Adelaide has made a bright start to its SANFL campaign, defeating Port Adelaide by five goals in an SANFL trial at Alberton Oval.
Coach Heath Younie was pleasantly surprised by the “synergy” of the squad after it took control of the game with nine consecutive goals in the second and third terms to win 15-12 (102) to 11-6 (72).
The Crows trailed by four points at the first change but the clearance work of Matt Crouch – playing his first game after recovering from ankle surgery – helped provide plenty of scoring opportunities as Adelaide charged to a 21-point lead at half-time.
Crouch, who had 14 possessions and five clearances in the first half, took the rest of the game off but Adelaide continued to dominate the midfield through the likes of Charlie Cameron (20 possessions) and Ian Callinan to stretch the lead to 47 points at the last change.
“The big thing I liked was that we had nine AFL listed players, plus Callinan, and the rest was made up from our development squad,” Younie said.
“They had never played together before as a group so the synergy after quarter time worked pretty well considering where we’ve come from, so that’s the pleasing thing. “
James Podsiadly, Brodie Martin and Matthew Jaensch dropped back from the AFL squad named on Thursday and all performed well. Podsiadly controlled the defensive group, with 18 possessions, and Jaensch had 14 touches in just over a half of game time.
The early impression of the development squad players was that the Crows have collected a group with far greater depth than last year, when there was limited time to recruit.
Matthew Stent, who played two league games with Central District in 2013, kicked four goals as a half forward and wingman Matt Spencely had 20 possessions and booted two goals.
Tall and mobile forward Nick Mott also impressed and strong-bodied midfielder Charlie Molyneaux won 17 disposals.
Adelaide’s next SANFL trial is against West Adelaide on April 4.
Scores:
Adelaide 15-12 (102) defeated Port 11-6 (72)
Crows goals: Stent 4, Schoenmakers, Spencely, Wilson 2, Cameron, Callinan, Dear, Castree, Mott 1 each.
Crows best: Spencely, Podsiadly, Callinan, Stent, Martin Cameron, Molyneaux, Jaensch
Leading stats:
Ian Callinan - 16 kicks, five handballs, five tackles, 1.1
Matthew Spencely - 15 kicks, five handballs, 2.0
Charlie Cameron - 11 kicks, nine handballs, four clearances, 1.3
James Podsiadly - 12 kicks, six handballs
Harrison Wigg - 14 kicks, three handballs
Brodie Martin - Nine kicks, eight handballs, six tackles, four clearances
Charlie Molyneaux - Eight kicks, nine handballs, five tackles
Matthew Jaensch - Eight kicks, six handballs
Matt Crouch - Five kicks, none handballs, six clearances (played first half)
Matthew Stent - Seven kicks, five handballs, 4.0
