How you finish a season can speak volumes about a club. After a Round 23 win over the Tigers, and a record-equalling 54 disposals from their young star, Harry Sheezel, the Kangaroos were looking like things may have finally started to trend in the right direction.
What a pity for them that they encountered the Adelaide Crows. Against any other team, they may have eked out a win to head into 2026 with.
The now-minor-premiers have been threatening for a few years, building a list capable of contending, but falling over for a variety of reasons. With a recent stumble in the form of the Izak Rankine suspension (don’t get me started on that…) we now see an Adelaide team that will need to be resolute in their battle for the flag. However, this team currently demonstrates the type of talent spread that makes others in the league envious. Power forwards, a tight-knit defence, and a midfield with the ability to hit the scoreboard, the Crows have winners across every line.
The absence of Rankine opened the door for someone to step in and find their place in the team, whilst the returning Rory Laird provided the club with even more veteran leadership in defence.
Meanwhile, North lost Cam Zurhaar to injury for the final game, and looked for their young, yet promising midfield to mix it up with the engine room of the Crows, taking advantage of the ruck work of Tristan Xerri.
As with every game, I had a set of expectations coming into this game, but as we are all aware, sometimes, expectations and reality are often quite a distance removed from each other. So, in keeping with our philosophy of sharing here, at The Mongrel… or stealing, as the case may be, I am using the format of the esteemed Timbo Higgins for this review.
Expectations versus Reality.
What did I get right, and what did I get wrong?
THE EXPECTATION – KANGAROOS TO PRESSURE EARLY, BUT THE CROWS TO PULL AWAY IN SECOND HALF
For a little while, it felt like this might be the case.
The Crows got the lead out to five goals, and looked ready to pull away. Riley Thilthorpe was dominating the air, and the Roos were seemingly lacking that last kick inside 50 hitting a target – something they’ve lacked for the last couple of years, at least.
However, there is a lot to be said for taking the bit between the teeth and knuckling down. North simply refused to allow the Crows to stretch them. Despite a clear mismatch in talent when you stack up the Adelaide forwards against the North defenders, the Roos were able to hold things together and control both Taylor Walker and Darcy Fogarty.
Of course, the Crows are close to impossible to stop across the board, but Toby Pink, Charlie Comben, and even Griffin Logue (in short doses) competed hard in the air, and worked just as hard at ground level to prevent the big boys from inflicting huge damage.
North took advantage of the Crows’ inability to find the footy, registering a +63 advantage in disposals, and a monster +19 clearance win. They were also +29 in contested possessions, as they matched, and exceeded, the intensity of their opponents at the contest.
So, if they were able to dominate possession, how did they lose?
Good question.
The Crows were far more efficient when they did have the footy, often capitalising on North’s wasted disposal to rebound from half back, or from the centre, and hit the scoreboard. Ben Keays gave Colby McKersher a bath in the first quarter to have 2.2 to his name, and six score involvements, which paved the way to success for the visitors.
The only real winner the Crows had through the midfield was Sam Berry, but his five clearances paled in comparison to the work of the Roos’ onballers.
Sheezel (33), Simpkin (33), and Parker (27), all had more of the footy, and the North outsiders played above their station. Put it this way – at halftime, Dylan Stephens had 17 touches and two goals… that may never happen again… ever!
In the end, the continued pressure from North was quite unexpected, and if you’re looking for positives for the Roos heading into their off-season, it is that their midfield stood up against a Crows outfit that is as blue-collar as they come.
However, for all that effort, they still lost. That’s what happens when you go up against the best team in the competition heading into finals, though. A ten-minute lapse in the second quarter gave the Crows all the room they needed, with goals to Thilthorpe, Laird, and Dowling (x2) all that was required to set up the win.
THE EXPECTATION – REILLY O’BRIEN TO NULLIFY THE DOMINANCE OF TRISTAN XERRI
Gonna show my age here – I used to watch Happy Days as a kid, and when The Fonz got things wrong, he had a very difficult time admitting it. Couldn’t say sorry, either.
I was wrr… wr… wrrrr.
I’m sssoooozzz… soz… soooorz.
In hindsight, he was a bit of an asshead, wasn’t he?
I was wrong with this one, I am sorry.
I was so wrong, that if right was at one end of the scale, and wrong was at the other, I would have toppled off the scale, and likely broken a limb as I hit the deck.
Xerri was a monster, and it came as a surprise to me how good he was in this game. Not because I hadn’t seen him dismantle other rucks this season, but because I hadn’t really seen anyone dismantle ROB at all this year.
O’Brien has been excellent at limiting his direct opponent in 2025, but Xerri was at another level in this one. He had 25 touches, 35 hit outs, seven clearances, and 12 tackles, as his second efforts matched those in the ruck contests.
ROB had moments, but he was outclassed by Xerri, who will make the AA squad this season, but those three weeks suspended will likely cost him a place in the final team. A shame, because he is everything North could want from a big man, at this point.
THE EXPECTATION – THE “BIG THREE’ ADELAIDE FORWARDS TO HAVE TEN GOALS BETWEEN THEM
Ah, shit… I am getting stuff wrong all over the place!
They got halfway there – can I say I was half right?
Thilthorpe did a ton of work up the ground, collecting 19 touches and 12 marks to go with his three goals, but Tex and Fog could manage just two goals between them, as North’s defence, which I think is pretty ordinary normally, got to work and forced them away from goal to get touches.
Fogarty started well, with seven first quarter touches, but couldn’t find space to operate in once North started to put pressure on the ball-carriers delivering to him. Tex had moments here and there, but – with all due respect, given he’ll be eyeing finals and not too concerned about this game – played like a millionaire. Understandably so, but it did permit the North defence the opportunity to close him down a little too easily.
THE EXPECTATION – A “LESSER” ADELAIDE FORWARD TO KICK 4+
I wrote this one because I simply don’t rate the players North plays in defence as genuine defenders. Not the mid-size, or smalls, anyway.
McKercher and O’Sullivan are simply parked there whilst they learn the caper, but are destined to play elsewhere. Meanwhile, Caleb Daniel is the type of defender that can be taken advantage of. I mean, just the other day, he was asleep, and I figured, if I put my hand down the back of his pants, he might not even… hang on, that might have been a dream. Forget I wrote that bit.
Anyway, it looked for a while like Ben Keays was going to be the bloke to do it. He had 2.2 in the first quarter, and was making McKercher look anything but a defender. The way he would beat him in the air, beat him back inside 50, and remain dangerous, curbed the running game of McKercher, and went a long way toward the Crows establishing their early lead.
James Peatling also snagged three, and he really screwed me over when his snap out of the pack in the last quarter went wide.
Yep, all about me.
Billy Dowling also bobbed up for two goals in succession – one on a dubious free kick against Griffin Logue for… something.
So, whilst I didn’t get this one right, I wasn’t too far away. The Crows will need these blokes standing up as the finals pressure commences in a couple of weeks. If Fog, Tex, and Thilthorpe start to struggle, it will be the efforts of Keays, Alex Neal-Bullen, and Zac Taylor that could become pivotal.
THE EXPECTATION – AT LEAST TWO NORTH PLAYERS TO HAVE 30+ DISPOSALS, BUT DON’T HURT TOO MUCH WITH THEM.
Screw it, I am claiming a win, here. I felt this was an easy one, as North mids don’t find it hard to gather touches – they just find it hard to have meaningful touches.
Sheezel had six clearances from his 30 touches, but it is always the score involvements I look at with him to assess whether he has hurt teams. When he gets forward of centre, I want him drilling the ball into the chest of his teammates. That didn’t really happen in this one, with just five score involvements to his name.
Jy Simpkin was the other with 30+, notching 33. He had plenty of it in the last quarter, but couldn’t be that player who cut the heart out of the Crows. I find it quite amazing he’ll likely retire in five years, with his best-ever game coming not as captain of this club, but as a representative of the Indigenous All-Stars.
Lastly, how good could LDU be if his disposal was a little better? The bloke finds it, but a little too often, dishes a handball to a player not looking, or turns it over due to not trusting his skills. His right-handed handball, that should have been an easy left-handed dish, in the first quarter cost his team a goal, and it was rightly criticised by the Gerard Healy on commentary. Despite being a doddering old bloke now (which I will be soon enough, too), Healy was spot on regarding LDU’s weak side skills, or lack there of. North have paid through the nose to keep him – put him out there one-on-one with an assistant coach and make him do 500 left-handed handballs at every training session. Hell, even a jabroni like me can handball both hands (thanks Dad!).
THE EXPECTATION – GEORGE WARDLAW TO HAVE UNDER 20 TOUCHES – HE IS THE MAN NORTH NEED TO HAVE 30+
Yep, got this one right, as well, as I don’t believe Wardlaw has been truly fit all year. He needs an uninterrupted pre-season to get in pristine shape, so he can find the footy on second and third efforts, as his first effort is usually all-or-nothing. It’s a fantastic effort – don’t get me wrong – but it is just one.
He had 18 touches in this game, but is second to the footy too often. Better conditioning will see him win more of the footy, and when he starts doing that, i reckon he is the player that will make those around him better.
Players like Wardlaw change the complexion of a game, but they need to remain involved to do that. In 2025, he has cracked 20 touches just three times in 13 games, so this was a pretty safe prediction, but he had his best game of the year last week, so there was a chance he could do it again. Had the Crows allowed him to replicate his 25-disposal game against the Tigers, we may have seen several other Kangaroos elevate their games as a result of his work, as well.
THE EXPECTATION – THERE WILL BE AT LEAST ONE DECISION THAT LEAVES YOU WONDERING WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH THE UMPIRES
The safest of all predictions, really.
How about I start with this one… Mark Keane doubles back toward goal after taking possession. He dances on the line, awaiting pressure from Cooper Trembath in order to rush the ball through. The pressure comes, Keane tries to get over the line, but David Rodan’s view is blocked by their bodies.
Let’s go to the score review boffins, right? They’ll fix it!
Nope, they won’t. Instead of having a review that shows a different example, which would prove that the ball was either over the line, or had been pushed into the post, they use the EXACT SAME view that Rodan had that obscured the action by the bodies of Keane and Trembath.
The decision – insufficient evidence, and the decision to award a goal on advantage to North stood.
Seriously, this was amateur hour stuff, and I don’t blame Keane for being pissed off with it. The video review, which will soon be brought in for boundary decisions (yay – more reviews!) is so inadequate that it is laughable.
Insufficient evidence?
Insufficient technology and brains from the AFL.
It was compounded moments later when Keane was disallowed a mark, which saw another North goal, and then another when Cooper Harvey failed to control a mark.
At that point, it genuinely felt like the Crows were being screwed over.
To top it off, a few minutes later, Trembath was paid a contested mark inside 50 that he had no business claiming. I don’t blame Trembath – I love what he has brought to the North forward line, but I do think you could whack three shaved down, blind apes out there. They’d have as much chance of getting a decision correct as the umpires did in the last quarter.
Hang on, I hear you think… what about the 50-metre penalty against Finn O’Sullivan? Or the reversal that saw Mitch Hinge laughing after he was pushed over?
Yep, both unnecessary and against something that seems very uncommon amongst the umpiring fraternity – common sense.
That ten minute was an exhibition in how to guess. The game deserves better.
WHAT ELSE DID I FIND IN THIS GAME?
Cooper Trembath plays the game as honestly as anyone in the league (except for claiming that mark that wasn’t his, I guess). I reckon he could be the perfect second marking option for North, long term, once Jack Darling is ready to hang them up.
Nick Larkey is a solid player, but he really lacks in the contested marking department. This is something that Trembath could provide the Roos with. He isn’t interested in engaging in tests of strength – he just watches the footy, goes at it, and if he gets both hands to it, he’s a great chance of dragging it down.
I’m rapt to see Sam Berry playing such good footy. There was a period of time when I thought he would be playing footy elsewhere, as he was unable to crack into the Crows’ best lineup. His ascension into the role of inside mid should be a lesson for players to bide their time and be patient. His time has come now, at a point where the Crows will be banging down the door of the last couple of weeks of September. Pretty good time to be rewarded for your patience.
Hugh Bond would like a few of his moments over again – not because he didn’t go hard, but because he was beaten by a clever and deceptively string opponent, in Paul Curtis.
Bond has been really good recently, but against Curtis, he ran into a mid-size forward who is ticking just about every box, at the moment. Does it put his role in jeopardy for the finals?
Well, no… it isn’t this performance that puts it in jeopardy. It’s that Max Michalanney will be returning that does that. Still, it is an indication as to how good Curtis is, as Bond has been tough to beat.
Speaking of small defenders, could Jacob Konstanty be deployed in that role over the coming years? I think we’ve seen this season that he is definitely not a natural small forward. He had four chances at goal to finish with 0.3, but with a defined role in defence, maybe a lockdown role on a small forward, could be an avenue that makes him a solid AFL player?
He is still only 20, and after playing every game of the season, he has only 11 goals to his name. Cooper Harvey seems to have more goal sense, as does Zac Banch. If Konstanty can make it as a defender, it solves a problem for North, as the blokes they have back there, as mentioned above, are kind of looking for ways out of defence. He could make a name for himself as the bloke who locks down on others, and he doesn’t have to win a heap of the footy. See someone like Harry Cunningham at Sydney for the blueprint.
Do the Crows now put a line through Sid Draper for the year? This was his chance to step up in the absence of Izak Rankine, but with him being subbed out of the game with just five touches (at 20% efficiency), it does not bode well for his chances in September. He just looked off the pace, which is a shame, as I had high hopes for him this season.
Josh Rachele is listed as 2-3 weeks away – are the Crows willing to throw him right back in for the first final? Or do they allow Ben Keays and ANB to go to work and carry the load? Some big decisions upcoming at West Lakes.
And finally,m interesting tactic to play Aidan Corr as a defensive forward on Mark Keane, but it demonstrates just how high a regard Keane is now held in coaching circles.
Well, the Crows end up as minor premiers, finally making good on the wraps on them for the last few years. It was nowhere near as easy as it should have been, but they picked up the four points, escaped without incurring an injury. You’d take that right now, even if it feels as though this was an opportunity to put the hurt on North.
And if you’re North, you walk away from this thinking your team HAS improved. This time last year, you were being annihilated by 15-20 goals. This year, you’re pushing the ladder leaders to a couple of goals, and knocking over the Tigers. That’s where you look at improvement – not falling away down the stretch.
As always, massive thanks to those who support this work. You can see the amount of care that goes into it. I love footy, I love writing about it, and I hope you enjoy reading it. Without you, this whole thing falls over. Sincerely… thank you – HB
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