Both teams went one-on-one all over the ground. In the midfield, Michael Doughty was the hard tag on Jobe Watson while Andrew Welsh was assigned to the dangerous Scott Thompson. Mark McVeigh picked up Jason Porplyzia and Dustin Fletcher went to Kurt Tippett. Henry Slattery was given the job of restricting Chris Knights, who has been sensational for the Crows with his ability to kick multiple goals. Hayden Skipworth had the unenviable task of stopping the Adelaide's superstar Andrew McLeod.
FOUR QUARTERS
Q1: Adelaide 4.3 (27) v Essendon 3.3 (21)
The Bombers targeted McLeod before the bounce with about five players running into him: probably not the best tactic to use on someone with so much experience who also is very cool under pressure.
Like all finals, it was hot early with mistakes from both sides, particularly the younger, inexperienced players. Jarrod Atkinson was the prime example when taking too long to dispose of the footy in the back 50, getting tackled and spilling the ball to Bernie Vince. He slotted the first goal of the night.
The Bombers had plenty of the ball but were being forced wide by Adelaide's midfield and couldn't penetrate the defence. Although the scores were relatively even, the signs were looking ominous for the Bombers.
Ivan Maric and James Sellar were dominating the ruck (21 hit-outs to two) to give their midfielders first use of the ball. Vince had 10 possessions while McLeod had seven effective touches coming off half-back and linking up through the centre of the ground.
The Bombers had thrown everything at the Crows early but still went into the first break six points down.
Q2: Adelaide 12.4 (76) v Essendon 5.7 (37)
The Crows started the second quarter how they finished the first – with three goals in four minutes.
Matthew Knights needed to make a change in the ruck as Maric's dominance over Cale Hooker and Nathan Lovett-Murray was killing the Bombers' chances. With Tom Bellchambers the late omission, it didn't come and the Crows ran wild.
Vince, McLeod, Richard Douglas and Brent Reilly racked up the possessions with Vince also having eight clearances for the half, thanks to Maric handing them to him on a platter.
For a five-minute period halfway through the quarter, the Bombers took over but easy misses by Tayte Pears and Hooker deflated their comeback. The Crows kicked away, finishing with an eight-goal quarter. Patrick Dangerfield and Knights had two each.
Q3: Adelaide 18.9 (117) v Essendon 8.8 (56)
McVeigh was thrown into the midfield to try to quell the Crows' dominance, forcing Heath Hocking to pick up Porplyzia.
Porplyzia swooped on a loose ball early and two Essendon players fell over, allowing him to snap an easy goal. McLeod seemed to have no opponent as he and his teammates continually lined up through the middle of the ground, linking up with handballs and delivering to their forwards with precision.
When Tippet kicked his fourth for the night and Porplyzia his third, it was starting to resemble a training drill.
Adam McPhee kicked three goals for the quarter to help the scoreboard look half-respectable.
Q4: Adelaide 26.10 (166) v Essendon 10.10 (70)
Porplyzia kicked his fourth for the game in the first 20 seconds against Atkinson, his third opponent, and the game was well and truly over.
The Bombers finally tried to take some risks through the corridor but they continually entered the centre square by foot behind the centre circle – the Crows' forward half of the ground. They then turned it over and got punished.
The Crows ended the game with 13 goalkickers, while McLeod (30 possessions) and Vince (28 possessions and 11 clearances) share best-on-ground honours.
MATCH-UPS THAT MATTERED
Ivan Maric v Cale Hooker
The loss of Patrick Ryder was always going to be a concern and those worries became reality very early. Maric totally dominated in the ruck. Hooker was undersized, so it was going to be hard for him, but he was disappointing in that he continued to give Maric front spot at stoppages and allowed him to palm to his midfielders with ease.
McLeod v The Invisible Man
Skipworth started on him early but I couldn't see anyone on him for the majority of the match. Either the Bombers didn't assign a player to run with him or he didn't carry out his instructions. I would be guessing the latter was the case.
THE COACHES
Matthew Knights
Not a good night for the coach in his first final. I'm sure he went in with a plan that he wanted to stick to, but it was painfully obvious early that some drastic changes needed to be made.
Hooker either had to be changed with a stronger body or a third man had to be manufactured to jump over Maric or Sellar and whack the ball to space.
The Crows are far too good in close, so the Bombers needed the ball where their strengths were: in space so the likes of Andrew Lovett and Jason Winderlich could use their pace.
Also, Adelaide was scoring far too easily so Knights needed his half-forwards and wingers to push up and play behind the ball for a while to stem the bleeding.
Neil Craig
He went in with a plan that ran like clockwork. The opposition didn't really change anything up for him to worry about, so his only concern was who to rest late in the game.
HOW THE GAME WAS LOST
The Bombers' inability to win the ball in close (they had 89 contested possessions to the Crows' 125) and clear the ball from the stoppages (24 clearances to 45) cost them dearly.
Getting beaten in these areas so convincingly has a devastating effect on both ends of the ground. The Bombers entered their forward 50 32 times to the Crows' 59, which gave their forwards no chance to kick a winning score and their defenders no chance of defending one.
HOW THE GAME WAS WON
The Crows' even contribution all over the ground was outstanding. Their backline, led by McLeod, negated their respective opponents and they linked up with handballs to continually set up forward thrusts.
The midfield won their own ball, ran the lines and delivered to an unstoppable forward line that seems to really work for each other. They know each other's game, no one leads into the others' space and they have a great mix of talls and smalls.
Add all this to the opposition's inability to compete at the same level and you get a 96-point victory.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
