Hapless Crows humbled
IN the battle of the two remaining winless teams — and their first-year coaches — it came as no surprise that this deteriorated into a game of turnovers, sprayed shots and poor efficiency, despite the perfect Gold Coast conditions.
However, it did turn into a thriller, with another blinding third quarter by Adelaide — kicking three goals to Fremantle’s one – that left the Dockers leading by a solitary point.
But despite its momentum, the Crows faded in the final term and were held goalless.
Freo’s Matt Taberner and Michael Walters kicked quick goals, and Darcy Tucker settled the 20-point result.
The Crows remain in unfamiliar territory, winless and firmly rooted to the foot of the AFL ladder.
The experience of David Mundy (25 touches and seven clearances) alongside the youth of Andrew Brayshaw (23 disposals) were positives for the Dockers, especially in the absence of captain Nat Fyfe.
Matt Crouch (27 touches) played a solid game upon his return to the Adelaide team.
The Crows were goalless until the dying seconds of the first half when Reilly O’Brien took an impressive mark on the wing, passed to Billy Frampton, who kicked to Myles Poholke, whose strong contested mark in the goalsquare resulted in a goal as the halftime siren sounded.
COACH Matthew Nicks admitted Adelaide had much to work on, with kicking efficiency and other fundamentals to come under the spotlight at training.
“We’ve been working really hard for two weeks on our ability to compete, our intensity in the contest we’ve been talking about it, we’ve been training it … (but) if you’re going to give the ball straight back to the opposition, we found ourselves on the back foot,” Nicks said.
FREMANTLE began well, as
Lobb, Walters, Tucker 2, Sturt, Taberner Poholke, Frampton, Lynch, McAdam
Brayshaw, Cerra, Mundy, Aish, Tucker, Lobb M. Crouch, B. Crouch, Smith, Laird, O’Brien Metricon Stadium
Sam Sturt goaled in the first 90 seconds.
The Crows then had five inside 50s, but were unable to convert. By contrast, Fremantle’s speed and efficiency was superior, with players like Tucker able to shake defenders and kick truly from set shots.
Adelaide was working hard (it won the inside 50 count for the first term, 10-9). But turnovers, coupled with sprayed shots, meant the teams went to quarter-time having posted the same number of scoring shots for opposite outcomes.
FREO star Michael Walters stepped into Fyfe’s boots as captain, and was quiet for a half before finding his feet.
Adelaide’s midfield recruit Ben Keays, who picked up Brisbane Lions gun Lachie Neale and Gold Coast’s Matt Rowell in the previous fortnight, was tasked with keeping Walters quiet. He held the Docker so well that he managed no touches in the middle of the ground in the first half.
Walters finished with 14 touches and two goals.