The Crows’ game against Geelong on Thursday night had it all from heart warming moments with a Club debutant, a celebration inspired by a big-name soccer star, an umpire decision that caused a stir.

Catch up on everything you may have missed.

Rachele cele ready

Crow Josh Rachele gave fans a glimpse of his new goal celebration on Thursday night, drawing inspiration from Juventus forward Kenan Yildiz.

Rachele said drawing inspiration from Yildiz for the ‘starboy’ celebration came through former Crows fitness boss Darren Burgess joining Juventus in the off-season as the soccer giant’s Director of Performance.

“It started with Darren Burgess, I’ve been chatting to him a fair bit in the off-season and when he moved over to Juventus, I started watching them a bit more,” Rachele said.

“Kenan Yildiz is one of their best players, so I started following him a bit and I had been practising it (the goal celebration) all pre-season.

“It took me a good few weeks to get the hang of it, it was a bit tricky, but just waiting for the right time this season to whip it out.

“I think it was an important moment to get the boys up and about and the last couple of weeks I was probably a bit fired up with the goal cele, so I wasn’t thinking about it too much.”

And Rachele even received a tick of approval from Yildiz, with the soccer star commenting ‘❤️⭐’ on 7AFL’s Instagram post showing the two celebrations. 

“I loved it, (Yildiz’s comment), it was sick,” Rachele said.

“I had all my friends and family message me straight away, and I sent it straight to Burgo.

“I was in his ear, he was saying that he was showing a few of my soccer clips, so it was good to see.”

Rachele enjoyed a career-best game against the Cats, with a team-high 31 possessions, six score involvements, five marks, seven clearances, seven inside-50s, 651 metres gained and a goal.

Refusing to shy away from the hard contests, Rachele also finished the game with a black eye.

“I reckon it was halfway through the fourth quarter, I was trying to tackle Tom Atkins in a stoppage, he’s probably one of the hardest blokes I’ve ever played on,” Rachele said.

“I think he was trying to fight a tackle and either his head or his elbow got me perfectly - it’s a tennis ball now.”

“A mighty Club”: Finnbar Maley on his debut 

Forward Finnbar Maley made his Crows debut in the match against Geelong on Thursday night, and chatted about his first match in the tri colours in this week’s edition of Crows Live.

Maley, who was recruited to the Club during the trade period from North Melbourne, spoke about how his debut was a “pinch me moment” and how he had arrived at a “mighty Club”.

Watch the full interview below.

Coaches’ say on ump’s call

A last touch decision in the final minutes had fans across the footy landscape talking, but according to Crows Senior Coach Matthew Nicks, it had no impact on the result. 

Prior to a Jack Martin major that extended the Cats’ lead to beyond a goal late in the final term, Geelong was awarded a lasso free kick, despite replays showing the ball did not come off young Crow Zac Taylor.

When asked about the decision, Nicks said he did not take much notice of it and gave credit to how Geelong managed the tense final minutes.

“No (I didn’t see that as a big moment), there was nothing that stood out and changed the game from that (umpire) point of view,” Nicks said. 

“There are a couple of things towards the end that we need to go and work on when it comes to those really close arm wrestles.

“We were up against quite an experienced side tonight that did that (end of game scenario) very well and we will learn a lot from it.”

Geelong Senior Coach Chris Scott, meanwhile, had the following to say:

“Someone brought it up before, and I must’ve seen a different replay. I had only quickly looked at it, but I didn’t understand what they were talking about.

“If people were saying that it was wrong, it is likely to be accurate.

“My observation (on the rule in general) would be that it’s been a success. I’m a little bit confused about a guess around, insufficient intent still applies, so if you dive at the ball and knock it across the line, that’s probably a free kick as well.

“But there’s always going to be teething problems with these rule changes.

“And again, I just think it’s a pragmatic, logical decision to say ‘well if we can get some help from the ARC on those things we should do it, but not in a way that holds the game up for too long.”

On Friday, the AFL issued a statement saying that it “will review its late-game processes with a view to allowing umpires to hold play after conceding an incorrect free kick was given to Geelong in the fourth quarter of its hard-fought win over Adelaide”.

Crows crowd helps lift team

On a night with wet and wintry conditions, which included hail at some points during the game, Adelaide’s fans still showed up loudly and proudly.

And it didn’t go unnoticed by the players, either, with star Crow Josh Rachele commenting how the away crowd showed up.

“I think in the away games we've played so far against Collingwood and now against Geelong, we’ve definitely heard the (Crows) crowd up and about and we are really thankful for our loyal away supporters,” Rachele said.

“We definitely heard the buzz and it was getting us up and about with that momentum, so hopefully they keep coming out for our future away games.

“It has been pretty hard with the back-to-back six-day breaks, so we will recover well Friday, Saturday, Sunday and get ready to review Monday.

“We did so many positive things (against Geelong), we’ll keep building on that and we’ll look forward to coming back to AO and hopefully getting a win against Fremantle.”

Tickets for Adelaide’s clash against Fremantle are available here.

Around the grounds

The Crows and the Cats kicked off Round Three and Thursday night footy drew plenty of national attention.

For the second week in a row, the Crows game kept footy fans on the edge of their seats with the lead changing hands late in the final quarter.

Here’s a few posts and comments you may have missed.