A four-goal haul to Darcy Fogarty and 20 contested possessions to Izak Rankine helped steer the Crows to a 16-point win against Sydney at the SCG on Friday night.

Adelaide went into the final change a goal down before rallying in the last quarter to prevail 13.9 (87) to 10.11 (71).

Senior Coach Matthew Nicks delivered the following takeaways after the match.

Izak Rankine’s masterclass

Adelaide midfielder Izak Rankine starred against the Swans, with his attack on the ball, smart football IQ and efficiency by foot.

Rankine finished the match with 30 disposals at 73.3 per cent efficiency, eight clearances, and five intercept possessions.

His performance, not only on-field, but the work Rankine was putting in behind-the-scenes drew praise from the coach.

“He (Rankine) was great, wasn’t he?,” Nicks said.

“Even that tackle he made on (Isaac) Heeney, to actually be able to bring Heaney down isn’t an easy feat. He’s working for the team in areas people don’t see, he's hungry to play footy with his teammates and succeed.

“That’s why we're in a good position as a group. We're highly connected. We're really enjoying our footy, (and) we know how we play. 

“The challenge for us now is ‘can we turn up and do it week-after-week?’, and we get a short break this week, so we can't go and do it again.”

Thilthorpe’s influence on the game

Nicks said he was excited to see key forward Riley Thilhorpe start to hit his straps in the back end of the season and against the Swans, he began to do just that.

Thilthorpe worked his way into the match on Friday night, finishing with two goals, six marks (three contested), five score involvements, and 11 disposals.

Speaking to the media after the win against Sydney, Nicks said Thilthorpe had “a huge impact on the game”.

“You talk about where the game was won and lost, or where there was a team performance, to change momentum in the third quarter was just outstanding,” Nicks said.

“That's as good as we've been in that space against a real high quality team, and Riley was a massive part of that. 

“It's an interesting one because I think people see some of the marks and so on, but we’ll look at the contests, (and) the fact that he just kept putting himself in a contest, and when we needed to hang on, he was punching the ball out of bounds and the little things. 

“I think it was a really strong game from him individually, and one that's going to build his belief, and get him back to the best footy we know he can play.”

Managing stars, backing youth and chasing September 

Adelaide’s win against Sydney strengthened its position inside the top eight, providing an important step in the Club’s finals push.

The Crows’ win also came with the coaching cohort making the decision to manage all-time leading goalkicker Taylor Walker for the match against Sydney.

Nicks said the decision to have the 36-year-old miss the trip to Sydney was made with a focus on having key players at their best for the pointy end of the season.

He also said it was a chance for the Club’s younger players to step up against one of the competition’s best teams.

“It's a great spot for us to be in, like every team, we're here to play as well as we possibly can to qualify in September in that finals footy,” Nicks said.

“The balance with that is us being able to have players at their best, if and when you get there. For us to be able to manage Taylor this week was a huge bonus for our squad. 

“Tex at his best is really important to us, and we will need to manage him for him to be able to do that. 

“We also need to see our team, like we did tonight, where a slightly younger group gets it done against the best, or one of the best, and that's what Sydney are, and we did that away from home tonight. I hope Adelaide's rocking at the moment because it would have been one of those ones.”

Three-quarter time message

Nicks’ men went into three-quarter time six points down, despite leading for the entire first half.

The Crows Senior Coach revealed a mindset change from last year to this season was behind the final quarter fightback.

“We've probably had games in the past where we come out in that moment, and there's a real flat feeling amongst the group, and that's natural, because the team's doing a bit of a number on you,” Nicks said.

“But to our boys' credit, there was an energy there, there was a spark, and it just needed us to get around each other a little bit more and talk through what we are at our best. 

“And our guys went and executed, so you could sort of feel when we first got to the huddle, it was there.

“But by the time we'd left the huddle, there was a real spark about our group, we were ready to go; ‘let's play a quarter they hadn't seen’ like we did in the first quarter, and I think that's what our guys did. Under fatigue and under pressure, they were able to pull out another level and perform well.”

Building belief

The Crows handed the Swans their first loss of the 2026 season at the SCG, with Sydney previously holding an unbeaten home record this year.

Nicks said beating a top-four contender in an away, gritty win would do plenty for the players’ belief.

“I think it's great that we've had this win, it reinforces our belief in ourselves, the fact it was a mentally tough game for us as well,” Nicks said.

“We were beaten reasonably convincingly in the second and third quarters, and I think our opposition played the conditions better than we did in that period, but we were able to reset ourselves at three-quarter time and come out with the right mindset.

“We just lost our way through the middle part of the game, so I think our guys now sitting in the rooms and mentally knowing they were able to turn things and change momentum is the most positive thing we've had from this game.”

Adelaide returns home next week for a clash against Collingwood at Adelaide Oval on Thursday night.

Tickets available here.