Match

Gold Coast Suns vs Adelaide Crows

Commentary / 16 Mar 2024

Pre Game

00:00
Adelaide won its first 11 games against Gold Coast and scored more than 100 points in all these games. In the five matches since that streak, the Crows have failed to score 100 points against the Suns and have won only twice.

Quarter 1

00:00
Q1 is now underway.
00:22
Izak Rankine attended the opening centre bounce and won the first clearance of the game. Rankine attended just 11 centre bounces last season.
02:20
SCORE GOAL - SUNS (Ben Ainsworth)
02:29
The first goal of the game to Ben Ainsworth and the Suns came from a forward half intercept. Gold Coast averaged just 22 points per game from this source in 2023 (ranked 17th).
05:10
Gold Coast has an early 4-0 lead in forward half intercepts with Adelaide having difficulty clearing the ball from its defensive 50.
06:22
The Suns also have an early 5-1 lead in hard ball gets. Last week Gold Coast dominated Richmond 25-16 in this measure.
10:46
SCORE GOAL - SUNS (Noah Anderson)
11:00
The second goal for the Suns came from a forward half stoppage. Gold Coast leads 4-1 in forward half clearances and scored a wasteful 1.7.13 from this source last week.
13:17
SCORE BEHIND - SUNS (Alex Sexton)
13:34
Gold Coast is dominating territory early in this game with 74 percent time in forward half. The Suns lead 7-1 in forward half intercepts and 5-1 in forward half clearances.
15:38
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Ben Keays)
16:00
Adelaide generated its first score of the game from a forward half intercept. The Crows averaged 30 points per game from this source last season (ranked 6th).
19:18
SUNS Interchange - Nick Holman off due to the blood rule.
20:36
The Suns have an early 34-17 lead in handball receives with Adelaide struggling to connect with overlap run. Both teams are recording high pressure ratings contributing to the low numbers of uncontested possessions.
23:15
SCORE BEHIND - SUNS (Rushed)
23:24
With heavy rain now falling, contested possessions are set to become even more important. Gold Coast won this count by 26 last week against Richmond, but at this stage have been matched by Adelaide.
24:17
Crows Interchange - Luke Pedlar off due to an injury.
25:43
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Rory Laird)
26:14
Both scores for the Crows have followed a forward half intercept. With ball movement proving to be difficult, forward half scoring chains have provided all the scores in this game.
26:58
SCORE GOAL - SUNS (Thomas Berry)
27:30
An excellent tackle and goal from Tom Berry gives the Suns their second goal of the game from a forward half intercept. Berry recorded the most forward half pressure points for the Suns last week.
31:33
While Adelaide had the edge for inside 50 entries (14-12) in the opening quarter, Gold Coast had more forward 50 disposals (18-11) and enjoyed more time in forward half (58 percent).

Quarter 2

00:00
Q2 is now underway.
00:19
Last season there was an average of 68 contested possessions in each quarter of an AFL game. There were 89 such possessions in the opening quarter tonight with the wet conditions contributing to this count.
00:51
Gold Coast was ranked last in uncontested possession differential in 2023, while Adelaide was ranked second in this measure. In the first quarter, the Suns won this count 65-49.
02:25
SCORE BEHIND - SUNS (Brandon Ellis)
05:27
The Crows were ranked No.1 last season in differential for disposal efficiency, while the Suns were ranked last in this measure. Gold Coast leads in this measure tonight 72 percent to 64 percent.
07:48
An excellent passage of play from the Suns provided the scoring opportunity for Ben Ainsworth. The scoring chain included the first mark and play on of the game for Gold Coast and was the first goal of the match from a defensive half chain.
09:22
Gold Coast has recorded a forward half kicking efficiency of 58 percent while Adelaide has kicked with just 39 percent efficiency in its forward half. This has contributed to the Suns leading 42-18 in uncontested possessions in the forward half.
09:59
SCORE BEHIND - SUNS (Malcolm Rosas)
13:26
Izak Rankine has split his time evenly between the midfield and forward tonight. Rankine has applied a team-high five tackles and also recorded equal team-highs for contested possessions (8) and clearances (3).
16:37
Adelaide has a 4-0 edge in contested marks with the last of these leading to the score from Luke Pedlar. The overall contested possession count remains even with Gold Coast maintaining an edge in hard ball gets (15-11).
21:38
The Suns have again held a territorial advantage this quarter with 55 percent time in forward half and a 10-7 lead in inside 50 entries.
23:51
Matt Rowell may not have amassed the same number of clearances as last week, but he has again been prolific in the midfield for Gold Coast winning a game-high ten contested possessions and applying six tackles.
25:28
Gold Coast has now scored 2.1.13 from forward 50 stoppages. Last season the Suns averaged 8.6 points per game from this source.
27:23
The last time Adelaide had a lower first half score was Round 9, 1995 when it was kept to just seven points by Hawthorn. The Crows went on to win that game.
27:38
For the second week in a row, Gold Coast has blanketed its opposition in the first half. The Suns led by 61 points at half-time in the opening round (their largest ever lead at the main break) and today have kept Adelaide to the equal lowest first half score against Gold Coast.

Quarter 3

00:00
Q3 is now underway.
00:10
When Gold Coast won last season it often did so on the back of strong defensive performances and conceded only 55.9 points per game in its wins (ranked No.1 defensively), in line with its first half effort tonight.
02:47
Will Powell has again impressed for the Suns in disrupting opposition ball movement. Powell has won a game-high seven intercept possessions and applied four tackles after recording a career-high 28 disposals last week.
05:39
SCORE BEHIND - SUNS (Bailey Humphrey)
05:48
The last score for the Suns came from a defensive half chain. Gold Coast has scored 1.3.9 from chains starting in the defensive midfield, while Adelaide has not scored from any such chains.
06:27
SCORE GOAL - SUNS (Bailey Humphrey)
06:39
An errant kick-in from Adelaide has handed the Suns a goal. Gold Coast leads forward half intercepts 12-10 and also leads 19-7 in points scored from this source.
08:06
SCORE BEHIND - SUNS (Malcolm Rosas)
08:19
Matt Rowell has now won an equal game-high six clearances for the Suns with all of these clearances effective. Rowell is also the No.1 ranked player on the ground for pressure acts and pressure points.
09:28
Some excellent ball movement from the Crows led to the last goal from Izak Rankine. It was the first score involvement of the night for the mercurial Crow forward and ended a run of four goals to the Suns.
10:46
SCORE BEHIND - SUNS (Rushed)
11:51
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Rory Laird)
12:56
SCORE GOAL - SUNS (Malcolm Rosas)
13:39
Noah Anderson has been involved in five scoring chains tonight with two assists including one for the last goal from Malcolm Rosas. Anderson has recorded an equal game-high 24 disposals and his 442 metres gained is the most of any player.
15:08
SCORE BEHIND - SUNS (Bailey Humphrey)
18:18
Gold Coast has got on top at stoppages this quarter and leads the clearance count 11-5. Its three star midfielders Touk Miller, Noah Anderson, and Matt Rowell are the three top-ranked players on the ground and also lead the way in clearances.
20:51
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Rushed)
21:12
Adelaide has scored 0.3.3 from shots beyond 30 metres from goal with two other attempts failing to score. Gold Coast has scored 4.4.28 from its equivalent shots at goal.
26:12
Gold Coast has an edge 65-54 in corridor disposals (post-clearance) tonight with Noah Anderson contributing 14 of these. This direct ball movement has helped the Suns to enter the forward 50 in more dangerous areas.
27:49
SCORE BEHIND - SUNS (Jack Lukosius)
28:15
Gold Coast has won 11 clearances from 26 forward half stoppages and scored 2.3.15 from these chains. Adelaide has had 33 stoppages in its forward half and won 12 clearances from these without scoring.
28:59
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Josh Rachele)
29:03
A late goal from Josh Rachele launched from a kick-in chain made it two goals each in the third quarter. The Crows have continued to have issues with their ball use in the forward half and have recorded a kicking efficiency of just 37 percent in this zone (compared to Gold Coast 57 percent).

Quarter 4

00:00
Q4 is now underway.
00:20
Adelaide scored 18.3 points per game from forward half stoppages in 2023 (ranked third) but has not scored from this source tonight despite having 33 forward half stoppages.
02:19
While Gold Coast has a narrow edge in first possession wins at stoppages 35-33 it has converted this into 27-20 effective clearances and 19-0 points scored from stoppages.
04:17
In the last 20 years, Adelaide has not had a game where it has not scored any points from stoppages. The Crows are still yet to score from this source tonight.
04:57
SCORE BEHIND - SUNS (Bailey Humphrey)
05:41
Crows Interchange - Jordon Butts off due to an injury.
06:00
Gold Coast has generated the first five inside 50 entries of the final quarter on the back of 4-0 forward half intercepts and it was the last of these intercepts that launched the goal from Malcolm Rosas.
07:49
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Ben Keays)
08:09
A pair of goals from Ben Keays tonight who has played 100 percent of game time as a forward with the last goal coming from a stoppage. Keays is ranked second at the Crows tonight for forward half pressure points behind only captain Jordan Dawson.
09:18
SCORE BEHIND - SUNS (Nick Holman)
10:27
Charlie Ballard has again been a roadblock for opposition ball movement with game-highs for intercept possessions (12) and spoil (10). This is the first match that Ballard has recorded double figures in both of these measures.
14:04
Sam Flanders has continued his rise as a midfielder tonight with a game-high 32 disposals and 501 metres gained in support of his high-profile teammates.
15:06
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Sam Berry)
16:15
Consecutive goals for the Crows with the last goal from Sam Berry coming from a defensive 50 chain. Adelaide now leads 19-0 in points scored from these chains but has been outscored 59-15 in chains from all other zones.
17:43
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Josh Rachele)
17:54
A second forward half stoppage goal in the final quarter for the Crows who have kicked four of the last five goals in the game and kicked four goals from their last seven inside 50 entries.
20:54
SCORE BEHIND - SUNS (Ben Ainsworth)
24:10
In the final quarter, Adelaide has recorded a kicking efficiency of 71 percent in its forward half (compared to 44 percent for the match) which has resulted in more scoring opportunities and goals.
24:54
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Josh Rachele)
25:40
Three final quarter goals from forward half stoppages for the Crows who are finishing the game strongly. Matt Crouch has won three clearances in the final quarter launching two scores from these chains.
26:04
SCORE GOAL - Crows (Izak Rankine)
26:52
A centre bounce goal for the Crows who are making a late charge. This goal was the first score of the night for either team to come from a centre bounce clearance and dangerous forwards Rankine and Rachele have now shared five goals.
28:08
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Rushed)
29:35
In the last ten minutes, the Crows have won the contested possession count 19-11 including 16-8 in ground ball gets, and have generated the last five inside 50 entries.
29:55
SCORE BEHIND - Crows (Rushed)
32:53
Gold Coast has managed to hold off a fast finishing Adelaide team for a narrow win. The Suns again got great service from Noah Anderson (equal game-high 35 disposals and game-high 759 metres gained) and Matt Rowell (20 contested possessions).