THURSDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
Adelaide has played in a total of six Thursday night fixtures starting with a trip to Geelong to play the Cats in Round One, 2014. The Club’s five Thursday night games since have been at Adelaide Oval. The first was a spirited 21-point win over Collingwood in Round Nine, 2014. That historic night is best remembered for ‘siren gate’ when the raucous home crowd drowned out the three-quarter time siren creating confusion over a Josh Jenkins’ goal.
Adelaide has a 50 per cent winning margin on Thursday nights, having won three of the fixtures by an average of 30 points. This will be the first time the Crows and Tigers have played on a Thursday night. It will be Richmond’s second straight Thursday night match having opened the 2018 AFL Premiership Season against Carlton at the MCG on the corresponding night last week.
TIMES CHANGE
These two teams played each other only two games ago, but there are 11 changes across the selected sides. The Crows will field seven players who didn’t appear in the 2017 Grand Final – Bryce Gibbs, Darcy Fogarty, Tom Doedee, Lachlan Murphy, Mitch McGovern, Wayne Milera Junior and Cam Ellis-Yolmen. The Tigers have named 18 members of their premiership-winning team, with Dion Prestia, Daniel Rioli, Nick Vlastuin and Nathan Broad the absentees.
WELCOME HOME
Four Crows will run out onto Adelaide Oval for the first time at AFL level on Friday night. Fogarty, Doedee and Murphy made their senior debuts at Etihad Stadium last week, while recruit Bryce Gibbs will also play his home game for the Club. Gibbs, who played at Adelaide Oval twice during his Carlton career, is yet to experience a win at the iconic South Australian venue. It will be the largest number of Crows players to make their Adelaide Oval debut in a single game since the Club’s first-ever match at the ground in Round Two, 2014.
Darcy Fogarty will play his first home game as a Crow on Thursday night
ALL SHAPES AND SIZES
Famed for its small, pressure-packed forward line, Richmond’s starting six as named on Wednesday night has an average height of 184.5cm with just one player over 190cm tall – spearhead Jack Riewoldt (193cm). The Tigers have also named two potential goalkickers, Jacob Townsend (187cm) and Shai Bolton (175cm) on the bench.
Adelaide’s talls Taylor Walker (193cm), Josh Jenkins (200cm) and Mitch McGovern (190cm) are balanced out by smalls Eddie Betts (174cm) and Lachlan Murphy (176cm) giving the Crows an average height of 187cm as named on paper. Second-gamer Darcy Fogarty (193cm) has been named on the interchange.
In Round Six last season, Walker kicked five goals on All Australian full-back Alex Rance, while Tom Lynch – absent this week – slotted three as Adelaide romped to a 76-point win at home. On Grand Final day, it was a completely different story. Riewoldt booted two, but the remainder of Richmond’s goals were kicked by small forwards or midfielders, including strongly-built first-year Jack Graham who was the leading scorer on the ground with three. Walker and vice-captain Rory Sloane were the only multiple goalkickers for the Crows.
Near-perfect conditions are forecast for Adelaide Oval tonight and the Crows will be backing their big forwards to create and win the aerial contest against the stingy Tigers, who have kept their opposition to less than 100 points in their last 11 games.
TURF WARS
Adelaide Oval has traditionally been a tough road trip for opposing teams. The Crows have won 36 of their 50 games since AFL moved to the venue, including 27 of their last 32. Adelaide’s average winning margin at the ground is 30 points, while the average crowd is an impressive 47,738. Richmond has not beaten the Crows at Adelaide Oval since Round 21, 2014, and was defeated by 76 points when the two teams last met on SA soil.
The Crows, who have not lost the opening two games of a season since 2014, will be hoping to keep their home-ground advantage intact on Thursday night.
