Dawson's precision, a milestone charge, defensive dominance, plus a big home crowd headline the key numbers from Adelaide's 17-point win over Melbourne in Round 15.

Captain climbing the sharpshooter charts

Jordan Dawson took his season’s score tally to a remarkable 17.1 with his two goals on Saturday, before missing his last shot in the final term. The inspirational Captain started the season with nine consecutive goals without a miss until his first behind in Round 12 against Hawthorn and then kicked 6.0 in his next two games before the Melbourne clash. Dawson, who kicked 18.20 last season, now has 17.2 and is close to matching some other Adelaide sharpshooters. Original Crow Michael Murphy kicked 23.3 in the 1992 season and Ken McGregor booted 18.2 from nine games in 2007. Tyson Edwards was also on target with 20.5 in 1999 and 17.3 in 2005. Of the current Crows, Darcy Fogarty has the best conversion rate (68.75 per cent) with 209 goals and 95 behinds.

Tex closing in on Crows greats in games race

Taylor Walker is poised to catch and overtake some Crows legends on the Club’s AFL games list. Walker has now played 310 AFL games, one behind Ben Hart and two behind Mark Ricciuto. Meanwhile, his goal against Melbourne lifted his career total to 694.

Stat standouts 

Key defender Mark Keane was outstanding in his first AFL game of the season. He finished with 22 disposals, 10 marks, six score involvements and a game-high nine intercept possessions. James Borlase was also strong in defence with eight intercepts, including five marks, and mid-season draftee Hugo Hall-Kahan was busy with 23 disposals, nine marks, six score involvements and 380 metres gained in 66 per cent game time. Luke Nankervis went at 100 per cent efficiency with his 22 disposals, Sam Berry had eight score involvements, Fogarty took a game-high four contested marks and Josh Rachele’s three goals lifted his season tally to 25.  

Home edge restored as Crows reverse Dees trend

Adelaide has improved its poor record against Melbourne at Adelaide Oval. The Dees won six of their first eight games at the venue but the Crows have won the past two clashes. Melbourne’s record at Football Park (AAMI Stadium) was only three wins from 16 games. Adelaide has now won its past six games at Adelaide Oval after losing its first two earlier this season. 

Near-record crowd turns out despite time slot

Saturday’s crowd of 46,337 was the third highest home-and-away attendance for Adelaide games against Melbourne. The record is 48,020 at Adelaide Oval in 2024 followed by 47,882 in 2017 (both night games) but the latest clash was in the challenging Saturday lunchtime time slot.