Speechless Pyke gets message across
Forget Adelaide's national anthem power stance, there is a new contender in town. A disgusted Don Pyke eyeballed his under-performing playing group at three-quarter time – after a six-goals-to-one third term blew the deficit out to 80 points – without uttering a word for some time. No words could possibly have made such a profound impact. The tactic, if you can call it that, finally brought some spirit out of the Crows, who were at least competitive in the last quarter and went close to winning the term. But it was too little too late to in any way salvage a disastrous day. 

Pulling the right Lever
Jake Lever took time to prove his worth for his new club Melbourne, but has warmed to the task in the past month and was outstanding against the Crows in Alice Springs on Sunday. The 22-year-old's first clash with his former Adelaide teammates since leaving in the off-season was built up as a grudge match, but Lever took the points comprehensively. He started alongside Darcy Fogarty and buried the teenage brute in a big tackle to win an early free kick. It came shortly after Crow Richard Douglas lingered on top of Lever at a stoppage. The defender's intensity remained high all afternoon and his work ethic and attack on the ball was rewarded with five first-half free kicks. Adelaide fans will still have July 28 – when the Demons visit Adelaide Oval – circled for their chance to let Lever know what they thought of him walking out on them.

The listless Crows from Adelaide
The footy public admired Adelaide's ability to sit inside the top four at the end of round nine despite a brutal injury list, but Sunday was the day it all fell apart. Paul Seedsman's adductor injury in the warm-up – the same problem that ruined much of his 2017 season before rallying to play in the Grand Final – was a rough opening to the afternoon. He's been a key linkman for the Crows all season and his absence left his side vulnerable. Melbourne's ball movement bamboozled Don Pyke's men from the outset and it had five goals on the board before Adelaide scored. The Crows finally met their match in the contested ball department and were destroyed on the outside, something acutely apparent as the Demons added six goals to one in an uncompetitive third term as the margin blew out to 80 points. 

The new, relentless Demons
Melbourne took a 14-quarter winning streak into the round 10 contest, a particularly remarkable statistic given how prone these Demons have been to a lapse. They are the same side that lost eight quarters last year by at least 30 points and 14 by 20 points or more despite almost making the finals. That trend continued in each of the first five weeks in 2018, but wasn't an issue in what was considered a soft draw against a then-out-of-sorts Essendon, St Kilda, Gold Coast and Carlton. Melbourne extended that run of successful terms to 18 with the last four majors of the match after Adelaide threatened to end its streak.

A twist on the Grand Old Flag
Melbourne, which has long had a formal relationship with the Northern Territory, endeared itself to neutral observers with a nice pre-game touch. The Dees organised mid-week for their theme song to be recorded in the local Arrernte language and ran through the banner with that version. The move went down well with the Alice Springs crowd and the local radio station, setting the tone for a great day out in Central Australia. The alternative song got another run after the match.