1. Finals race keeps tightening
Geelong's draw against St Kilda at Etihad Stadium did nothing to help Adelaide's chances of cementing a place in the finals. The result only emphasised the importance of the Crows holding their nerve against the Lions to remain well placed to snare a spot in the finals. They face West Coast next week, while the Cats take on Collingwood and, should the likely results unfold, Adelaide and Geelong will do battle in Round 23 for eighth place.
2. Beware, the Texan
A career-best bag of seven goals for Crows skipper Taylor Walker sounded an ominous warning to opposition defenders – big Tex is hitting form at the business end of the season. In the past fortnight Walker has booted 10.4, having kicked 4.8 in the two games prior to Adelaide's 112-point win over Essendon in round 20. Should the Crows manage to secure finals qualification, the club's captain appears a power forward capable of wreaking September havoc.
3. Mates sticking together?
Lions captain Tom Rockliff took offence to a report during the week that a feud had developed between he and teammate Dayne Zorko. He very publicly insisted there was nothing in the suggestion and, while his Lions were slaughtered on Saturday night, the two 'mates' were terrific. Zorko managed 38 touches, while Rockliff was a force on the inside and finished with 30 disposals, 10 clearances and 12 tackles. Their combined performance counted for little in terms of the result, but both can fly home with heads held high.
4. Momentum builders
Slow starts have proved an issue for the Crows all season and Saturday night was no different. The club trailed the Lions at quarter time (its 10th first-term loss of the year) but luckily for Crows fans the side's second term also followed its 2015 trend. Adelaide booted eight unanswered goals in the second to effectively end the game by the main break. It was the Crows' 12th successful second quarter this year and it was the Lions' 16th failure. Like a semi truck, the Crows took a while to get moving, but were unstoppable once they built momentum.
5. Battle of the bigmen
The contest within Saturday night's clash was undoubtedly between two of the competition's leading ruckmen, Sam Jacobs and Stefan Martin. Jacobs has offered Adelaide's midfielders first use for much of season 2015, leading to the Crows' clearance strength. Helped by 'Sauce's' 47 hit-outs and 21 possessions the home side again won the clearances, but although Jacobs won the duel at stoppages, Martin prevailed around the ground. The big Lion collected 29 possessions, 28 hit-outs and booted a goal to accumulate another 151 AFL Fantasy points.
