Another loss up this week for the boys, but at least it was gallant. Only losing by ten points to one of the best sides in the competition is great, but a win would’ve really given us a good look at finals. Now, I’m not so sure we’ll get there.
I though our ball movement was good, and the way we managed to slow down their fast game at times was great, we had a plan and stuck to it, pulling off a lot of great sections of play. There was lots to like about Sunday’s win, but still no points go up on the board. With two tough games left we’re probably going to have to win them both to play in September, but if we play like we did for the most part against the Eagles we actually might pull that off.
There can now be no doubt that Darcy Fogarty is the man going forward. A lot of us are off the Josh Jenkins train now and I’m firmly in on the Fog, Sunday was a fantastic breakout game for him, he looked elite with ball in hand, and when marking too. He has great hands, an exceptional kick for goals and a pretty good footy brain, the man is the whole package, and now surely, although he’s young we lock him into the side for a long time to come. This year isn’t our year, but if he’s in the future for a long time there could be some very exciting times ahead.
Other positive efforts from players include both of the Crouch brothers, Matt with 43 touches and Brad with 35, Bryce Gibbs who showed a bit and gathered the ball nicely, Rory Laird who was brilliant as always and Daniel Talia who is continually underrated by the AFL community, after he held Josh Kennedy to just six touches and one goal. Talia also had 13 touches of his own and locked down Kennedy perfectly, he has become a true legend of our club, a real ‘spiritual successor’ to the great Ben ‘The Truck’ Rutten.
Rory Sloane had a massive first half before being sidelined with an eye injury. That worries me a lot, because not only is he an elite footballer in his own right, he’s also a player who can inspire others on the field around him. It seems likely that he may miss one or both of our remaining home and away games, so hopefully the boys can inspire each other without one of their fearless leaders. In regard to our other skipper, Tex played a solid game on Sunday with two goals and some helpful possessions around the footy too. Even though the season hasn’t been perfect, the co-captains idea has worked, I’ve enjoyed the dynamic between the two men and think they’ve led the side well this season.
Turning our eyes to our last home game of the year, it’s a big one. Collingwood aren’t going to be an easy team to knock off, but their form right now isn’t brilliant, and after a confidence boosting defeat this week we certainly have the personnel to take it up to them. Let’s turn out in big numbers and support the boys at the Oval this week, a win sets up a huge Round 23, a loss makes things very hard for September action. A gallant loss this week, but I can smell an upset coming next week, Go Crows!
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AFL 2019 ROUND 21
WEST COAST 3.4 6.6 11.9 13.12 (90)
ADELAIDE 1.4 6.5 8.5 12.8 (80)
GOALS
West Coast: Darling 3, Allen 3, Waterman 3, Ryan, Rioli, Sheed, Kennedy
Adelaide: Fogarty 5, Walker 2, Murphy, Sloane, B.Crouch, Betts, Knight
BEST
West Coast: Yeo, Darling, Gaff, Rioli, Sheed, Shuey
Adelaide: Fogarty, M.Crouch, Talia, B.Crouch, Jacobs, Laird
INJURIES
West Coast: Nil
Adelaide: Sloane (eye)
Reports: Nil
Umpires: O’Gorman, Meredith, Fleer
Official crowd: 54,994 at Optus Stadium