This Collingwood comeback wasn’t quite enough; Bulldogs win but still ‘on edge’

“Izak was huge in that first half especially,” Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks said.

“We knew they’d come at us in the second (half) but I thought his individual performance in the first half, off the back of what his teammates did, was was just great.”

Rankine finished with 27 touches, Darcy Fogarty kicked three goals and Taylor Walker, Bean Keays and Josh Rachele scored two each.

Captain Jordan Dawson (24 disposals, 10 marks) and defenders Mitch Hinge (31 disposals) and Mark Keane were also prominent as the Crows snapped a three-game losing streak.

The Giants (eight wins, seven losses) blew a chance to rise to fifth on the ladder — instead, they drop to ninth spot.

ADELAIDE 2.6 9.9 10.14 13.16 (94)
GWS GIANTS 4.0 5.0 8.3 12.6 (78)
GOALS - Adelaide Crows: Fogarty 3, Rachele 2, Rankine 2, Walker 2, Keays 2, Sholl, Dowling
GWS GIANTS: Greene 3, Hogan 2, Riccardi 2, Kelly 2, Ward 2, Cumming

The move makes sense to me. I hold him in such high regard. I joked with them, if we decide to play him as a small forward he would be the best in the competition in my opinion. He has great attributes and a great attitude to his footy. I do not think he has been shooting the lights at but he is going much better than others sense.

Why this game when Essendon has so many good forward targets?

Well, the game has never been more in a situation where to get something you need to give something. That might sound obvious but it used to be that... If you were a really good team, there were some weeks where you could experiment a little bit and not lose too much. Now every single team in the competition can exploit any weaknesses in your setup. I would make the argument that especially without Dangerfield and Guthrie, pretty quickly we became a developing midfield and Tanner Bruhn was an important part. The other side of that argument is we did not have him in the back half as much but if we played him back we wouldn’t have had him around the ball. We have been giving up scores as well so it is not just the midfield but we have been a little bit off in the midfield as compared to other parts of the ground and last month or so.

He looked like he was a full-time mid at the stoppages and after that he would push back maybe 20m away from behind the ball? Can this continue?

How do I enter this without answering it? (LAUGHS) The way I think about Tom’s game, we want him to maximise his attributes but that is the way I think about the game anyway. I am not a believer that there is the right way to play the game and you have to force your players into that mode. We look at what we have got and we try to get our best players in their best spots. And even if you move a guy from one position to another, there will be a bias to play to his strengths. I think that is what you are seeing as opposed to any structural change.

“I don’t take many often. I just thought I would get one with everybody and that should be all good.

“It was a bit weird! I guess that is how it is here.”

Cats Kids

The Cats have been the butt of Dad’s Army jokes but their youngsters played a big role in their victory over the Bombers. We know Max Holmes is a bona fide topliner but there are others who are developing well enough to give the Cats veterans another shot at September. Ollie Dempsey started the season well as a forward, but has improved further on the wing, this time with 25 possessions and two goals. Four of his highest disposal tallies have now come in his past six games. The move to the ruck has given Sam De Koning the shake-up he needed after a flat patch. Lawson Humphries on debut looked like he belonged at the top level with a cool head in defence. Jack Bowes, the sub last week, had a good night in the midfield. Mitch Knevitt had some nice moments, topped off with a goal in junk time.

Did Dons Err With Two Rucks?

Cricketer Gulbadin Naib created an international stir with a sudden onset of cramp as a shower swept through the Arnos Vale Ground in St Vincent during the week. Australia’s leggie Adam Zampa joked Gulbadin had done a “rainstring”. Afghanistan would win on Duckworth/Lewis if play stopped there and then. As the rain tumbled down minutes before the first bounce, we wondered whether either Todd Goldstein or Sam Draper were to do a “rainstring” as well so that the Dons would not have two frontline rucks in conditions not suiting the big men. Against Mark Blicavs and Sam De Koning, neither of whom are specialist rucks, the pair dominated the hitouts, 57-24, helping Essendon win clearances by seven, but they had little impact around the ground with 21 disposals between them to their opponents’ 36 and a goal. Brad Scott has generally preferred two rucks in his time at The Hangar though this may have been a game where the Dons would have been better served with forward Peter Wright playing a few minutes each quarter as the second ruck.

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