
Billy Frampton probably had his best game as a Pie in this classic, as he, along with Moore, were the monumental foundations for the rest of the Pies backs. Josh Daicos aside, Quaynor, Maynard, Perryman and at times Houston, were stoic and resolute as they guarded their defensive line as if their lives depended on it.
(I will watch with interest the Brownlow votes for this game to see if any of the defenders from either team gets a vote.)
Collingwood dominated every area of the field in the third quarter, other than converting their dominance to scoreboard pressure. At three-quarter time, Collingwood had the ball in their inside fifty 55 times to the Crows 29.
The applied and perceived pressure of both team’s defensive structure was real in the second half, but no matter how well Daicos, Pendlebury and company were carving the Crows up around the ground, they just couldn’t get a goal past the Crows.
It was like the Pies midfielders and runners were hitting a tennis ball against a wall, as every time they delivered the ball into their forward fifty, it came back at them just as fast.
In normal circumstances, the delivery of the ball into the Pies forward line would be brought into question, but we are talking about Daicos, Pendlebury and Sidebottom, who are some of the best kicks in the competition. Their delivery into their forward fifty may have been a bit predictable at times, but the trio did provide enough precision kicks to give the forwards ample opportunity to convert, but the Crows defenders stood staunch.
With under three minutes left on the clock in the third quarter neither team had kicked a goal for the period, and for Collingwood they hadn’t kicked a goal since the first quarter. But in red time the game finally broke open just a touch.
In a forward thrust, the Crows had the Pies defenders out of position for he first time in the quarter and with a little luck on their side, Issac Cumming scored a goal on the run from what at best could be described as a flick pass from Keays (it brought back memories of the Dogs circa 2016).
More Pie fodder for talkback radio and social media.
Not to be outdone, and with seconds left on the clock, Sidebottom delivered a pass to Jamie Elliott (nothing Bond could do about it) with sublime accuracy. As the siren sounded Elliott went back and kicked truly setting up a monster last quarter with only two-points separating the teams.
Collingwood were dominating, but the Crows had stood brave and stoic as they absorbed the best the Pies had to offer.
This game was going down to the wire.
Early in the last quarter I noted the Crows had fallen into to playing the game on Collingwood’s terms, as they were now playing the same very controlled, methodical, and slow game as the Pies. In this game of chess it felt like the Pies were about to check the Crows before delivering the final moves to win the game, but that would have been too simple.
I stand to be corrected, but Alex Neal-Bullen is the only Crow player who has tasted Grand-Final success, and in the last half he was the steadying influence the Crows needed and relied upon. Neal-Bullen has brought something new to the Crows this year which has not only made them a better team, but a team which is now in a position to have a serious crack in September.
Understated performances often fail to get a mention, however, while Neal-Bullen’s second half did stand not out from a statistical perspective, it was his on-field experience and leadership which helped get the Crows over the line.
While Neal-Bullen was the steadying influence the Crows needed, the move of Riley Thilthorpe into the ruck for the last quarter was a masterstroke by coach Matthew Nicks.
Cameron and O’Brien had had a good battle until three quarter time, with Cameron probably winning the battle on points, but O’Brien, who is a tap specialist, had held his own. However, to Nicks’ credit he threw Thilthorpe into the mix to manufacture a point of difference.
With Fogarty and Walker playing their roles earlier in the match, the pressure was now on Thilthorpe to perform when it was his time and perform.
And perform, he did.
The last quarter was as tight as the third quarter with neither team giving an inch as both defences stood up repelling wave after wave of assaults.
In a game of moments, and to frank Mark Keane being the best player on the ground, Keane smothered a shot at goal by Mihocek which would have put the Pies in front. It was a selfless one percenter by Keane whereby he put his body on the line to thwart yet another Collingwood surge.
Midway through the last quarter neither team had scored for the quarter, with Collingwood doing most of the attacking, but still unable to score, the game was calling out for a hero or two to step forward and make a difference. Enter James Peatling, another new recruit to the Crows this year who has performed well in his new home in the city of churches, who took his moment.
A very shallow throw-in from the Boundary Umpire deep in the Crows forward line was swooped upon by Peatling who snapped truly to put the Crows up by ten points.
In a game of inches, the shallow throw-in not being recalled by the umpires was a howler which did result in a Crows goal.
Controversy… the hallmark of recent Adelaide-Collingwood games reared its ugly head, yet again.
More fodder for angry Pie fans to whine about on talkback radio and social media this week.
A few minutes after Peatling’s goal Collingwood finally took a mark on the outer ring of their forward fifty arc by the old evergreen Jack Crisp. Crisp kicked truly from 50 metres to bring the game back under a goal with eight minutes left on the clock.
Game well and truly on.
The saying big men only getting bigger the longer a game drags on could be aptly applied to Riley Thilthorpe’s performance in the last quarter. Thilthorpe’s pack marks in the last minutes of this game were the point of difference separating the two teams, including one mark resulting in a goal to the Goliath as the Crows again pushed the lead out to nine points with just on four minutes left in the game.
Not to be outdone by Thilthorpe’s dominance, the sheer brilliance of Nick Daicos was on show as he willed himself to be the player to bring the Pies back into the match. When Daicos of the ‘N” variety snapped truly to bring the game back to under a goal with mere minutes left on the clock, it was again game right on.
a classic unfolding before our eyes.
Thilthorpe, Keane and Worrell stood tall as the Pies kept surging in the dying minutes to bravely checkmate the Pies by three points.
Oh yeah, Thilthorpe should have been punished in the last minute for time wasting time after the ball had gone out of bounce. Given the incident occurred on the Crows half forward area it is a moot point as to whether or the freekick, if paid, would have had made any difference to the result.
More “poor-me” fodder for talkback radio and social media.
What a great game of Australian Rules Football.
Tidbits
The lopsided inside 50 metre count
Gary Lyon and Jason Dunstall both made a big deal about how Collingwood should have won the game given their overall inside forward 50 metre dominance of 71 times to the Crows 37, but sometimes stats don’t quite tell the full story.
Firstly, the Pies owned the Crows in the first quarter, and they went to the first break having 18 more inside 50’s than the hapless Crows, however in the second quarter when the Crows held momentum the inside fifty count was 13 to 12 in favour of the Crows for that quarter.
The differentiation in the second half in the Pies favour by about approximately 17 inside 50’s is more an indictment on the Pies overall team setup and structure, as it is on the Crows, and further, it highlights the strength of the Crows’ back six to defend a small lead as they did for the entirety of the second half.
The performance of the Great Wall of Keane and Worrell was enormous after quarter time and credit must be given to the Crows team setup and structure which continually forced the Pies on the back foot and chasing for the whole second half.
Is the loss fatal for Collingwood’s chances in September?
As stated in the opening, both teams needed to win this game for similar but differing reasons, and while the Pies lost this battle, their performance was first rate.
History has proven sometimes a lot can be gleaned from a defeat and it can be the moment that propels a team forward. There is a very real likelihood these two teams, who matchup well against one another, could meet again at Adelaide Oval in the first week of the finals.
Other results over the weekend have fallen Collingwood’s way, as such they will finish the round still in fourth position. From a ladder perspective the loss is certainly not fatal to the Pies’ prospects this season, especially considering this game was their best team performance in the last month or so.
This game could have gone either way.
Adelaide have now reversed the ‘in your head’ scenario between these teams and the next instalment of the Crows versus the Pies will be a must watch game.
Have the Crows exorcised their demons?
As it stands, the Crows will finish on top of the ladder (or second in an alternative world) come the finals, and they have secured the two cherished home finals, so the chip (or demon) the Crows have had on their shoulder about being unlucky not to make finals previously has been exorcised.
By beating Collingwood for the first time since Round 17 2016, another demon has been exorcised by the Crows as there will no more talk about the Pies’ winning streak over them taking up media time and getting inside the heads of the players.
To this point of the year, the Crows have exorcised a number of demons, or chips on their shoulders, but ultimately, they will now need to qualify for the Grand Final to see if the demons still linger in the long darkened shadows cast over the club since the 2017 power stance debacle and its aftermath.
Beau McCreery needs game time.
Collingwood are a better team with Beau McCreery on the playing field, and while he didn’t star in this match, his added gut running and vigour was important for the Pies in the first quarter when they dominated the Crows. Beau ran out of legs the longer the game went on, but when he gets a couple more games under his belt his form may have a big say in how far the Pies go this year.
Adelaide’s bottom six players…
There is always a question mark over any team heading into a final’s series concerning their bottom six players, or more aptly named, the role players.
From performances witnessed this season, the Crows have developed a number of players who can perform set roles to bolster the better credentialled grunt and star players. Without offending the stature within the Crows team, Hugh Bond and Lachlan Murphy were both given specific roles in this match to which they performed admiralty.
Further, when Harry Scheonberg was brought on in the last quarter as the impact sub, he performed well gathering five possessions.
Time will tell, but on the surface the Crows list bats pretty deep.
Next week:
Both clubs have games they are expected to win next week to the extent betting agencies would be investigated if either team didn’t win.
Collingwood head home to their beloved MCG to put paid to a Melbourne team which has failed to deliver this year to such an extent their coach has been sacked, while Adelaide head to Marvel to perform the final rights and rituals for the season on a Kangaroos team which has gone backwards this year – if that is even possible?
My crystal ball based on current ladder positions: Adelaide and Collingwood will do it all again at the Adelaide Oval in the first week of the finals.
I hope it was a good wedding HB.
In all seriousness, HB works tirelessly each weekend to ensure each game is reviewed, as well as providing riveting content during week – buy the man a friggin coffee please!
