Firing on all cylinders
Adelaide has added to its scoring arsenal this week, recalling influential forward Tom Lynch from illness. Lynch and key pillars Taylor Walker, Josh Jenkins and Mitch McGovern will play together for only the second time this season. The first was against Hawthorn in Round Two – for fewer than 10 minutes – before Jenkins was injured. Walker, who missed Round One because of a hamstring strain, Jenkins and McGovern have combined for 87 goals this season, and all play a different and valuable role in the potent Crows attack. Adelaide has won all five games with McGovern, who has recovered from a serious hamstring injury, in the team in 2017.
Crouch v Clayton
Two emerging midfield stars will be in action on Saturday night. Crow Matt Crouch, 22, and 19-year-old Demon Clayton Oliver are among the most prolific ball winners in the competition. Crouch, who averages a possession every three minutes of time on ground, ranks second for total disposals (479) while Oliver is ninth (445). The pair is top 10 for ground balls and hard-ball gets, and top 15 for contested possessions where Oliver sits second in the League (Crouch is 14th). Oliver (96) edges Crouch (84) in clearances and tackles (103 – 62), but Crouch is ahead of Oliver for goals (4 – 2), score involvements (103 – 87) and inside 50ms (49 – 44) as a member of the highest-scoring team in the AFL. Oliver (77.5 per cent) boasts a higher disposal efficiency average than Crouch (71 per cent).
The young Dee took the honours when the teams met in Round Eight, finishing with 30 possessions, 10 tackles and a goal to earn five votes from the coaches. Oliver won’t have the support of co-captains Jack Viney and Nathan Jones, who are both injured, this weekend but the Dees have plenty of midfield depth with the likes of Christian Petracca and the experienced Jordan Lewis.
Eight weeks is a long time in football
It was only two months ago that Melbourne came from behind to beat the Crows at Adelaide Oval. Incredibly, this week there are 11 changes across the two teams compared to that night in May. McGovern, fellow forward Riley Knight, young defender Jake Lever and impressive midfielder Hugh Greenwood, who made his AFL debut the following week, come into the Crows team that lost to the Dees. Out of the side from Round Eight are injured trio, Wayne Milera Junior (calf), Kyle Hartigan (hamstring) and Curtly Hampton (ankle) and goalkicker Troy Menzel.
The Dees have been hit hard by injuries since the mid-season bye, with Viney (foot), Jones (quad), Jack Watts (hamstring), Christian Salem (hamstring) and Dom Tyson (knee) all unavailable for selection this week. Tomas Bugg (suspended) and developing forward Sam Weideman are also missing from the side that beat Adelaide. Into the 22 are ruckman Max Gawn, forwards Jesse Hogan and Jay Kennedy-Harris, hard nuts James Harmes and Jake Melksham, and young players Alex Neal-Bullen and Joel Smith.
Darwin debut
Adelaide will play in Darwin for AFL premiership points for the first time on Saturday night. Most recently, the Crows men’s team played an exhibition match against the Indigenous All Stars at TIO Stadium in 2009. On that occasion, current Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin was captain of the Crows. The Club also took on West Coast in a pre-season competition quarter-final in 2003.
As part of the alignment with AFL Northern Territory, the Crows women’s side tackled the Dees in an AFLW game and also faced Fremantle in a practice match at the Darwin venue earlier this year. AFLNT is hopeful the success of the women’s competition could help deliver the biggest crowd at TIO Stadium in more than a decade this weekend. A temperature in the mid-20s is forecast for game time – a stark contrast to the sub-12 degree weather that greeted the Crows and their fans at Adelaide Oval last Friday night.
The Crows at half-time of the 2003 pre-season competition quarter-final in Darwin
