The ninth round of the Australian Football League’s 2018 season is here and conditions were king in the opening match, with Adelaide comfortably rubbing out the Western Bulldogs on Friday night by 37 points.
Contested at Adelaide Oval in front of nearly 40,000 people in intermittent splashes of heavy rain, Adelaide got the job done 9.9 (63) to the Dogs miserly 2.14 (26).
The Western Bulldogs’ two-goal haul was its lowest return of six-pointers since 1925.
Plenty of other records fell too. Namely, contested possessions. Adelaide is now the holder of the title with 213.
As a match it was a pain to sit through – conditions smothered the style and skill both sides are capable of – but in the grand scheme of the season it was an important one.
There’s a serious logjam in the fight for the top eight, with six teams entering the round locked at five wins and three losses.
After this win Adelaide have made it clear they’re going to remain in the hunt. Conversely, the Western Bulldogs have made it clear that they’re not sufficiently well equipped to thrive.
There’s a long way to go in 2018, and the Bulldogs have four wins for the season and sit 13th.
The team can chain as many wins together as they want against bottom-rung squads, but if they can’t come close to matching it with the injury-shackled Crows in the wet, then this season has little to offer for them beyond planning for 2019.
(Adam Trafford/AFL Media/Getty Images)
Overall the encounter reminded me of a boxing match between a 41-year-old former heavyweight world champion and a young up-and-comer with a broken hand and rolled ankle. They’re also fighting in the outside and in the wet for some reason.
The Western Bulldogs, despite the youth of the list, are operating like an aged warhorse. It’s hard to slam a side for a lack of flair in conditions like those, but the Western Bulldogs are lacking energy across the board in 2018.
The body language is down. The shoulders are slumped, the tackles are slipping and the communication is average. This isn’t an assessment just from this round. It’s been the story of the season.
Winning a premiership places a lot of weight on the shoulders of players and coaches and changes the dynamic of a club in a big way. The hunters become the hunted.
While the list turnover has been huge for the Bulldogs and plenty of premiership players are no longer out on the field in red, blue and white, the weight of expectation has clearly impacted the organisation as a whole.
Richmond coach Damien Hardwick and captain Trent Cotchin have repeated time and time again in front of cameras this season that the way the team deals with pressure is to have fun. Enjoy the game. Take it easy. Stay in the moment.
The Bulldogs aren’t having fun.
(Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)
Adelaide are a different story. The club is overflowing with talent, but they’re just being pillaged by injury. It’s been a horror run for the Crows, and for the fans I would be starting to worry about long-term prospects. Winning a premiership takes a significant amount of luck on the injury front.
It would a shame if 2018 ended up a year of ‘what could have been’ for the Crows as a result of injury, especially after 2017.
Adelaide entered the match without skipper Taylor Walker, Rory Sloane, Mitch McGovern, Brad and Matt Crouch, Brodie Smith, Luke Brown and Riley Knight.
Imagine Richmond lining up without skipper Trent Cotchin, Dustin Martin, Dion Prestia, Kane Lambert, Shane Edwards, Bachar Houli, Daniel Rioli and Jacob Townsend. Obviously a lot of those players aren’t direct exchanges, but you get the picture.
The fact that the Western Bulldogs didn’t look close to matching the Crows despite those omissions forecasts a scary future for the squad.
The tackle count is going to be something that’s reflected on during the week and it’s something both clubs should be happy with. The Western Bulldogs finished with 118 tackles and Adelaide 114 for a combined total of 232. That’s the sixth highest combined tally in the history of the AFL.
It was a record-breaking effort for both clubs – both Adelaide and the Western Bulldogs entered the match with 108 tackles as their highest ever solo efforts. The most tackles in AFL game is 258 from a 2010 match between Richmond and Port Adelaide.
The tackle count should be looked at as a positive for the Western Bulldogs. Given the bridge between the two sides all night, Dogs fans can at least look at that figure as a clear indicator of effort. A level of commitment to the contest.
(Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images)
While we are picking the bones of the Western Bulldogs for positives, let’s talk about Jack McCrae. He’s having one hell of a season and this round was no different.
In the soaking wet he chalked up 36 disposals and 13 tackles. Leading the night in disposals and tackles in miserable conditions while playing interstate. Further signs of his remarkable effort: 25 contested possessions and ten clearances.
Not impressed yet? He was the only Western Bulldogs footballer not to record a clanger. He operated at above 70 per cent efficiency in that weather. Seriously good.
The second player worth looking at on an individual level was Eddie Betts. Playing in his 100th game for the Crows, Betts was the leading scorer on the ground with four goals, and while a bit of the excitement came in junk time, he was a consistent presence.
The biggest highlight came ten minutes into the third quarter. Lining up on the boundary with a soaking wet footy in hand, Betts nailed a drop punt for his second goal from a stunning angle.
If you haven’t seen the footage, it’s a must-watch. Precision kicking in adverse conditions and a great celebration of his career as a whole – highly skilled and well drilled.
Looking ahead, Adelaide now progress to a contest with Melbourne, and that should be a ripper between two sides vying for a crack at September.
The Crows then take on Greater Western Sydney, Fremantle and Hawthorn.
The Western Bulldogs take on Collingwood next up, followed by Melbourne, Port Adelaide, and North Melbourne.
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We’re taking a look at one player from each team that needs to make a difference this week, starting with the ANZAC Day games.
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