The Adelaide Crows are continuing their push for a top two spot, recording another percentage-building win over Fremantle on Sunday.
» Click here to read the full match report
Final score
Fremantle 11.4.70
Adelaide 21.16.142
The Fremantle Dockers are looking to play the role of the spoiler when they host top-four hopefuls the Adelaide Crows. Follow all of the live action on The Roar from 4:40pm (AEST).
Coming off a minor premiership in 2015, the Dockers have had a season to forget in 2016, sitting 16th on the ladder heading into Round 21.
A season that promised so much has delivered so little, with Ross Lyon’s men struggling to find their feet as a result of injuries and poor form.
The loss of the reigning Brownlow medallist would hurt any team, and it has been no different for Fremantle after they lost Nat Fyfe to a broken leg earlier in the season.
Admitting they need to rebuild, the Dockers have given plenty of their young players a chance, and they will be looking to impress against one of the top teams.
For the Crows, despite a couple of lulls in performance, they have mostly been dominant, showing the potential to score plenty of points while also locking their opponents down in defence.
With the race for a double chance down to five teams, the Crows sit in third spot, but are only percentage off slipping down to fifth. They have made light work of the bottom two teams over the past fortnight at the Adelaide Oval, but face a tougher contest travelling to the west, as they aim for two wins at Domain Stadium in the minor rounds of one season for the first time ever.
An interesting battle to watch will be the one between the premier midfielder of each team Lachie Neale and Rory Sloane.
After a good start last week in the derby, the Fremantle defence couldn’t hold on – expect Taylor Walker and Josh Jenkins to be aiming to replicate Josh Kennedy’s seven-goal haul.
If Fremantle are to be a chance they will need their forwards, including Michael Walters and Matthew Pavlich, to pull off a big performance.
Prediction
While Fremantle own a distinct advantage in the past five clashes between these sides, this game will be played under a different set of circumstances.
The Crows will be far too strong, and with percentage set to play a big role at the end of the minor rounds, expect them to be ruthless.
Crows by 40 points.
Can Fremantle cause a major upset or will the Crows continue their march to a double chance? Join The Roar from 4:40pm (AEST) for all the action.
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» Click here to read the full match report 3 Rory Laird There were plenty of great performances for the Crows but Rory Laird gets the nod after another great game in which he tallied 33 disposals at 84%, 9 score involvements, 7 marks, 4 tackles, and 4 inside 50s. 2 Rory Atkins A very close second was Rory Atkins who racked up 32 disposals at 84%, 1 goal, 11 score involvements, 3 marks and four inside 50s. 1 Eddie Betts In a battle of the small forwards, Eddie Betts gets the nod over Michael Walters as he finished with 6 goals, 9 score involvements, 7 marks and 5 tackles.
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FULL TIME DOCKERS 70 CROWS 142 The Crows claim a good win. Thanks for joining me, stay tuned for my match summary and votes.
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BEHIND CROWS Jenkins out muscles his opponent to mark. From 30 out on a tough angle he misses to the right. 8 secs to go Q4 Dockers 70 Crows 142
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BEHIND CROWS Mackay finds Betts with a pin point pass inside 50. Betts misses to the right from 45 out. 2:20 to go Q4 Dockers 70 Crows 141
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GOAL CROWS Cameron gathers on the wing and runs it forward and gives it to Douglas who gets it over the top to Jenkins who runs into and open goal and boots it out of the stadium. 3:58 to go Q4 Dockers 70 Crows 140
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BEHIND DOCKERS Yarran crumbs a pack and puts up a snap that misses to the left. 4:50 to go Q4 Dockers 70 Crows 134
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BEHIND CROWS Luke Brown has a shot but misses. 6:23 to go Q4 Dockers 69 Crows 134
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BEHIND CROWS Charlie Cameron lays a strong tackle and gets rewarded. He misses the set shot to the right. 6:53 to go Q4 Dockers 69 Crows 133
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BEHIND CROWS Thompson attempts a pass from 50 and it bounces through for a point. 8:00 to go Q4 Dockers 69 Crows 132
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GOAL DOCKERS Hayden Ballantyne steps around a defender and goals from deep in the right forward pocket. 8:36 to go Q4 Dockers 69 Crows 131
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GOAL CROWS Betts takes a strong mark in traffic. He goes back and nails it from 15 out on the 45 degree angle. 10:32 to go Q4 Dockers 63 Crows 131
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GOAL DOCKERS Walters marks on 50, play on and runs around and goals on the run. 11:38 to go Q4 Dockers 63 Crows 125
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GOAL CROWS The Crows burst out of the middle and Tom Lynch goals on the run. 12:13 to go Q4 Dockers 57 Crows 125
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GOAL CROWS Lynch marks and is taken out and the umpire pays 50 metre penalty. Makes no mistake from the goal line. 12:38 to go Q4 Dockers 57 Crows 119
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GOAL CROWS Atkins finds Betts with a beautiful lace out pass. Betts just squeezes it through. 13:58 to go Q4 Dockers 57 Crows 113
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BEHIND CROWS Walkers feeds it to Lynch who misses off one step. 15:13 to go Q4 Dockers 57 Crows 107
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GOAL DOCKERS The Dockers capitalise on a Crows turn over and it finishes with a beautiful snap by Yarran. 16:39 to go Q4 Dockers 57 Crows 106
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GOAL DOCKERS Ballantyne marks on the run and it fall short but Pavlich crumbs the pack and snaps truly Sandilands with the jacket on and boots off looks done for the day. 17:49 to go Q4 Dockers 51 Crows 106
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The final stanza is underway at Domain Stadium. Will the Crows get the percentage they need or can the Dockers continue to frustrate them?
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The Crows cant quite seem to put the Dockers away completely. With a chance to go into second spot if they can get a big percentage boost the Crows will be looking for a big last term. For the Dockers you'd have to think they might as well take the game on and attack with nothing to lose. Brad Crouch, Richard Douglas and Rory Atkins have all been good for Adelaide while Michael Walters and Stephen Hill have been good for Freo. What are your thoughts so far?