Match

GWS Giants vs Adelaide Crows

Commentary / 19 Mar 2023

Pre Game

00:00
These two teams had contrasting ball movement styles last season. The Crows directed 92.6 percent of their kicks forward, which was the third-highest percentage of any team. The Giants directed only 88.9 percent of their kicks forward, which was the second-lowest percentage of any team.

Quarter 1

00:00
Q1 is now underway.
00:58
The first score of the game to the Crows came from a forward half stoppage. Adelaide has more forward half stoppages than any other team last season and was ranked fifth at scoring from this source.
01:29
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Izak Rankine)
03:21
SCORE GOAL - Giants (Matt Flynn)
03:33
The first goal of the game to the Giants was launched from a chain starting in the defensive 50. GWS averaged 14 points per game from these chains in 2022 (ranked sixth).
05:34
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Sam Berry)
06:48
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Taylor Walker)
07:08
An early goal to Taylor Walker following a free kick for out on the full. The goal was launched by a defensive half intercept. Adelaide scored 20.2 points per game from such intercepts in 2022.
10:03
The Crows have started with an elite kicking efficiency of 88 percent from 17 kicks and have had only one handball. In contrast, GWS has had 19 handballs and only 10 kicks.
11:52
Giants Interchange - Harry Perryman and is possibly out for the game.
12:13
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Rushed)
12:30
Adelaide has taken the first four intercept marks of the game, and three of these marks have launched chains that have resulted in a score.
12:51
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Rory Laird)
14:12
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Jordan Dawson)
14:23
Another intercept mark for the Crows launched the last score to Jordan Dawson. Adelaide now leads 6-0 in intercept marks and in 2022 averaged only 13.8 such marks per game (ranked last).
16:04
SCORE BEHIND - Giants (Toby Greene)
17:54
GWS leads 9-1 in first possession wins at stoppages but has not converted this into a clearance advantage with both teams recording four effective clearances.
18:11
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Shane McAdam)
20:39
SCORE BEHIND - Giants (Stephen Coniglio)
21:37
The Crows lead 8-0 in intercept marks, 6-0 in contested marks and 32-13 in total marks. Adelaide ranked last in both intercept marks and overall marks in 2022.
22:26
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Josh Rachele)
22:49
All three goals for the Crows have been launched by defensive half intercepts followed by precise ball movement. Adelaide averaged only three goals per game from such intercepts in 2022.
23:51
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Rory Laird)
26:48
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Izak Rankine)
26:59
An excellent hitout from Taylor Walker provided the assist on the last goal to Izak Rankine from a forward 50 stoppage. Rankine has already been involved in five scores and both of his scores have come from forward 50 stoppages.
28:15
SCORE GOAL - Giants (Brent Daniels)
29:05
The answering goal to the Giants and Brent Daniels came from a centre bounce clearance. Adelaide was ranked last in 2022 for the differential in scores from centre bounces, being outscored by an average of 5.0 points per game from this source.
30:04
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Izak Rankine)
32:45
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Izak Rankine)
32:49
A dominant opening quarter from the Crows, who used a 10-1 advantage in intercept marks to launch counter-attacks with the Giants struggling to disrupt their ball movement. GWS applied only two tackles, which is lower than any team in any quarter of 2022.

Quarter 2

00:00
Q2 is now underway.
01:15
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Taylor Walker)
02:10
GWS continues to use a high-handball style of game, but at this stage has recorded a handball efficiency of only 75 percent compared to Adelaide which has a handball efficiency of 91 percent.
04:34
Tom Doedee has been opposed mainly to Toby Greene and has still recorded a game-high seven intercepts (three of which have launched scores). Greene has been involved in three scores but has missed both of his shots at goal.
04:53
Crows Interchange - Jordan Dawson off due to the blood rule.
05:38
SCORE BEHIND - Giants (Toby Greene)
07:51
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Darcy Fogarty)
08:03
Adelaide has continued to impress in the second quarter with slick ball movement. The Crows lead 22-11 in forward half marks, including 9-1 in forward 50 marks with only some inaccuracy in front of the goal preventing a major lead.
10:20
SCORE BEHIND - Giants (Callan Ward)
10:28
GWS currently has a kick-to-handball ratio of 1.06, while Adelaide has had 3.31 kicks per handball. Last season the Crows had a ratio of 1.32 which was the lowest in the competition.
12:11
SCORE BEHIND - Giants (Rushed)
14:33
GWS has generated nine of the last 11 inside 50 entries leading into the goal to Toby Greene. The Giants also lead contested possessions (20-13) and tackles (10-6) this quarter.
16:23
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Ben Keays)
16:38
The goal to Ben Keays followed a centre bounce clearance. While GWS lead first possession wins at stoppages 17-10, clearances are even and Adelaide leads 21-8 in points scored from stoppages.
17:34
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Izak Rankine)
17:43
Consecutive centre bounce goals to the Crows give them a game-high lead of 29 points. Adelaide averaged only 8.2 points per game from centre bounce clearances in 2022 (ranked last).
18:53
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Josh Rachele)
20:38
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Izak Rankine)
20:55
Izak Rankine has already had an equal career-high seven shots at goal for a return of 2.4 and one shot that failed to score. Rankine has had eight disposals in the forward 50, and the next most any other player has had is three.
21:48
SCORE BEHIND - Giants (Jake Riccardi)
24:10
SCORE BEHIND - Giants (Callan Ward)
24:35
SCORE GOAL - Giants (Toby Greene)
24:54
The last goal to Toby Greene was the first of the game for either team to follow a forward half intercept. GWS leads 10-9 in such intercepts and 9-5 in points scored from this source.
26:16
SCORE BEHIND - Giants (Brent Daniels)
30:09
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Darcy Fogarty)
30:29
Adelaide now leads 27-14 in points scored from defensive half chains following the last goal to Darcy Fogarty. The Crows have scored 6.4 from shots at goal within 40 metres, while the Giants have scored 3.5 from equivalent shots at goal.
31:47
GWS led post-clearance contested possession 27-13 in the second quarter, but the Crows scored 3.1.19 from stoppages compared to the Giants 0.3.3 extending their lead to 28 points.

Quarter 3

00:00
Q3 is now underway.
01:11
Adelaide now leads centre bounce clearances 10-4 and points scored from this source 15-7. In two of the last three seasons, the Crows have been ranked last in points differential from centre bounces.
02:50
SCORE BEHIND - Giants (Jesse Hogan)
03:42
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Izak Rankine)
03:52
In his first game for the Crows, Izak Rankine has already recorded career-highs for score involvements (11), shots at goal (8), and behinds (5). He is also the No.1 ranked Crow today for metres gained.
04:51
SCORE GOAL - Giants (Toby Greene)
05:53
The last goal to Toby Greene was launched from a kick-in chain. Last season, the Giants generated 6.1 percent of their score from kick-ins, which was the highest percentage in the league.
06:56
SCORE GOAL - Giants (Jesse Hogan)
07:02
Consecutive goals to the Giants with Jesse Hogan kicking his first goal of the season. Last season, Hogan led the Giants for forward 50 marks (58) and forward 50 tackles (29), and ranked second for goals (35).
09:15
SCORE GOAL - Giants (Callan Ward)
09:32
Since quarter time, GWS leads 9-3 in forward 50 marks and 5-3 in intercept marks after Adelaide dominated these counts in the opening period. It was an intercept mark that launched the last chain and goal to Callan Ward.
12:01
SCORE GOAL - Giants (Jesse Hogan)
12:23
The Giants lead the contested possession count 16-9 this quarter and have recorded a pressure factor of 214. In the opening quarter, GWS had a pressure rating of only 126.
14:20
Giants Interchange - Lachie Whitfield and is possibly out for the game.
14:50
GWS has restricted Adelaide to a kicking efficiency of only 50 percent this quarter and the Giants lead 12-3 in marks after the Crows controlled this area early in the game.
16:17
Both teams have now scored 5.4.34 from set shots at goal following the last accurate kick from Elliott Himmelberg. Adelaide now leads 34-10 in points scored from stoppages.
19:37
The Himmelberg brothers have traded goals, with the last one to Harrison following a forward half intercept. GWS leads 14-12 in such intercepts and 27-11 in points scored from this source.
21:19
SCORE BEHIND - Giants (Daniel Lloyd)
21:28
GWS lead the clearances 8-4 this quarter with Josh Kelly contributing four himself. Kelly has recorded a game-high seven clearances today with four of these from centre bounces.
22:20
SCORE BEHIND - Giants (Rushed)
23:53
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Reilly O'Brien)
25:14
Giants Interchange - Jacob Wehr off due to an injury.
26:21
SCORE GOAL - Giants (Tom Green)
26:33
Tom Green has been prolific today for the Giants winning an equal game-high ten contested possessions and his game-high 29 disposals include eight score involvements.
29:46
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Taylor Walker)
29:53
In the third quarter, Adelaide has recorded forward half kicking efficiency of only 36 percent compared to GWS 72 percent.
31:24
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Josh Rachele)
31:53
Luke Pedlar has contributed three score assists today including a clever touch on the last goal to Josh Rachele. This was another stoppage goal for the Crows and they now lead 41-17 in points scored from stoppages.
32:38
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Jake Soligo)
35:18
A strong third quarter from the Giants who again used a high handball game (51-22 that quarter) and were able to outscore the Crows 25-3 from turnovers with three of their goals following forward half intercepts.

Quarter 4

00:00
Q4 is now underway.
00:22
A centre bounce goal to start the final quarter for the Giants with Stephen Coniglio launching the score with a clearance. Coniglio has recorded a team-high ten score involvements and Toby Greene now has a game-high four goals.
02:12
SCORE GOAL - Giants (Stephen Coniglio)
02:20
Another stoppage goal for the Giants with Stephen Coniglio again causing problems for the Crows. Coniglio is the No.1 ranked player on the ground for both metres gained (699) and score involvements (11).
04:18
Giants Interchange - Nick Haynes off due to an injury.
04:50
Giants Interchange - Josh Kelly and is possibly out for the game.
05:56
GWS has generated the first five inside 50 entries in the final quarter and continues to win contested possessions (107-87), in particular, loose ball gets (50-35).
07:56
SCORE BEHIND - Giants (Matt Flynn)
09:35
The Giants retained possession from only 43.8 percent of their kicks into the forward 50 last season (ranked 17th). Today GWS has retained possession from 57 percent of its entries.
12:06
GWS lost the time in forward half differential by eight minutes and 41 seconds per game in 2022 (ranked 16th). The Giants have won this measure today with the ball in their forward half for 54 percent of the game including 95 percent this quarter.
15:41
Rory Laird has won at least 25 disposals in 41 of his last 42 games and averaged a career-high 33 disposals in 2022. Laird has been restricted to just 15 disposals today and has been primarily opposed to Tom Green.
16:03
Giants Interchange - Tom Green off due to an injury.
18:01
Sam Berry averaged a career-high 9.5 tackles last season (ranked No.1 in the competition). Berry has applied only one tackle today but is the No.1 ranked player on the ground for pressure acts.
18:24
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Josh Rachele)
18:46
Another classy goal from Josh Rachele gives the Crows their first score of the quarter. Rachele has attended a career-high nine centre bounces today and contributed three goals from his 18 disposals.
21:00
SCORE GOAL - Giants (Nick Haynes)
21:31
A rare goal from Nick Haynes who has been moved forward while battling cramps. Since half-time the Giants lead 11-3 in centre bounce clearances and inside 50 entries 29-16 with the Crow defence constantly under pressure.
22:11
SCORE BEHIND - Giants (James Peatling)
23:32
SCORE BEHIND - Giants (Rushed)
24:58
SCORE BEHIND - Giants (Toby Greene)
26:06
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Rushed)
26:58
In the final quarter, the Giants lead the inside 50 count 17-6 and forward 50 disposals 14-3 with the ball in its forward half for 78 percent of this final period.
27:38
SCORE GOAL - Giants (Jesse Hogan)
29:13
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Luke Pedlar)
30:10
Adelaide was outscored by 37 points from clearances against GWS in Round 7 last year, which was its worst differential for the season. Today the Crows lead 47-31 in points scored from stoppages, but it has been scoring from turnovers that has given the Giants the edge.
31:17
SCORE GOAL - Giants (Brent Daniels)
31:51
GWS has outscored Adelaide 74-29 since half time while managing a variety of injured players through interchange. The Giants lead 12-0 in forward 50 tackles after the main break.
32:57
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Ben Keays)
33:44
A terrific win for the Giants who were outplayed early but won contested possessions 129-111. After applying only two tackles in the first quarter, GWS finished with an 18-0 advantage in forward 50 tackles.