Daniel Talia’s riveting rivalry with one of the AFL’s most exciting forwards faced new challenges on Saturday.
Greater Western Sydney’s flying start dramatically reversed the one-sided storyline of the first five clashes between the Clubs and left the 2014 All Australian defender and Club Champion under pressure to guide his younger team-mates through the intense early storm of forward entries.
The Giants rushed into their scoring zone 12 times in the first 14 minutes at Spotless Stadium, kicking 5.4 before the Crows had their first inside 50.
Talia, opposed to in-form Giants star Jeremy Cameron, and supported by Luke Brown, Kyle Cheney, David Mackay, Rory Laird and first-year defenders Jake Kelly and Jake Lever, were left scrambling to cover their opponents while waiting for Adelaide’s midfield to slow the flow.
“It wasn’t the ideal start … we just lost some centre clearances and we were outmarked early and that put us on the back foot from the start,” Talia said.
“But I thought we fought back well in the second and last quarter. The third was a bit the same as the first. Those two quarters let us down.
“We were able to turn the game to the way we wanted to play. The game was really fast pace at the start and we were able to slow the game down and get a bit of control and ball movement going.”
A blow-out looked possible when the Crows lost Sam Kerridge and Laird to injuries during the third quarter but Adelaide fought out the game to reduce the final margin to four goals.
Talia restricted Cameron to two goals from seven possessions. He had kicked five and seven goals in the previous two games against Carlton and Hawthorn.
“It’s always a good battle on Jezza,” Talia said. “He’s obviously a great player, a bit younger than me as well, and he’s a real star of the competition.
“You know when you play on him he’s quick, really agile and he can get them on the ground or in the air. And he really competes and I’m sure that’s what everyone notices about him.
“I thought the ball was down there a fair bit and it was probably an even battle in the end. He kicked a couple but we both didn’t have a lot of the ball, so it was probably a break-even day I reckon.”
Talia said the testing day for the defenders would benefit them in the long run.
“I thought our performance under duress was pretty good in the end,” he said.
“Jake Kelly has probably been our most improved player this year, from where he came from last year in the SANFL to now playing AFL, he’s been a really great acquisition for the team.
“And Jake Lever, after a tough week last week, he really bounced back today. He can really clunk the ball and at times he can take the game on and attack.
“Those guys are going to improve as the weeks go on, between them they have played less than ten games. For them it’s about staying out there and learning on the job.
“We really missed Rory (Laird) today when he got hurt. He’s fronted up each week and done his job, he’s been a real star for us this year.”
Talia said coach Phil Walsh was trying to keep the players positive ahead of Saturday night’s clash with unbeaten Fremantle at Adelaide Oval.
“It’s going to be massive. We can’t start the way we did today, we’ve seen the way Freo have started, they’ve been blowing teams of the park. It’s going to be a really big test for our group.”
