Adelaide held-off a determined West Coast outfit at Optus Stadium on Sunday evening to record its 16th win of the season.
Trailing by 10 points early in the final quarter, the Crows kicked four of the last five goals to come away with a 13.9 (87) to 12.8 (76) win.
Senior Coach Matthew Nicks spoke to the media after the match, and delivered five key takeaways.
Full credit to the Eagles
Adelaide was made to earn its victory against 18th-placed West Coast, whose manic pressure and intensity unsettled the ladder-leaders for the majority of the night.
The Eagles did not give the Crows an inch, feeding off their home crowd and the emotion of farewelling retiring stars Jeremy McGovern and Dom Sheed, and worked to put themselves in a position to produce one of the upsets of the season.
Nicks was quick to praise the opposition post match, and admitted they were better than his side in a number of crucial aspects.
“Today unfortunately we didn’t bring our best and our opposition did, I thought they were outstanding tonight,” Nicks said.
“Our opposition were better than us with their energy, their intensity, the pressure they brought, they beat us in that area of the game tonight.
“So the game went the way it should have, if you aren’t at the level and fundamentally we were off in the way we fumbled and struggled to execute by foot, you will get found out.
“But we did enough just to scrape through, and we took great learnings from the game to hopefully put in a better performance against Collingwood.”
Thilthorpe cleared after third-quarter scare
Star forward Riley Thilthorpe collided with Eagles Skipper Liam Duggan midway through the third quarter, resulting in the 23-year-old having to leave the ground to have his neck assessed.
Fortunately, the diagnosis was clear with Thilthorpe suffering a jarred neck and being able to return to the field.
He ultimately became the match-winner with two critical last quarter goals.
“I think he jarred his neck which then shot some nerve pain down his arm, so initially it looked like he’d done something to his shoulder and we were worried,” Nicks said.
“At that point I was thinking a little more about how we are going to get this game back on our terms, our oppo were getting on top and Riley going out is very important to how we structure up.
“But after a minute or so of recovery he was fine.”
Crows trio stand up with big second halves
Adelaide were in dire need of somebody to take control of the contest at half-time, and in the end it came down to three individuals.
Skipper Jordan Dawson paved the way around the ball, willing himself to some massive contest wins and Izak Rankine provided the spark with moments of brilliance with ball in hand.
Outside of the star duo, it was the unheralded Zac Taylor who shone when his team needed him the most, as he kicked a crucial goal, laid some big tackles and was clean with the ball to finish with a career-high 20 disposals.
Nicks recognised the influence of the trio in getting his team across the line.
“I like Jordan (Dawson) a lot, Izak Rankine as well. I thought he bounced back really well after a slower first half,” Nicks said.
“But when we needed them those two really stood up and showed their class in big moments.
“And Zac Taylor was the other one who I thought played one of his best halves of footy in his career in the second half, which was really pleasing for him.”
The inexact science of managing players
The Crows made the call to rest all-time leading goalkicker Taylor Walker for the trip west, with an eye to a critical match-up against Collingwood next Saturday night.
The decision was not one the Club took lightly, as Nicks explained it was difficult to find the right balance when it came to managing players through the pointy end of the season.
“I think it’s always difficult, and there’s not an exact science to when you should rest players,” Nicks said.
“Taylor this weekend for example, we know how important he is to our group, not just with the football with hand but what he does for our group with his leadership on the field.
“So it’s not a decision we take lightly, but in the end we made that call knowing that we fly back tomorrow (Monday) and then play within five days of that flight, just with where he sits at the moment we thought he’d benefit.
“Now that we’ve got across the line and got the result it’s a good move, but going into the game we don’t know that.”
Nicks reflects on securing finals spot
The win against West Coast on Sunday night officially locked in Adelaide’s spot in the 2025 Toyota AFL Finals Series.
It will be the Crows’ first finals appearance since 2017, while they sit one game clear on top of the ladder with two matches of the home and away season remaining.
Nicks said he gave himself a moment to reflect on the accomplishment, but had his focus still firmly narrowed on the next task at hand.
“I take maybe a second to reflect on how big it (returning to finals) is,” Nicks said.
“I think it’s great, I think it’s a sign of what we’ve done now over a longer period of time, and the work we’ve put into developing and building a strong group of people.
“I’m really proud of what we’ve been able to do, and that we’ve stuck it out through a tough period win/loss wise.
“It’s great for our supporters as well, we saw last week 50,000-plus rocked up, so it feels like they know we’re doing some good stuff and it’s nice to reward them, but for us we are just locked in on what’s next and that’s Collingwood.”
