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.
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
“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. (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.
“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.
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.
Jonboy
Roar Rookie
That’s right.
Jonboy
Roar Rookie
Seriously…….neither Ryan or Logue was on Rochelle. He was running free most of the time. Leadership is lacking in the back half in Hamlings absence.
Jonboy
Roar Rookie
Watch Logue and Cox closely both are tentative make poor decisions basic things Like trying to mark instead of the spoil. Drop there head and punch when the ball is there to mark. Amiss maybe undone a little but only 4 kicks will give you 3-4 goals the other three 1 goal 2 behinds and 1 on the full if your lucky.
Jonboy
Roar Rookie
Great point Marty that is the reality.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
Everyone knows its better to kick straight. It was your ONLY response until I suggested there was some good stuff. The haters always dwell on the 'half-empy' stuff. It spoils to richness of sport.
13th Man
Roar Rookie
I honestly think Cox and Logue are better defenders than Hamling, who hasn’t played for the best part of 2 seasons, they were just on the wrong opponents. Logue strangely went to Thilthorpe and Cox went to Fogarty when I probably would’ve had them the other way around. Amiss (the name is ironic) is apparently an excellent set shot but he probably isn’t ready yet, Erasmus will be the first debutant this year and I suspect it won’t be far away.
13th Man
Roar Rookie
Agree with most of that, the players you mention were all very good, but I think myself and other fans are right to identify one area of concern. I want us to play finals footy this year, I think we are good enough to play finals footy and I think we aren't far off at all! It's constructive criticism, i'm confident J-Lo will put a lot of work into our goalkicking but it is still a concern.
Jonboy
Roar Rookie
Freo badly need the steady influence that Hamling provides and Walker to provide more run in the backline. Cox and Logue are slow and not up to AFL level. Fyfe, Lobb and Taberner can’t be relieved on to kick straight. From all accounts Amiss is a dead eyed dick. He is your future get him out there he is a big lad.
Jonboy
Roar Rookie
I saw nothing to suggest that Freo will improve on last year to allow Adelaide who most rate a wooden spoon contender to kick 10 unanswered goals is deplorable to say the least. It’s not the first time is it ? To many B graders simple as that. Was highly impressed with Brodie with his never say die attitude and tackling.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
It is a pile-on and it’s a pile-on full of cliche. That’s what I challenge and will continue to challenge. The team is young, inexperienced and exciting. At the end of a comeback like that, the story is not the press-driven cliche about points; the story is the amazing poise of Chappy, the incisive movement and kicking of Young, the yardage and rebound of Clark, the ruckwork of Meek, the in and under of Brodie, the mercurial paths taken by Switta. What is this penchant for the glum dwelling on errors? How is that support. Opposition supporters and press point out the errors. Opposition supporters and press will never point to that which is exciting. I’ll do that.
13th Man
Roar Rookie
Oh undoubtedly they did lift, and this isn't necessarily a pile on here as I think we are all very happy we got the win. Just want to see a bit more consistency, our best footy is very very good and I think it can challenge most sides in the comp, unfortunately we fluctuate a lot through the game and even when we do play our best footy we often kick poorly in front of goal and don't get the rewards we deserve. It's just something we need to improve on and I'm sure J-Lo is doing as such.
Chris M
Guest
Rachele won’t be kicking bags of 5 every week but he will be kicking plenty more bags just the same. Unless he ends up a permanent midfielder, Rachele will average multiple goals per game by career’s end.
13th Man
Roar Rookie
Yes, in the end we fell over the line thanks to a great last 10 minutes and an excellent bit of play by Chapman at the end. Absolutely exihirating football for a neutral. I'd like to think they could've made it a bit more comfortable for us by kicking straighter.
13th Man
Roar Rookie
Yep well aware of the current state of play, that's why I've only really called for an early debut for Erasmus. Amiss needs to get some match fitness into him as he had an interrupted pre season whilst Johnson isn't even there yet. Sturt would be another good inclusion but considering his injury history a cautious approach isn't the worst idea in the world.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
Do you think they had some pre-ordained right to win it? They both started at nil all. Freo won. Their last 3 shots were goals.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
Haven't you been following pre-season and Peel matches. You may not know that Amiss has just started playing, Johnson is injured, Erasmus and Blakely have starred each Peel game, Sturt is now back playing, Benning is still in the gym. Aish played his first game back at Peel. Western is training well. Hamling escaped suspension.
M. Rockatansky
Guest
Pretty hard to enjoy a one point win that should have been a 50 point win. The best teams always focus on their weaknesses to find opportunity for improvement. To sweep problems under the carpet, sing cumbiya and pretend you live on lollipop lane is the road to mediocrity, and freo has been on that road long enough.
ScottD
Roar Guru
I don't mind that as a response Don.
ScottD
Roar Guru
Fair enough, then we'll just bench the half that did. Tough love?
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
JL explained it well. You just have to drop a bit and the other side lift a bit and the gap is big. Henry is brilliant...but not running it out fully. Walters and Acres are unable to play the whole game. Acres is just short of the standard, Walters needs to play a dominant game or two at Peel. That's where his mojo is hidden. He is no longer working for his spot. Freddy went missing. Mundy had only his second run of the pre-season/season. JL has Treacy and Lobb back to front. Let Lobb run around at CHF where there is space. Treacy breaks packs for the little guys. Logue had to go on to Rachele and Banfield had to run with Keays. The thing is, players did lift. Sunny delivered twice to Lobb. Switta is a pure leader. Schulty was infectious. Young, Chapman and Clark drove the rebound and Pearce, Cox and Logue were impenetrable. The other beauty was Meek dominating O'Brien. Remember, there is always another team trying too.