Adelaide have made the most of a woeful Gold Coast performance to charge back into the AFL winner’s list.
Defeated by Geelong and rivals Port Adelaide in the past two weeks, the Crows couldn’t have had a more-gracious opponent in the Suns as they charged to a 23.13 (151) to 8.8 (56) win on Saturday night at Metricon Stadium.
Eddie Betts had a night out, kicking six goals, while Josh Jenkins booted four with Taylor Walker and Tyson Stengle – in his first game for the Crows – bagging three each.
The victory was set up in a second-quarter display in which the Crows kicked 7.2 to the Suns’ 0.2 to open up a 64-point lead by halftime.
It might not have been as bad for the Suns as the 100 points they conceded in the first two quarters last week against Richmond, but it was close.
The last-placed Suns have slumped to 12-consecutive defeats while the crowd of 8741 was their lowest of the season.
The performance came days after chairman Tony Cochrane confirmed the Suns would apply formally for a priority draft pick to try to turn around the expansion club’s on-field woes.
Adelaide kicked the first five goals of the match on a cool but clear Gold Coast evening before two late majors at the end of the quarter by the Suns at least showed some fight by the hosts.
That fight disappeared in the second term as the Crows embarrassed the Suns multiple times.
Hugh Greenwood began their rout when he ran past his marker while dead in front of goal to score early in the quarter.
Rory Sloane exposed atrocious manning up when he ambled towards goal after being gifted a 50m penalty, handballing over the man on the mark to allow an unmarked Stengle in the goal square to score his first major for the Crows.
Jenkins made it three soft goals in a row when he smothered a Darcy MacPherson kick after the Sun had received a short kick-in before regathering the ball and kicking home.
The dire effort was capped when Betts marked over Jesse Joyce near the goal post before the Crows’ veteran picked himself up and walked past a distracted Joyce to kick perhaps the easiest of the 595 goals in his career.
When Jenkins booted the opening goal of the third term, triple premiership-winning midfielder Simon Black labelled the Suns’ lack of pressure “disgraceful” while commentating for Triple M.
By three-quarter time, with Betts and Walker running riot, the Crows had extended their margin to 93 points.
A trio of fourth-quarter goals to Alex Sexton kept the margin under 100 but the defeat would certainly give coach Stuart Dew plenty to think about for next weekend’s clash with Carlton at Marvel Stadium.
Adelaide return home to face Essendon on Friday in a crucial clash for the top eight.
RT
Roar Rookie
It's luck of the draw a bit. I'd much rather Richmond played Collingwood 2 weeks ago and then in 2 weeks time. If however you mean some teams get to play them twice, the only solutions are to stop that or count all double ups as 2 Point games.
J.T. Delacroix
Guest
You just don’t get it, do you. None of those examples are comparable with the Gold Coast situation.
User
Roar Rookie
Port Adelaide, Freo, Brisbane, Sydney all corporate creations. Also if you look into history a club like hawks and Roos took decades to be successful. To be expecting massive success after eight years is like hoping a 1kg cubic zirconia is a argyle diamond.
peter sharpe
Guest
I think there is a difference between the poor records of the clubs you mention and the Suns. The clubs you mention have 1. A solid supporter base. A base that identifies with their family and tribal history. 2. A heritage of wins and success within living memory. 3. Tradition, a recognisable jumper that kids aspire to wearing. 4. Local junior teams that are well organised and partly responsible for the senior players of the future. None of these four points exist with the Suns. It is a corporate creation dumped into a region popularly known as a sporting graveyard for team sports. In this cemetery you will find the headstones of the Giants, Chargers, Sea Gulls and Gladiators (Rugby League). Gold Coast Cougars, Rollers, Blaze (basketball). East Coast Aces (Rugby Union). Clippers, Dolphins, Cougars in baseball. Blue Tongues (ice hockey). Gold Coast United (soccer). The Bears (AFL).
Daniel Hyams
Guest
maybe but its weird since he hasn't even got on the park yet and signed a 2 year extension my guess is they threw big bucks in desperation to stop the bleeding
Pedro The Fisherman
Roar Rookie
Contracts count for nothing these days!
User
Roar Rookie
Freo, Brisbane, Sydney, saints 85-93, Roos pre pagan, Fitzroy, hawthorn during knights and judge period, I could list a few other clubs who had extended periods as bad as the sun's oh wait I forgot Melbourne and Carlton.
Peter the Scribe
Roar Guru
The Suns have got so bad they are distorting the ladder by boosting percentage of any side lucky enough to be playing them now.
Daniel Hyams
Guest
sadly as an Adelaide fan Rankine has signed on till end of 2022 agree the game counts for nothing 100 points is about par
Peter Sharpe
Guest
The AFL must do something about the Suns. Their participation in the competition is damaging the AFL brand. The Gold Coast is simply the wrong location. There is no Australian Rules football heritage on the Gold Coast, the fixed income and social demographics of many residents mean there is a lack of depth with potential supporters. In a Rugby League obsessed state, even the Titans struggle for crowds and on field success. My post is not a criticism of the players, coaches, support staff and hard working volunteers and faithful Suns members. The AFL made a mistake that needs to be fixed.
Timbo's rules
Guest
The media in Adelaide will trumpet this win as a march to the finals. The club won't. They have the next 4 games that they must win. Next one is essendon and it wont be easy.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
There is NOTHING the Crows can take from this game. It was an easy beat up. They're going to be found wanting come finals time. Unfortunately the percentage will help them be in the 8. But it'll be a first week exit.
Ditto
Roar Rookie
You'd have to question whether any player who chooses to stay at Gold Coast, when they could seek opportunities elsewhere is serious about what they want to achieve in their football career.