Adelaide has monstered the Brisbane Lions by 138 points at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night, showcasing its scoring power and earning a vital percentage boost in the process.

Returning Crows skipper Taylor Walker grabbed his share of the spoils, matching fellow forward Tom Lynch and Eddie Betts with four goals in the 27.15 (177) to 6.3 (39) win.

The big win swelled Adelaide's percentage from 133 per cent to 141.2, and saw it leapfrog Geelong and GWS into third place on the ladder.

Lynch (15) and Walker (12) took 27 marks between them and received terrific supply from the Crouch brothers, Rory Sloane, Rory Atkins, Charlie Cameron and Jarryd Lyons, while Kyle Hartigan, Rory Laird and Daniel Talia all dominated - and frankly, the list could go on.

Rhys Mathieson was the Lions' only multiple goalkicker with two, while Ryan Bastinac and Dayne Zorko’s tackling pressure was admirable (12 tackles), but when your side is out-possessed 447 to 259, someone has to lay them.

The Lions were simply never in the contest.

Never one to overstate a win, Crows coach Don Pyke described it as a “professional” performance.

“To the players’ credit I thought it was a real solid, professional performance for the whole four quarters,” Pyke said.

“Our ability to stay true to how we want to play [was most impressive] - we were strong around the contest, I thought some of our ball movement was good and I thought we defended the ground really well.”

Pyke’s Lions counterpart Justin Leppitsch was left frustrated by his side’s inability to match the Crows at the contest.

“We wanted to keep the ball boundary side and they pushed us out of the way and we still go smashed on turnover. Last week we opened up the game and we got smashed because we missed kicks,” he said.

“That same turnover number’s there every week. At the end of the day, you’ve still got to be able to win those contests at the coal face and not get pushed aside, which we are.”

Adelaide’s start couldn’t have been more emphatic; Cameron’s 12-second opener won't get him a place in the 100m final in Rio, but by AFL standards the game’s first goal was lightning fast.

Adelaide's ball movement was slick, allowing Sloane and the Crouch brothers plenty of space on the outside and Lynch’s quarter-time siren goal gave Adelaide a 28-point lead.

The Lions started the second term with more aggression and with their midfielders (Rockliff, Bastinac and Zorko), pegged one goal back before Adelaide flicked the switch.

Brad Crouch was on fire in close, Cameron’s speed and agility was electric and Walker was in one of those moods up forward with four first-half goals.

In the third term, Josh Jenkins kung-fu kicked his way onto the scoresheet, Eddie Betts snapped his third goal and despite Lewis Taylor’s shot edging through for the Lions the crowd’s focus switched to whether the Crows would crack 200 points.


As the goals kept piling on for the Crows, debutant ruckman Reilly O’Brien cashed in late in the third quarter - taking a brilliant one-handed mark and converting to be swamped by his teammates in the process.

The 200-point mark was within reach at the final change but as time slipped away Adelaide’s record score (188 against Essendon in Round 10, 2006) loomed a more realistic target.

The Crows fell short of that mark and finished just one point behind its largest win, a 139-point annihilation of Richmond in 1993.

MEDICAL ROOM

Adelaide: Defender Paul Seedsman suffered a corked buttock easy in the game but with an eight-day break before the Crows take on Fremantle, he should have time to recover.

Brisbane Lions: The Lions recorded no injuries.

NEXT UP

Adelaide flies to Perth to face the Dockers in what looms another must, and very-winnable, match. After two-straight humiliations the Lions host Carlton and must try to win back some sort of pride in performance.

 


ADELAIDE   7.4   14.10   22.13   27.15 (177)
BRISBANE   3.0    5.0      6.1        6.3 (39)

GOALS
Adelaide: Walker, Lynch, Betts 4, Jenkins 3, Ellis-Yolmen, Sloane 2, Smith, Seedsman, O’Brien, Lyons, B.Crouch, M.Crouch, Brown, Cameron
Brisbane: Mathieson 2, Taylor, Rockliff, Robinson, Rich

BEST
Adelaide: Laird, Sloane, Walker, Lynch, Talia, Jenkins, Betts, B.Crouch
Brisbane: Rockliff, Mathieson, Bastinac, Zorko

INJURIES
Adelaide: Seedsman (corked buttock)
Brisbane: Nil

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Schmitt, Hay, Mitchell

Official crowd: 43,549 at Adelaide Oval