The Melbourne Demons have pulled off one of the great upsets of the year in the most emphatic fashion, torching a lethargic Adelaide Crows to triumph by 41 points.
Dees fans have endured plenty of agony over the last decade, but it was a magical night for the red and blue faithful as their team put the Crows to the sword in a third quarter that will live long in the memories of those who witnessed it.
Heading into the second half with a ten-point lead, the Demons came out firing, with Tom McDonald booting two within two minutes to give his side the lead.
From there, it was all Melbourne as the goals rained down, with Clayton Oliver’s miracle snap from the pocket – an early frontrunner for Goal of the Year – just one of many as the besieged Crows’ defence were unable to cope.
Jack Viney and Nathan Jones were monstrous in midfield, Michael Hibberd and Christian Salem clean and precise down back, and Cameron Pedersen and McDonald were unlikely heroes up forward with three and two goals respectively.
It wasn’t meant to be like this for the Crows, who everybody expected would come out firing after last week’s dismal loss to North Melbourne.
After the Dees put on the first two goals of the game, the Crows took control, booting six goals on end during the first and second quarters to get out to a 28-point lead. All the signs pointed towards an emphatic Adelaide win.
But then, as if from nowhere, the Demons came back. Tom Bugg added two in the dying stages of the half to breathe life back into the contest, and set it all up for a third quarter for the history books.
For the Crows, it was a night summed up best by one passage of play late in the last quarter.
Mitch Hannan marked behind the defence from a Jeff Garlett snap, and with nobody near him, strolled into the goalsquare to seal the game for Melbourne. Damningly, not one Crow made so much as a movement in his direction once he had marked.
It typified the Crows’ attitude on the night; they turned up expecting to win, and were given the most severe reality check by a Melbourne outfit who out-hunted, out-competed, and out-played them from the halfway point of the second quarter.
There were few winners for the Crows, but Sam Jacobs finished with 74 hitouts in a dominant display in the ruck, though some would say his opponent Pedersen beat him on the night with his three majors. Rory Laird was industrious as ever down back, but Adelaide had few other winners.
And top of the list of concerns will be Rory Sloane, who, for the second time in two weeks, was shut out of the game by a tagger, on this occasion Bernie Vince in his 200th game.
After racing to Brownlow favouritism in the first six weeks, Sloane has shown there is still one chink in his armour; he hasn’t yet proved he is able to cope with a tag. And with just 11 possessions and no influence, those doubts will grow ever louder.
But it wasn’t just that the Crows looked a shadow of the side that was all but handed the premiership by many pundits after Round 6.
It was a night for Melbourne fans to savour, a night that almost makes the decade of heartache and misery worth going through.
It was proof the side is on the right track under Simon Goodwin, whose first return to his old stomping ground as a senior coach yielded the Demons’ greatest victory in more than fifteen years.
It was proof the young stars in Clayton Oliver, Christian Petracca, Sam Frost, Christian Salem and Jack Viney are going to lead this group deep into finals in the years to come.
It was, to put it simply, a red and blue night.
Final score
Adelaide Crows 9.12.66
Melbourne Demons 17.5.107
Birdman
Guest
when the siren sounds, Bill is all that matters. sounds like you happy to settle for the 'coulda, woulda, shoulda' mantra which can only damn Melb to a longer period of irrelevancy.
Lord Dunsborough of Malvern
Guest
I must confess I had prepared myself for disaster this week – much like Captain Oates, I left the door of my home and thought I may be gone for some time – not so, not so. In fact, not since Wilfred brought me a bottle of the rather disappointing 1974 Penfolds Grange for post-dinner drinks have I been so underwhelmed by the spirit and performance of a South Australian icon. The crows exposing their working-class roots for the dissection by our superb fuchsia lads, who have obviously still got Paul Roos inside their heads spurring them on. There’s no substitute for history, pride and tradition.
Lamby
Roar Rookie
The high pressure game needed to beat the Crows is not sustainable. Roos & Dees had tackle counts about 25 higher than average for them and the league, 90 tackles instead of about 65. So yes, the teams cannot sustain that each week. That does not help the Crows though as each team they come up against a different team each week :-) The Crows need to get used to it as it is the blueprint to beat them.
Fairsuckofthesav
Guest
Yes agree. Why not put Tex on the ball so he can throw his weight around. Mind you Roos ran out of puff this week and Dees might be the same next week. The high pressure game needed to beat the Crows is not sustainable.
Bill larkin
Guest
This was the best Demon win for about 10 years. They have been in a winning position late in every game this year. You can't say that about any other team.
BigAl
Guest
All the experts would have to be saying now, that there is not one team left capable of winning the premiership.
Sammy
Guest
Tex neds to do a ricciuto and direct sloane to run past him with the tagger and then lay a solid bump on the tagger. Make the bugger earn it. Also why did pyke again fail to react and change the structure when a goal rush happened?. I thought he was different to neil craig in that way but maybe not!!
Fairsuckofthesav
Guest
Crows were crap. Roos and Dees played old fashioned scaggy footy worked harder and were harder at the ball. Too many Crows particularly outside runners like McKay cant tackle properly. Crows will have to work their way out of this hole. Bring your mouthguards to training boys. And for god sakes someone from the Crows give the taggers some of their own bully boy tactics as you cant rely on the umps tp pick it all up!
Nigel Fauntleroy-St John III
Guest
The sherry was certainly flowing last night. Our gracious caring business class party hosts (including Nigel Smart) were certainly crying in their cognac, as promised. Nuclear Nick's head almost exploded in the last term. Our private jet carbon emissions contribution (apologies to our dearly beloved) touched down an hour ago. Our chauffeurs picked us up and have driven us down to Royal South Yarra. The Grand Old Club is back in town, and the June ski trips are cancelled. We will be going to Aspen post premiership instead. Later on we will be getting more mud on our Range Rovers to celebrate the rising of the fuchsia out of the dirt.
Peebo
Guest
Crows have been found out.
Roger of Sydney
Guest
The first six weeks of the session is about being fresh and fast, as the session wears on its about guts, then in the end about skill and how much you want it. Its all been a bit easy for the Crows and now it is time to do some hard yards, they have shown their underbelly
Sammy
Guest
Filthy night for the crows when they were expected to come out firing. Big mental problems have set in since the bubble burst last week vs north. The free flowing buccaneering football from the first 6 weeks is a thing of the past now. This club had better sit down and work out why the form has tailed so badly as a promising start to the season as if they keep playing like this finals are no guarantee