Match

Melbourne vs Adelaide Crows

Commentary / 15 Jul 2017

Pre Game

59:30
Welcome to TIO Stadium for the Melbourne v Adelaide Crows Round 17 clash.
59:33
Outs for Demons: B.Stretch
59:34
Ins for Demons: J.Kennedy-Harris
59:35
Outs for Crows: S.Thompson, W.Milera
59:36
Ins for Crows: H.Greenwood, T.Lynch
59:40
Don't forget to enter your tips for this match, you have until the bounce to make your selection.
00:00
For Adelaide, this is the first time in their history they have ventured to the Northern Territory to contest a match for premiership points. Adelaide has won four of their six interstate matches this season.

Quarter 1

00:00
Q1 is now underway.
02:57
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Josh Jenkins)
03:18
Charlie Cameron has started strongly for the Crows, winning three contested possessions and sending the ball inside 50 twice in the first three minutes of playing time.
04:29
SCORE GOAL - Crows (David Mackay)
05:28
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Riley Knight)
06:24
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Jeff Garlett)
06:37
Neville Jetta has been crucial to the defensive structure of the Demons this season, winning the equal-most intercept possessions (88) for his side along with Sam Frost. His first three disposals tonight have all been sourced from intercepts.
09:14
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Jake Melksham)
09:27
With their seventh inside 50 for the match, Melbourne has booted their first goal following an attacking midfield turnover. Melbourne average a goal with 26.9 per cent of their forward 50 entries this season, ranked fourth-highest in the competition.
10:45
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Mitch McGovern)
11:45
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Taylor Walker)
12:32
Adelaide are on top of the stoppages, with their four clearances resulting in two of their three goals. This total nearly equals their entire scores from clearances last week against the Bulldogs, booting three goals from this source.
17:18
The Crows are leading the contested possession differential by seven. Adelaide and Melbourne are ranked first and second respectively for contested possessions this season, both averaging over 150 per match.
17:38
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Dean Kent)
20:47
SCORE GOAL - Crows (David Mackay)
21:23
David Mackay has been opportunistic up forward this quarter booting through two goals for the Crows and is now just one goal off his career-best result. In his 176th career match, this is just the seventh time that he has kicked multiple goals in a game.
25:12
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Riley Knight)
26:52
Adelaide has shot out to a 24 point lead on the back of winning 20 more disposals than Melbourne. The Crows have won every match this season when leading at quarter-time.
29:04
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Taylor Walker)
31:05
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Brad Crouch)
32:07
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Tom McDonald)
32:12
The siren has sounded to end Q1.
32:22
Melbourne won the territory battle that quarter but were unable to impact the scoreboard despite this dominance. They recorded four more inside 50s (18-14) but could only manage four scoring shots from these 18 entries.

Quarter 2

00:00
Q2 is now underway.
02:31
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Dean Kent)
04:25
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Christian Petracca)
04:38
The Demons respond from a poor opening term by kicking the first two goals of the second quarter (both sourced from turnovers). They have taken seven more marks than the Crows this quarter and won five more contested possessions.
06:43
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Brodie Smith)
08:24
The Dees have won four of the first five clearances this quarter, after trailing by four in the first term. Melbourne is ranked fourth for clearances this season, winning 38 per game.
11:08
Rory Laird has accumulated the ball at will, amassing a game-high 15 disposals at 80 per cent efficiency. He has won the most intercepts for his side with four, and has over 250 metres gained.
11:47
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Tom Lynch)
15:30
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Mitch McGovern)
16:13
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Jake Melksham)
16:23
Jordan Lewis has only recorded the three disposals this quarter, yet has been involved in all scoring chains for the Demons this second term (the only Demon to achieve this feat).
17:40
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Mitch McGovern)
18:41
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Jake Melksham)
20:00
Adelaide leads the territory battle this quarter, with 68 per cent of the play being held in their attacking half. Mitch McGovern and Tom Lynch are the beneficiaries of this dominance, winning 14 disposals and grabbing four marks inside 50 between them.
23:39
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Sam Jacobs)
24:52
Hugh Greenwood has won the equal-most clearances with four. In his debut season Greenwood has provided the Crows with some reliable grunt work, averaging 10.5 contested possessions and just under eight tackles per match.
25:18
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Eddie Betts)
27:10
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Rushed)
28:08
The Crows continue to score heavily from stoppages, booting six of their 11 goals from clearances. This is the first time since round 12 that the Crows have managed to boot six goals in a match sourced from stoppages.
28:47
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Mitch McGovern)
30:34
The siren has sounded to end Q2.
30:44
The Demons managed to win the contested possessions (45-35) and clearances (12-10) in the second quarter. Their kicking efficiency was costly however, going at a low 57 per cent. The Crows in stark comparison went at 81 per cent.

Quarter 3

00:00
Q3 is now underway.
00:37
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Josh Jenkins)
03:45
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Eddie Betts)
05:24
The two sides are playing contrastingly different styles, as evident by their kick-to-handball ratios. Melbourne are at a ratio of 1.11 compared to 1.42 for the Crows. Adelaide have had 40 more kicks than handballs.
07:23
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Eddie Betts)
07:52
Melbourne is now leading the contested possessions to match their inside 50 advantage. Hibberd, Wagner and Oliver lead the way for the Dees with eight contested possessions each, whilst Laird has won the most for Adelaide with 10.
09:16
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Clayton Oliver)
11:02
The transition of the ball from defensive 50 has been a highlight for Adelaide. Of their 21 intercept possessions in their defensive 50, 38 per cent of these has resulted in an inside 50. In comparison, the Dees are going at a conversion of nine per cent
13:10
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Tom Lynch)
14:02
The Crows are dominating the marks inside forward 50 grabbing 12 compared to four for Melbourne. The Crows are ranked first for marks inside 50, averaging 14.7 per match this season.
17:02
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Tom Lynch)
18:03
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Jeff Garlett)
18:09
Michael Hibberd has had an influential third term winning nine disposals, the most of any player. Hibberd is averaging career-highs in disposals (27.4) and rebound 50s (6.5) this season since joining the Demons from Essendon.
21:49
Crows Interchange - Rory Sloane and is possibly out for the game.
22:29
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Jesse Hogan)
24:34
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Max Gawn)
25:40
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Alex Neal-Bullen)
25:54
The Demons have now kicked three straight goals to reduce the margin to 29 points. They have dominated the last 10 minutes, leading inside 50s five to one and have controlled possession winning 26 disposals to eight for the Crows.
28:35
Jayden Hunt is the first player to reach 600 metres gained in the match, leading his teammate Michael Hibberd who has 478. The most metres gained by a Crows player is 457 by David Mackay.
30:03
Demons Interchange - Dean Kent and is possibly out for the game.
30:04
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Jake Melksham)
30:48
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Jayden Hunt)
30:57
The siren has sounded to end Q3.
31:07
An enormous 65 metre torpedo after the siren goal to Jayden Hunt reduces the margin at the final break to just 22 points with the Demons kicking the last four goals of the match.

Quarter 4

00:00
Q4 is now underway.
01:15
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Tom Lynch)
02:26
Despite losing the clearances 26 to 36, the Demons have the upper hand at the centre bounce leading the centre bounce clearances 12-11. Lewis, Petracca and Oliver all have won multiple centre clearances for the Dees.
03:43
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Jeff Garlett)
06:17
The Crouch brothers are leading the way for the Crows in the absence of Rory Sloane, winning 50 disposals between them (21 of these contested). This is the 12th time this season that the Crouch brothers have combined for at least 50 disposals.
07:03
SCORE GOAL - Demons (Tom McDonald)
08:04
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Rushed)
09:16
Crows Interchange - Tom Lynch off due to an injury.
09:35
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Taylor Walker)
12:00
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Eddie Betts)
12:47
Adelaide has kicked four goals from centre bounces tonight, their highest total from this source since their round one win over Greater Western Sydney. The Demons have kicked two goals from this source tonight.
17:01
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Taylor Walker)
17:20
The third goal for Taylor Walker comes following the 16th mark inside 50 for Adelaide. Their score is now over 100, the 11th time this season that they have kicked over 100 points (the most times in the league).
18:47
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Tom Lynch)
21:55
The ruck honours have been shared tonight, with neither ruckman able to dominate their opponent. Max Gawn was won seven hit-outs to advantage and collected 10 disposals, whereas Jacobs has won six hit-outs to advantage along with nine disposals.
22:06
SCORE BEHIND - Demons (Cameron Pedersen)
23:44
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Taylor Walker)
24:40
Charlie Cameron is up to six clearances, the second-most in a match in his 64 game career. His 12 contested possessions is well up on his season average of 5.7 and is the most he has won since Round 1.
24:56
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Taylor Walker)
27:50
59 tackles to the Demons is convincingly lower than their season average of 73. They are losing the clearance battle by nine, their second-worst result of the season.
31:45
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Taylor Walker)
31:52
The siren has sounded to end Q4.
32:02
The Crows stoppage work was ultimately too strong for the Demons, booting seven goals sourced from stoppages (their second best result of the year) compared to just the two goals for the Demons (equal-lowest return this year).