Downing the 'Pies

First off, let me say what a game this was for the Adelaide footy club. Three weeks ago we were faced with the awkward task of winning our last three matches. The Collingwood game was billed as the hardest of these tasks, yet proved in reality to be another chance for the boys to showcase what they are made of. Some hard fought contested football was won and then the match soon after. 

Looking at the statistics you could be forgiven for thinking the game should have been a little closer than it ended up being. This is largely due to the vast amount of uncontested possessions Collingwood gained in their back line. Adelaide's choking defence was formidable and would not allow the Magpies to get their using free flowing play going. 

A person highlight was when Anthony Rocca came charging in to spoil a hospital ball kicked to Nathan van Berlo. Van Berlo who is hardly a massive unit like Rocca looked as if he barely felt the collision, but left Rocca clenching his shoulder in pain. It had a touch of David and Goliath about it, but perhaps in a more humourous way than the original tale.

With Collingwood now behind them, the Crows were looking to other matches to find out what their finals path might be. Hawthorn suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of the Swans and will now play the Crows on Saturday afternoon at the Telstra Dome. 

The last time the Crows met Hawthorn was in Round 14 at AAMI Stadium. Adelaide were resounding victors with Tyson Edwards racking up a massive 41 disposals. Captain Mark Ricciuto also slotted through 4 goals, a feat he'll be looking to accomplish again this weekend. The true key to Adelaide's success was Ben Rutten's role on Hawks key forward Lance Franklin. Buddy Franklin was restricted to a mere five disposals and could only contribute 1 goal to his teams tally. A repeat of this should see the Crows go through to the next round of the AFL Finals Series. 

The winner of the Crows vs Hawthorn will play the loser of Geelong and the Kangaroos.