A late injury scare to young gun Crow Riley thilthorpe has somewhat soured a slick and dynamic showing from Adelaide’s electric forward line, which inspired the team to a dominant pre-season win over West Coast.
After a scoreless first five minutes, Adelaide slammed on four of the first five goals of the game then kicked seven goals to three in third term to set up a dominant win.
Izak Rankine was outstanding with a game-high four goals, but had ample support from fellow forwards Josh Rachele, Lachie Murphy and Taylor Walker, who all kicked multiple goals.
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But it was Rankine’s work on the ball that was just as promising.
“He’s got the endurance to be able to run through the midfield,” Adelaide legend Mark Ricciuto told Fox Footy.
“He might not be in there for as long as some of the other mids, but when he’s in there he’s going to be electrifying and just add that different dimension to Dawson and Laird and Crouch, and then when he goes forward he’s still deadly.”
Sam Berry, who fell out of favour in 2023, in particular had a strong start to the game, booting two goals in the first two quarters to help the Crows establish a 27-point lead at half-time. Ricciuto dubbed Berry the Crows’ “forgotten midfielder”.
Despite the margin, the Eagles still gave a good account of themselves considering they were without a host of key players, including Oscar Allen (knee) and Reuben Ginbey (concussion).
Jack Darling kicked two goals in two minutes in the second term in a promising return, while Tim Kelly was the Eagles’ prime-mover.
West Coast’s No. 1 draftee Harley Reid, who was well held in match simulation against Fremantle last week, was much more prevalent against the Crows, who used every opportunity to get stuck into Reid.
“It seems like the Adelaide players are going out of their way to be physical to Harley Reid. Seen it on a few occasions where they’ve been physical,” four-time premiership Hawk Jordan Lewis told Fox Footy.
Ahead of the home and away season, former Hawks sharpshooter Ben Dixon predicted Adelaide would jump up into the top four this season.
“I just think from the up-and-coming teams, it looks like over the pre-season they’ve tightened defensively better. Offence was always there and a real strength, but now defensively they look like a more complete team,” Dixon told foxfooty.com.au.
“They’re young, exciting – I can see them having a massive spike … There’s always one bolter and I definitely think it’s Adelaide.”
THE 3-2-1 …
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