Match

West Coast Eagles vs Adelaide Crows

Commentary / 15 May 2021

Pre Game

00:00

The Eagles have averaged 117 marks per game this season (ranked second), while the Crows have taken only 80 marks per game (ranked last).

Quarter 1

00:00

Q1 is now underway.

00:11

Ronin O’Connor is making his debut today for the Crows. O’Connor has played six SANFL games this season and averaged 18 disposals, five clearances, and five tackles in a midfield role.

00:38

SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Nic Naitanui)

01:19

An early score for the Eagles coming from a forward half intercept. West Coast is ranked in the bottom-4 at generating such intercepts but averages 30 points per game from this source (ranked sixth).

03:30

SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Shane McAdam)

03:56

West Coast is the No.1 ranked team this season for taking contested marks (15 per game), and has all of its specialists in this area back playing today.

05:11

SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Rushed)

07:11

Adelaide now has an early 4-1 lead in contested marks, with Darcy Fogarty contributing two of these. Fogarty kicked a career-high five goals at this venue last time he played here.

07:37

SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Billy Frampton)

08:45

SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Jarrod Brander)

10:39

West Coast has an early 4-0 lead in forward half intercepts but has failed to convert these opportunities with some wayward shots at goal. All four behinds for the Eagles have come following intercepts.

12:19

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Oscar Allen)

12:26

The first goal of the game comes from the emerging star for West Coast in Oscar Allen following a contested mark. Allen is the No.1 ranked Eagle for contested marks this season and has now returned an accurate 17.6 from his shots at goal.

15:27

SCORE GOAL - Crows (Riley Thilthorpe)

15:42

The first goal for the Crows also came following a contested mark and was sourced from a forward half stoppage. Adelaide averages 12.5 points per game from forward half stoppages and has generated two scores today from such chains.

19:28

An excellent long-range goal from Josh Kennedy gives the Eagles their second goal of the game, and both have come following forward half intercepts. West Coast leads 7-1 in such intercepts.

21:10

SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Harry Schoenberg)

22:35

A spectacular mark from Shane McAdam gives the Crows narrow leads in both contested marks (6-4) and forward 50 marks (5-4). All four goals in the game have come from set shots with both teams showing off strong aerial prowess.

25:44

SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Josh J. Kennedy)

26:56

A competitive first quarter from the Crows who won the post-clearance contested possession count 30-20. Young key forwards Darcy Fogarty and Riley Thilthorpe contributed a combined ten of these, ranking as the top-2 players on the ground in this measure.

Quarter 2

00:00

Q2 is now underway.

00:15

Jack Redden is doing an important role for the Eagles, being opposed to Rory Sloane for all of the opening quarter. Redden has an early 8-1 lead in disposals in this match-up.

01:01

A great start to the second quarter for the Eagles with a goal following the opening centre bounce clearance. West Coast leads 4-1 in these clearances and averages a competition-high 15 points per game from this source.

02:23

SCORE GOAL - Crows (Sam Berry)

02:46

Adelaide is continuing to match West Coast in the air with the last goal to the hard-working Sam Berry also coming from a contested mark. The Crows now lead 8-4 in this measure and 6-5 in forward 50 marks.

04:18

SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Riley Thilthorpe)

04:32

Both teams have won four forward half clearances today. Adelaide has scored 1.2.(8) from these chances and West Coast is yet to score from their chains.

05:25

SCORE GOAL - Crows (Riley Thilthorpe)

05:41

Another good mark to the Crows, this time from Riley Thilthorpe, converts a forward half intercept into a goal. Adelaide has scored 3.0.(18) from five forward half intercepts today. The Crows average 23 points from 22 such intercepts per game this season.

09:34

Adelaide has a 10-4 lead in tackles this quarter, with its strong pressure preventing the Eagles from getting its normal ball movement working, and creating forward half opportunities.

11:37

SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Darcy Fogarty)

12:03

Ben Keays ranks inside the top-three players at the Crows this season for all of disposals (26), contested possessions (11), clearances (5.5) and tackles (5.8) this season. Keays is the No.1 ranked Crow today for disposals in another prominent performance.

12:50

SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Darcy Fogarty)

14:29

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Jack Darling)

14:47

Neither team has kicked a goal today from a chain started in the defensive half. West Coast leads 11-8 in forward half intercepts and 20-19 in points scored from this source. Both teams average just over 30 points per game from back half chains.

16:15

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Jack Darling)

16:32

Another centre bounce goal for the Eagles and again a contested mark was pivotal. Adelaide still lead 10-8 in this count, and the AFL average is only 11 such marks for a team per game.

18:27

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Jack Darling)

18:37

Jack Darling has kicked three goals in the last four minutes, with all coming from strong marks. Darling also kicked three goals in a four-minute burst in the second quarter against Collingwood in Round 5 at this venue.

21:15

West Coast is ranked in the top-6 for post-clearance contested possessions this season while Adelaide is ranked in the bottom-4. The Crows currently lead 48-33 in this count.

22:13

SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Jake Waterman)

23:52

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Oscar Allen)

27:47

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Jack Darling)

27:57

The powerful Eagle forward line is starting to impose itself on the game. Allen, Darling and Kennedy have shared the eight goals for the Eagles who now lead forward 50 marks 11-7. West Coast averages 12 such marks per game.

30:16

SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Chayce Jones)

31:59

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Jack Darling)

32:43

Six goals in a row to the Eagles, with five of them from Jack Darling. The last three goals have come from back half chains with West Coast able to move the ball more freely against a fading Crow team nearing halftime.

33:10

For the second week in a row, the Eagles have poured in seven goals in a second-quarter onslaught. West Coast had less inside 50 entries than Adelaide (11-14) but was far more efficient with the ball recording forward half kicking efficiency of 71 percent compared to Adelaide 50 percent.

Quarter 3

00:00

Q3 is now underway.

01:36

Since Round 5, the Crows have been out-marked inside the forward 50 by seven per game (ranked last). Adelaide currently trails 7-11 in this count with the tall Eagle forwards looming large in the second half.

02:28

SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Jack Darling)

04:02

Andrew Gaff has won at least 35 disposals in four of his past six games. The prolific Gaff has had just 12 disposals so far, with other Eagle midfielders being used more as link players.

06:50

The Eagles have recorded a goal from 28 percent of their inside 50 entries this season (ranked No.1). Today West Coast has nine goals from just the 26 inside 50 entries, continuing to be efficient in the forward half.

08:49

SCORE GOAL - Crows (Sam Berry)

09:09

Adelaide leads the clearances 4-1 and inside 50 entries 6-2 this quarter, with West Coast not yet able to replicate its form of the second quarter.

11:22

SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Shane McAdam)

11:37

Adelaide has now scored 5.5 from its set shots at goal today and has missed all four such shots that have come from more than 40 metres out from goal.

13:12

West Coast has an 8-0 advantage in marks taken on the lead, with seven of these occurring in the forward half. The Eagles average six such marks per game, and the Crows a competition-low five.

14:12

SCORE GOAL - Crows (Harry Schoenberg)

14:45

The goal to Harry Schoenberg was the first of the day to the Crows to come from a chain started in the back half. Adelaide is ranked last in the third quarter this season, having not won any, and been outscored by an average of 15 points.

18:11

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Jack Petruccelle)

18:20

A steadying goal for the Eagles with the assist from Josh Kennedy including a rare running bounce. The last time that Kennedy had a running bounce was in Round 1, 2016.

21:06

Rory Laird had a career-high 21 contested possessions last week against Port Adelaide. Laird has currently won a game-high 14 contested possessions and won ten clearances which is double any other player on the ground.

21:45

SCORE GOAL - Crows (Shane McAdam)

22:54

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Jake Waterman)

23:05

Both teams have now won nine centre bounce clearances, but the Eagles lead 18-1 in points scored from these opportunities. West Coast is ranked No.1 at scoring from this source.

24:40

The Crows have a narrow 18-17 edge in forward half intercepts, and have converted this into a 33-20 advantage in points scored from these chances. Adelaide has a season-high of only 36 points in points scored from forward half intercepts.

26:31

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Josh J. Kennedy)

26:50

Adelaide leads the inside 50 count 15-8 this quarter, but both teams have now scored 3.1.(19) during this term.

28:52

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Jamie Cripps)

29:15

West Coast now leads 43-14 during time-on today with the more experienced Eagles able to sustain their level of performance for longer than their younger counterparts.

30:48

SCORE GOAL - Crows (James Rowe)

32:21

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Jake Waterman)

32:25

While Adelaide has done well at scoring from forward half intercepts (39-26), West Coast leads 36-10 in points scored from stoppages and 29-7 in points scored from back half chains.

Quarter 4

00:00

Q4 is now underway.

00:13

The Eagles have recorded a kicking efficiency of 70.8 percent this season, which is the best percentage in the competition. Today West Coast has continued this form and recorded a kicking efficiency of 71 percent.

01:39

Nic Naitanui has won 50 hardball gets this season, which is the most of any player in the competition. The talismanic Eagle has won three such hardballs today among his ten contested possessions, while also contributing 13 hitouts to advantage.

03:26

SCORE GOAL - Crows (Shane McAdam)

03:42

Shane McAdam has been a threat all day for the Crows. McAdam has won a game-high eight disposals in the forward 50 and kicked three goals from these chances.

05:20

SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Dom Sheed)

06:23

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Jamaine Jones)

07:19

A terrific team goal from the Eagles kicked by Jamaine Jones. The assist provided by Tim Kelly was third of the day, putting him in the top-10 players for score assists this season, while also leading the disposal tally for West Coast.

11:38

SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Jack Darling)

14:53

Jamie Cripps has today recorded a game-high ten score involvements, a team-high 571 metres gained and 24 disposals (which is only two away from a career-high).

17:08

The goal to Rory Laird was his first of the season and his first-ever against West Coast. Both of the goals to the Crows in the final quarter have come from chains started in the back half, after only having one such goal in the first three quarters.

18:46

SCORE BEHIND - Eagles (Bailey J. Williams)

20:15

After the Crows shaded the Eagles in aerial contests early in the game, West Coast now leads in all of intercept marks (19-12), contested marks (17-16), forward 50 marks (17-12), and total marks (122-78).

22:40

Chayce Jones has recorded a career-high 19 disposals today in a new role as a defender. Jones has also won five intercepts with two of these launching scores.

22:53

SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Ben Keays)

23:47

SCORE GOAL - Crows (Darcy Fogarty)

24:39

The Crows now lead 46-28 in points scored from forward half intercepts, which is easily the best return for Adelaide in this measure during 2021.

26:03

SCORE GOAL - Eagles (Oscar Allen)

28:36

A comfortable win for the Eagles, with a five-goal burst from Jack Darling in the second quarter the pivotal period in the game. The potent West Coast forwards were dominant, with 11 score involvements for Jamie Cripps and 11 goals shared between Darling, Kennedy, and Allen.

28:45

The siren has sounded to end Q4.