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ANALYSIS: Rachele's ridiculous debut ruined as 'spoil of the century' wins it for Freo

20th March, 2022
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20th March, 2022
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Momentum swings have been the order of the day in Round 1 so far – but Adelaide and Fremantle took it up to the next level, and then another level again.

Down for the count at half time when they trailed by 25 points amid a flurry of horror kicks, the Crows would slam on seven goals to none in an incredible quarter and a half, as the Adelaide Oval crowd lapped up every minute.

Central to it all was debutant Josh Rachele, the crafty goalsneak bagging five majors to match Essendon SSP recruit Nick Martin’s first-game haul from earlier in the round.

“It looks like they’ve changed jumpers,” former Adelaide great Mark Ricciuto said on Fox Footy.

“They [the Crows] are up and about. I don’t know what ‘Nicksy’ [Matthew Nicks] said to them at half time, but I presume it was just about going back to the basics, you’ve trained hard all summer, don’t lose faith in yourselves.”

“They’ve run out of puff,” commentator Gerard Healy said of the Dockers, as the visitors struggled to so much as lay hands on the ball.

But another twist was in store; the Dockers, spurred into life by Andrew Brayshaw’s lion-hearted performance in midfield, would kick three in a row to retake the lead, as the Crows’ early kicking jitters again reared its head.

Youngster Riley Thilthorpe would botch an inboard kick, leading to the Dockers pouncing and Lachie Schultz finishing from 50 metres out to put Freo in front.

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From there, they would hold on to their one-point lead… just. With just seconds to go, a quick Ben Keays snap from a stoppage went within centimetres of crossing the line for a draw, only for a desperate spoil from second-year Docker Heath Chapman to keep the ball, and his team, alive, winning 11.17 (83) to 12.10 (82).

“How clever was that… the spoil of the century!” commentator Dwayne Russell exclaimed, the Dockers’ celebrations on the field telling of a side that needs to win games like this to challenge for a first finals berth since 2015.

The thrilling escape, though, shouldn’t detract from another inaccurate performance by the Dockers, who were left to rue shocking kicking for goal that cost them a finals berth in 2021.

Kicking 11.17, spearhead Rory Lobb was particularly wayward in front of goal, and in the end, Freo were lucky the Crows’ second-half onslaught didn’t make them pay pull price.

“Accuracy cost them a finals berth last year,” Healy said at quarter time, with the Dockers sitting at 4.5 to the Crows’ 2.0

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“They should have played finals… they butchered it in front of goals,

“They may look back and rue this inability [to kick straight]. They should be seven goals on the board right now.”

“Freo should be a mile in front,” Ricciuto added.

While their kicking for goal was wretched, the Crows’ field passing was just as bad. Regularly coughing up turnovers with ordinary skills by foot, former great Nick Dal Santo was scathing of their ugly first half.

Josh Rachele of the Crows celebrates his first goal in the AFL.

Josh Rachele of the Crows celebrates his first goal in the AFL. (Photo by Sarah Reed/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

“It’s all 22 of them at the moment. It’s not the execution all the time, it’s also the decision-making, and it’s a combination of both, which makes it really difficult for Matty Nicks,” Dal Santo said.

“Part of his responsibility now is to highlight what those better options now. If they’re not capable by execution or choice, they need to take the long option. they need to play percentages and get it out of their defensive 50, and allow their mids, and their forwards to represent forward of the football.

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“They’re actually making it worse than what it actually needs to be by their lack of ability to hit a target.”

Nicks himself was even blunter at half time, describing his side’s play as ‘atrocious’.

“I’m not sure whether we’ve got boots on the wrong foot at the moment,” he told Fox Footy.

“That’s killing us, we’ve had no chance to play front of centre. We’re playing in our back third, and it’s tough to do back there.”

However, things couldn’t have changed more after half time, with the Crows suddenly far slicker than the flagging Dockers.

Taking the game on through the middle, with Brodie Smith getting involved with his raking right boot after a quiet start, opportunities began to come thick and fast for the Crows’ forwards… and one man in particular.

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Only one game in, Josh Rachele already looks like one of the game’s most exciting players, adding to his pair of first-half goals with two more in the third term.

When he kicked his fifth early in the last, the Crows appeared home.

“What a way to introduce yourself to the AFL world!” commentator Kelli Underwood exclaimed.

However, it wasn’t to be for Rachele or the Crows – but Fremantle will know they dodged a serious bullet.

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