DISMANTLED BY CLASSY CROWS by Dees in October

This game loomed as a big test even before the season, a return to the scene of Melbourne’s finals campaign demise in 2021. As both teams notched up three wins in a row, the prospect of a tantalising clash and the hope of revenge only grew. Some major outs to the Crows in the lead-up to the game and the ins of Gay and Mithen only seemed to bolster Melbourne’s chances. One thing was for sure, there would be a lot to learn from this game about where this season is going for both highly touted teams.

I knew that my viewing experience would be less than ideal, a combination of many interruptions and somewhat patchy reception due to a change in location mid-way through – and unfortunately, that ended up being the least of my frustrations.

FIRST QUARTER

The last two games have started with a sinking feeling due to early goals, and unfortunately the vibe was similar here. Although the score damage wasn’t quite so immediate, it was a hot start, and I soon had a nagging feeling that the Crows were going to test us around the ball. Some big early hits saw the Crows pile on the physical pressure. While our players seemed overawed though willing, Adelaide got numbers to the contest, were clean with the ball and dominant at ground level. I was happy to see Gay going in hard early on return, after we missed her physicality last week, while Goldrick was lively. L. Pearce was taking advantage of less vaunted opposition, striving to follow up her ruckwork at every opportunity. Caris out saw Parry taking on more of the ruck duties, with Melbourne opting for an extra mid to try to match the strong Crows outfit.

Yet the defence looked reactive and slow to respond, not aided by a lack of pressure up the ground. By late in the first, the Demons were lucky not to have conceded three goals from within about ten metres of the goal line, as the Crows made something from nothing time and again in that area of the ground, led by the ever-dangerous Phillips who was seemingly without an opponent. With six minutes remaining, it was ten inside 50s to three, and the tone for much of the game was set. Melbourne succumbed to the temptation of bombing the ball wildly forward; a kick to Harris in a three on one contest down the line was representative. Defenders Allan, Rajcic and McKinnon were dominant for the Crows in the air, and the Dees playing straight into their hands. It was the first goalless quarter for the Dees this season.

SECOND QUARTER

When Randall succumbed to an earlier hamstring injury in the second (she must be cursed against Melbourne after that concussion in the prelim last year), there was hope that a defensive reshuffle might allow our forwards to take advantage. It was not to be, however, as the Dees failed to gain barely any time with the ball, and when they did it was with hesitation, fumbling and poor execution. The pressure was beginning to tell, with players like Paxman making an increasing number of uncharacteristic errors, while others lacked awareness of the play around them and were too easily caught napping or devoid of options forward. The run and support we’ve become accustomed to had run dry, while the Crows two-way running and relentless approach was immense. Many tried to stand up, but no single leader emerged to take responsibility.

Under siege, the defence scrapped hard and with desperation, keeping them in the game for longer than what other teams have managed under Adelaide’s onslaughts. But if you’re relying on misses from Phillips, you know you’re in deep trouble, and she soon took the lead in the competition’s all-time goal kicking tally. The frustration was palpable for Dees fans. When some clean possession finally emerged, in the hands of Zanker, she delayed her kick forward for far too long, perhaps waiting for the perfect option, and got caught holding the ball. Despite their dominance, the Crows only had a 15-point advantage at half-time, though Melbourne’s second goalless quarter of the season made a comeback seem a distant prospect.

THIRD QUARTER

Finally, the Dees managed to muster some semblance of possession footy in the third, yet their opposition were well and truly in their heads by this stage, and you could almost see the players hearing footsteps every time they got the ball. As a result, their disposals were often much more rushed than they needed to be, and fumbling became contagious as the perceived pressure took its toll. The backline continued its toil, and Colvin had some good moments but allowed the season-leading goal kicker Woodland free too many times. Again, Heath looked exposed when caught in marking contests while Birch had the opposite difficulty when the ball hit the deck. Attempts to move the ball forward repeatedly broke down, either at half back or half forward.

There was only so long that Melbourne could repeatedly scrap, contest after contest, before eventually a stronger Crows player would break free, with 4.5 for the quarter their reward. Meanwhile, in the opposite scenario, their players were able to bring ours down in good tackles, or they cleverly double-teamed those they knew would try to fend off – consequently, they won many holding the balls against and completely stifled our ability to set up our preferred mode of play. To make matters worse, L. Pearce went down heavily – cue my muttering, “Not the knee, not the knee”. Turns out it was an ankle, but you hate to see it. The Dees did find some more structure in this quarter and moved the ball slightly better at times, though no goals resulted. Phillips’ goal off one step form 45 metres all but sealed the deal, making the last quarter all about avoiding absolute embarrassment.

FOURTH QUARTER

Goldrick was a welcome sight in the middle, instantly bringing more pace on the ball, making me wish the switch had come sooner. Our collective questions about what exactly Parry contributes were somewhat resolved, though I don’t think any of us liked the answer. The Dees finally got some effective first use out of the centre, and a score soon resulted through a goal to Harris out the back in the kind of space that had been entirely absent for almost any player in a red and blue jumper to that point. It was clear that many grinding victories in the back half of last season has instilled in our players a certain belief in their ability to turn things around – but they needed to bring that attitude from the first bounce, build the pressure to get the game on their terms before attempting to execute the precision stuff.

Of course, in the end, a 14-point loss flattered the Demons substantially – it could so easily have been much, much worse. Daisy’s two in the last brought some respectability to the scoreboard, off the back of hard work by McNamara, Fitzsimon and Hanks in particular. The fact that they kept Adelaide to one point in the last was reward for effort after a difficult day for the defenders, but the damage was well and truly done. Unlike previous outing against the Crows, we didn’t have the chance for inaccuracy to take the game away for us. They went a step further to deny us opportunities almost completely.

STATS & STAND-OUTS

For the Crows, Phillips (17 disposals, 3 goals and 6 tackles) was a class above and unmatched in making something from nothing. Again, we wonder what could have been if she’d had a consistent pathway to footy. She was well supported by Marinoff (26) and Hatchard (29). McNamara led the way for Melbourne with 22, followed by Hanks (20) and Lampard (18), the lack of dominant possession-winners speaking to Melbourne’s inability to get first use or retain it when they did. Gay and Paxman (13 each) and Mithen (11) were well down on their usual output. Zanker has had a quiet few weeks after a strong start to the season, while Bannan went missing much like the wings on Norwood Oval.

Goldrick can hold her head up with 4 clearances, only behind Marinoff with 5. West strived hard to make things happen in the last after being unsighted most of the game. Despite going down injured in the third, L. Pearce led the hit-outs with 12; her efforts couldn’t be questioned. Harris was starved of opportunity and struggled to find the ball outnumbered up the ground, while Daisy made the most of her chances when they came. Hore was held goalless for the first time this season; she’s a barometer for the functioning of our forward line and linkage with midfield.

Both teams had poor efficiency inside 50 though the Crows’ 43% and many more opportunities (44 to 21) made the difference, as well as the quality of their entries with 6 marks to 2 inside 50. Of Melbourne’s 40 rebound 50s, it’s safe to say that far too few resulted in possession, and certainly not the chains of possession required to move the ball forward with any system. Contested and uncontested possession were quite even, signalling that getting the ball wasn’t always the problem – it’s what each team did with it. There was a 10-tackle differential in Adelaide’s favour (their best tackle count for the season), including a mammoth 26 to 3 tackles inside 50. Not surprisingly given the pressure on the ball carrier, turnovers were higher than usual for the Dees, and while clearances were even, the difference between ‘good’ clearances that lead to meaningful forward entries as opposed to ‘poor’ ones that are less impactful was stark.

Clearly, there are fundamental flaws in our game plan, in the sense that it simply does not stack up against immense pressure tactics – we saw it with St Kilda, and we saw what it looks like from a top team this week. Is there a Plan B? Can we revert to our better contest work from last season?