ADELAIDE’S recent form: beat Essendon by 50, beat Richmond by 63, beat Carlton by eight, beat Sydney Swans by 24 and lost to Port Adelaide by 12.
Round 12, 2006, Adelaide 18.15 (123) d St Kilda 8.12 (60), TD
Qualifying Final, 2005, St Kilda 10.5 (64) d Adelaide 8.9 (57), AAMI
Round nine, 2005, Adelaide 15.13 (103) d St Kilda 8.9 (57), TD
Round 19, 2004, St Kilda 14.7 (91) d Adelaide 10.8 (68), York Park
Strengths
The Crows appear to have hit top gear at the right end of the season with another convincing, 100-points-plus display against Essendon last week.
Adelaide recorded 10 individual goal kickers against the Bombers, on the back on 12 the week before, and enforced a near impenetrable zone in defence. Scott Thompson, Nathan van Berlo and Brent Reilly helped the Crows to a round-high 49 clearances and Nick Gill provided a spark in attack.
Adelaide continues to find winners all over the ground and Neil Craig’s charges are playing with the confidence necessary to execute the desired, fast, attacking game plan. St Kilda responded to a week of heavy criticism with a come-from-behind win over Fremantle, but if the Crows can play with the same spirit and speed they exhibited last week, fourth spot appears within reach.
Sunday’s fixture at the Telstra Dome could serve as Robert Harvey’s penultimate game should the Saints bomb out in the race towards September. St Kilda has gone to great lengths, including inviting past players, to make this game memorable and a potentially season-ending loss would make it anything but.
Coach Neil Craig has identified St Kilda skipper Nick Riewoldt as a threat going into Sunday’s finals-shaping clash at the Dome. Riewoldt dragged his team over the line against Adelaide in round 15 last year when he racked up 21 possessions, 18 marks and seven inside 50s opposed to Kris Massie.
On that day, the Crows defence was without injured kingpin Ben Rutten and also the in-form Nathan Bock, who kicked two goals playing as a centre-half forward. Riewoldt, who is ranked second in the League for marks, orchestrated St Kilda’s comeback last week with five goals and the Crows will need to curb his potentially match-winning influence to get the points on Sunday.
Nick Gill: the unorthodox and unpredictable forward provided great entertainment for Crow fans at the Telstra Dome last week with 11 final quarter possessions. The super-athletic Gill presented strongly up forward and generated 10 shots on goal for a return of five goals, three behinds, one into the man on the mark and one that fell short. Gill nursed a calf injury in the days after the Essendon game, but Adelaide will be hopeful he can come up and continue to provide a lead-up option in attack.
Ivan Maric: the imposing big man is fast becoming one of the most important players in this Crows line-up. Maric shaded David Hille last week and also slipped forward at times. Maric’s competitiveness in the centre square is a barometer for his team and the 22-year-old will need to continue to create a presence against the strength of Saints duo Justin Koschitzke and Steven King.
Scott Thompson: Thompson was back to his bullocking, ball winning best last week with 31 possessions, five clearances and a goal in a best on ground display against Essendon. The gritty midfielder has attracted greater attention from opposition coaches this year, but is being well supported by born-again duo Rob Shirley and Michael Doughty and also improving youngsters Nathan van Berlo, Brad Symes and David Mackay. The St Kilda midfield of Harvey, Nick Dal Santo, Lenny Hayes and Leigh Montagna destroyed Fremantle in WA last week and Thompson will be looking forward to the challenge on Sunday.
Defender Nathan Bassett is ranked second in the league for one per centers (127) just six behind Brisbane Lions full back Daniel Merrett.
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.
