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Adelaide Crows vs Richmond Tigers: The start of a rivalry

Rory Sloane of the Crows congratulates team mate Eddie Betts after kicking a goal during the Round 19 AFL match between the Adelaide Crows and the Richmond Tigers at Adelaide Oval, in Adelaide, Friday, August 7, 2015. (AAP Image/Ben Macmahon)
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28th September, 2017
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For two clubs renowned for their enormous and passionate fanbases, it’s somewhat surprising how little history there is between the teams competing in this year’s AFL grand final.

All the wash-up from the 2017 AFL Grand Final
» Match Report: Tigers are premiers
» BUCKLAND: Richmond go from rabble to flag
» Six talking points from the match
» Richmond Tigers player ratings
» Adelaide Crows player ratings
» Watch video highlights from the match
» Re-live the match with our live blog

This will be first ever finals meeting between Adelaide and Richmond. While the Crows have only been in the league since 1991, they’ve played every other team in a final except September virgins Gold Coast.

The most famous trade the clubs have made was the Kane Johnson-Jason Torney swap in 2002, while the most recent was in 2012, a deal that saw Angus Graham dealt to the Crows and third-round picks swapped.

The only current player to have played for both clubs is Ivan Maric – and he’ll be on the motorcade before the game.

The last two times these clubs met twice in the same season were 2010 and 2008.

The biggest MCG crowd they’ve played in front of was just 43,615 in 2013, with the only two occasions they’ve cracked 50,000 both coming at the Adelaide Oval.

Just four of the 35 games between these sides have been decided by ten points or fewer, while they’ve only met beyond Round 20 on four occasions.

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It’s fair to say the biggest clash these clubs have ever had has been their own jumpers.

Of course, this is all about to change.

When the Crows and Tigers do battle at the MCG, decades of heartache, despair and raw, unbridled passion will be quenched for one set of fans.

With that, could begin a brand new rivalry between two established teams.

Despite the relative lack of history, there are some common threads in Adelaide and Richmond’s 2017 stories.

They sported the two longest grand final droughts in the competition until they won their preliminary finals a week ago. Adelaide hadn’t returned to the big dance since their 1998 triumph, while the Tigers had been absent since 1982.

Taylor Walker and Jack Riewoldt are two of the competition’s most identifiable key forwards and, while Dustin Martin and Alex Rance get the national accolades, Rory Sloane and Daniel Talia get enough love from the South Australian press to make up for it.

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As far as the big game itself goes, Adelaide enter the game as narrow favourites, with both recent and overall history supporting that notion.

The Crows enjoy a 23-12 lifetime advantage over the Tigers, with a 12-6 record at home backed up by an impressive 11-6 record away.

They enjoyed ten wins from 15 meetings at the old Football Park, and their 76-point triumph in Round 6 made it two of three at the Adelaide Oval.

Richmond, however, have already cracked one big hoodoo this finals series after they broke their seemingly inescapable spell against Geelong with a 51-point win.

While they have only won six of 17 home games against the Crows, they are 5-5 at the MCG, with five losses coming at Docklands and the other in a 2009 ‘home’ game on the Gold Coast.

Adelaide have won their last three against Richmond, but they haven’t defeated the Tigers at the ‘G since 2008.

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This game pits the top scoring team against the most miserly defensive unit. The Crows and Tigers finished second and third in inside 50s, respectively, while also finishing near the top in tackles.

This is the first time since 2010, ironically, where I simply can’t pick a winner. To be honest, I don’t really mind who gets up.

The Crows will be doing it for their late former coach Phil Walsh, the Tigers will be doing it for their long-suffering fans.

It’s going to be an emotional day no matter what happens.

Let’s hope it’s a game we’ll remember forever.

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