Expert
The Adelaide Crows get their crack at stopping the seemingly unstoppable Fremantle Dockers when they host them at Adelaide Oval tonight. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 7.40pm AEST.
Fremantle have been a runaway freight train so far this season, they’ve jumped out to an 8-0 record, two games clear on top the of the ladder, and though they’ve had some close-ish margins, have looked a class above in every game they’ve played.
They’ve beaten every 2014 finalist they’ve played – Sydney, Port Adelaide, North Melbourne and Geelong – while their Round 15 clash with Hawthorn looms as their biggest test yet.
This week however they come up against Adelaide, a side who started this year in ripping form but have become a bit mediocre in the weeks since.
The Crows have a 5-3 record at the moment but have only beaten one team currently inside the top eight, and looked pretty mediocre last week when they fell prey to Greater Western Sydney by 24 points – the first loss to an expansion side in the club’s history.
Simply put, the Crows will need a reversal in form and they will need it quickly if they’re to have any hope of stopping the Dockers this week.
One man they will turn to in the hopes of finding a win is Eddie Betts, who has kicked 29 goals for them so far this year and is currently second in the race for the Coleman medal.
If Betts can get off the chain against Fremantle’s restrictive defence, that will be the Crows best hope of snatching an unlikely win.
Only a single change has been made for the match. Adelaide have replaced Sam Kerridge with Ricky Henderson following an ankle injury last week, Fremantle go in unchanged.
Prediction
While the Crows aren’t entirely without hope, I don’t see them winning this one. The Dockers are just too good.
Fremantle by 30 points.
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