The loss to Geelong at Simonds Stadium on Saturday night ended Adelaide’s eight-game winning streak and saw the Crows drop to sixth spot on the AFL ladder. The Club’s two most recent losses have been at the hands of the Cats.
The 30-point defeat was Adelaide’s biggest of the season, exceeding the 26-point loss to Geelong in Round Eight. The Crows only trailed by one point at half time on the weekend, but the Cats broke the game open with five unanswered goals in the third quarter.
The Crows won the clearances (42 – 39) but that advantage didn’t translate to forward 50m entries, which the Cats won 55 – 46.
Matt Crouch was Adelaide’s leading possession winner with 31. Crouch also laid a team-high eight tackles and won three clearances. The young midfielder was the only Crow to collect more than 25 touches on Saturday night.
Matt and Brad Crouch, and Jarryd Lyons each won 12 contested possessions.
Scott Thompson topped Adelaide’s clearance count with eight, and also applied seven tackles.
Jake Lever stood tall in an under siege Crows defence. Lever took seven marks and notched up 15 possessions at 93.3 efficiency. Lever also had 11 intercept possessions – ranked seventh in the AFL in Round 18.
Fellow backman Kyle Cheney hauled in a team-high eight marks.
Running defender Brodie Smith generated seven rebound 50ms as the Crows struggled to move the ball cleanly out of their back half. Smith also gained more metres (572) than any of his teammates.
Ricky Henderson and Jarryd Lyons each sent the ball inside attacking 50m five times.
Forwards Josh Jenkins (three) and Tom Lynch (two) were Adelaide’s only multiple goalkickers as the Club recorded its lowest score, an inaccurate 7.13 (55), of the season.
It’s the first time this year the Crows have been unable to crack 100 points in successive weeks.
Geelong scored 60 of its 85 points from Adelaide turnovers on Saturday night. In contrast, the Crows only managed to score 23 points from Cats turnovers.
Crow Rory Sloane had a game-high 27 pressure acts at Simonds Stadium.
Ruckman Sam Jacobs won an equal-season high 41 hit-outs against the Cats.
Match statistics
Disposals
Adelaide – 347
Geelong – 414
Disposal efficiency
Adelaide – 62%
Geelong – 69%
Kicks
Adelaide – 223
Geelong – 223
Handballs
Adelaide – 124
Geelong – 191
Clearances
Adelaide – 42
Geelong – 39
Inside 50ms
Adelaide – 46
Geelong – 55
Contested possessions
Adelaide – 150
Geelong – 168
Uncontested possessions
Adelaide – 182
Geelong – 234
Tackles
Adelaide – 71
Geelong – 84
Hit-outs
Adelaide – 48
Geelong – 39
