Ruckman Sam Jacobs is confident his form is on the up after his most impressive performance of the season against St Kilda.
Jacobs outpointed influential Saints ruckman Ben McEvoy in Adelaide’s 40-point home win. The 2012 All-Australian nominee collected a season-high 20 possessions on Sunday, eclipsing his previous-best effort this year (13). He also won 23-hit-outs, three clearances and worked hard around the ground to take six marks.
Importantly, Jacobs was also able to limit his opponent’s impact, particularly behind the ball. McEvoy was widely regarded as the best player on the ground in St Kilda’s upset win over Carlton last week. He amassed 20 disposals and also dropped back to help out his defenders, hauling in 10 marks.
On Sunday, McEvoy was restricted to a season-low eight possessions, five marks and 15 hit-outs.
Coach Brenton Sanderson said Jacobs executed his role extremely well against the Saints.
“It was the best game of the year for big ‘Sauce'. I thought he really jumped into every contest and gave our midfielders first look,” Sanderson said.
“From a strategy point of view, we tried to engage McEvoy when he rolled back into our forward line. I thought Jacobs and McKernan were able to pick him up when we had the ball … it sounds a bit strange but it worked for us.
“McEvoy was really influential against Carlton and we were able to learn a few things from that. We got a good result when Jacobs engaged him as a forward.”
It was an encouraging display from Jacobs, who admits he’s had a “tough” start trying to reach his lofty 2012 standards.
The 25-year-old said he’d been working “extra hard” on the training track in a bid to recapture peak form.
“It’s been frustrating. You definitely work even harder on the track (when you’re down on form). When you’re playing well, it tends to flow and the weeks just come and go, but it’s been a lot tougher for me this year,” he said.
“I’ve had to work harder and I think now I’m starting to see a few results. Benny McEvoy has been playing really well. I knew coming into the game that it was an important match-up for us to win the game.
“I was glad I was able to contribute and, hopefully, get a bit of form back. There’s still a long way to go, so hopefully I can string some good games together.”
As well as winning the hit-outs (35 – 19), the Crows also got on top in the clearances (27 – 22) and contested possession (113 – 106). Jacobs was optimistic the Adelaide midfield was also starting to rediscover its 2012 form.
“It’s a great indication of where we’re at. We don’t want to keep talking about last year, but we pride ourselves on clearances and contested footy and it’s good to be able to win those areas a couple of weeks in a row,” he said.
“I think we’re getting a good contribution. ‘Danger’ and ‘Thommo’ are playing a bit more up forward, but we’ve got players like ‘Dougy’, who is in almost career-best form, in there and young guys like Jarryd Lyons coming in and playing their role.”
The Crows will now turn their attention to the clash with North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Adelaide has lost its past three matches against the Kangaroos at Etihad, including a disappointing 32-point defeat in Round 13 last season.
It’s the beginning of a tough month of football leading into the bye, with games against top-eight aspirants North, Fremantle (AAMI), Sydney (AAMI) and Richmond (MCG).
“North play Etihad really well … I actually don’t think I’ve beaten a North team at Etihad in my career,” Jacobs said.
“They’ll come out fired up because they lost another close game against West Coast and there was a bit of controversy around that. These are the games we need to win … and hopefully we can get back in front of the ledger.”
