Adelaide forward Taylor Walker says he was rapt with his team’s “angry” response to the disappointment of Round One in Saturday’s gritty 19-point win over Brisbane at the Gabba.
The Crows and Lions went goal for goal in the first half, with the visitors taking a narrow seven-point lead into the main change. There were shades of the Round 21 meeting between the two teams last season in the third term, as Brisbane fought back to kick four goals to Adelaide’s two in the slippery conditions and snatch an eight-point at three-quarter time.
But there would be no repeat of Adelaide’s 2012 Gabba fadeout. Led by influential deputy vice-captain Patrick Dangerfield, who snapped two remarkable goals in the space of 10 minutes, the Crows outscored the Lions five goals to zero in the final term to record a memorable away win.
“We had two weeks for the loss to Essendon to sit in our guts. The boys were pretty angry and we set ourselves to come up here to Brisbane and have a win,” Walker said after the game.
“The pressure was right on us going into the last quarter. At three-quarter time, Sando told us he didn’t really care about the stats. He just wanted us to play the ‘Crows’ way; play contested footy, get the ball in our half and pressure the opposition to keep the ball in there.
“We were able to do that and I thought the boys did really well to grind it out.”
Of Dangerfield’s last-quarter brilliance, Walker said:
“He’s a freak … that’s all I can say.”
Walker enjoyed a fierce battle with Lions defender Daniel Merrett.
Walker outwitted the experienced full-back to cap off a brilliant piece of team play late in the second quarter. Influential onballer Richard Douglas, whose first seven possessions all resulted in Adelaide scores, created a turnover and Jared Petrenko followed up, cleverly working the ball forward to Walker. The imposing Crow hit the footy hard and faked a handball before wheeling onto his left foot, and bouncing the ball through for a goal.
Walker finished the game with 2.2 from 12 possessions, seven marks and four inside 50ms. He also had another two rushed shots at goal, which were cut off by Brisbane defenders. Merrett notched up 19 possessions and six marks.
“He’s a very good defender, Daniel,” Walker said.
“He’s very strong and when he gets a fist to the ball it goes about 20 metres. I just wanted to keep on the move and stick to my game. It was a good battle.
“The boys up forward all chipped in today and that was really important to the result.”
It was a well-rounded performance from the Adelaide attack.
The Crows had 10 different goalkickers, while Walker, Dangerfield (two), Petrenko (two) and Josh Jenkins (two) finished with multiple goals. Jenkins was crucial in the final term, hauling in one of his game-high 12 marks and converting to kick the opening goal of the tense last quarter.
