WEST Coast champion Josh Kennedy delivered a remarkable farewell performance to savour, but his memorable bag of eight goals was not enough to drag his team to victory against Adelaide on Sunday.

In an afternoon of high drama at a packed Optus Stadium, the Eagles produced a desperate, fighting effort to send their spiritual leader out in style, but the Crows held their nerve late to spoil the party and win by 16 points.

There were goals in every quarter from Kennedy in a brilliant display of long-range goalkicking, and even a return of the famous stutter step as he threatened to single-handedly win the game for his team.

EAGLES v CROWS Full match coverage and stats

But he stumbled late, missing a closer-range effort before the Crows kicked the final two goals of the match to win 16.6 (102) to 13.8 (86) in midfield star Rory Laird's 200th game.

The premiership forward, who finished his career with 723 goals, was chaired from Optus Stadium through a guard of honour by senior teammates Shannon Hurn and Luke Shuey in emotional scenes in front of a season-high crowd of 50,117 fans.

For Adelaide, key forward Darcy Fogarty was the hero, kicking three of his four goals in the final quarter to ensure the late-season win.

Sidekick Elliott Himmelberg had a quieter day but stood up with two key involvements late, converting a crucial goal that left his team 11 points clear with four minutes to play and then tackling Jack Redden as the midfielder was about to pump the ball inside 50 for the Eagles.

'WE HAVEN'T LOST ANY FANS' Simpson proud of Eagles' effort for JK

As well as Kennedy's miss during time on, ruckman Bailey Williams missed an opportunity when squeezed in the goalsquare that would have cut the margin to one point.

It was the Crows' first win at Optus Stadium in four attempts, winning back-to-back games to gain valuable confidence after last week's 29-point win against Carlton.

Laird was terrific in his milestone game, finishing with 36 disposals, 10 clearances and two goals to be the best midfielder on the ground and a crucial contributor in the second half.

After an emotional build-up to the first bounce, Adelaide sucked the air out of Optus Stadium within 40 seconds, surging forward for milestone man Laird to snap the opening goal of the match.

Frustration for the Eagles then turned to panic within five minutes as the Crows added two more and raced to an 18-point lead, showing all the signs they were out to spoil the Optus Stadium celebrations.

But as he has done on big occasions before, Kennedy stepped up to settle his team, marking close to the boundary and slotting his set shot from just inside 50m before turning to celebrate with the crowd.

An arm-wrestle ensued, and Kennedy kept presenting, slotting back-to-back goals late in the quarter from 50m to single-handedly get his team back in the contest.

The Eagles' pressure continued in the second quarter and they had the better of general play before capitalising with a run of three goals to Jamie Cripps, Jack Darling and then Kennedy's fourth, from a 40m set shot.

With Taylor Walker being shut out of the contest by Tom Barrass at the other end of the ground, Fogarty stepped up to land an impressive goal from long range.

The margin was only two points at the main break, but West Coast could point to several indicators, including inside 50s (31-18), clearances (26-21), disposals (196-132) and tackles (45-34) to show they had control of the contest.

That's when Adelaide really lifted, starting the second half by kicking back-to-back goals and building a 10-point lead on the back of some excellent stoppage work from Laird. 

Their pressure lifted and ball-movement became more focused, playing the game in the front half and finally creating an opportunity for Walker, who got clear of Barrass to convert.

When Jamaine Jones gave away a 50m penalty for lingering in the protected zone, Himmelberg was sent within range and kicked the Crows' fourth straight goal, giving them a 23-point lead.

Again it was Kennedy who settled the Eagles, running backwards to mark and kicking his fifth, before marking close to the 50m and squeezing home his sixth.

The drama of the final quarter made for a gripping finish to Kennedy's career, with the teams trading blows but Adelaide always keeping at least one goal clear of their opponents.

Fogarty and Himmelberg were the villains for the packed crowd, which rode every bump late before Fogarty iced the game in the final minutes. 

Milestone Crow continues brilliant year
If there were more wins on the board for Adelaide this year, midfielder Rory Laird would be making a charge for the Brownlow Medal. The gun onballer had his 10th straight game with more than 30 disposals, finishing with game highs for disposals (36), contested possessions (20), clearances (10), and centre clearances (six). His two goals were vital to silence the crowd in the first quarter and he was only bettered on the day for best afield honours by a remarkable key forward performance. With an average of almost 34 touches a game this season, he is on career-best pace and likely to bag another club champion award.

'Kick it to JK' approach delivers mixed results
The trend was set early, with all roads leading to Kennedy when the Eagles went forward. It clearly worked more often than it didn't, given the champion forward's accuracy from long range, but there were times where other options were bypassed at a cost. Liam Ryan was terrific and clearly found another level to pay tribute to his mate, finishing with five score assists. He was caught with the ball, however, in one of those passages where an easy option was avoided to try and get the ball in Kennedy's hands. "That was probably the moment where I thought 'boys, we need to chill and win this game, and not just focus on me'," Kennedy said.

Barrass dominates Walker after tough week
The Crows were well-served by Fogarty and McAdam, and it was fortunate they were after leading goalkicker Taylor Walker was blanketed for four quarters. Without a disposal in the first quarter, the former captain had one touch at half-time before kicking his only goal in the third quarter from a set shot and finishing with five disposals. Coach Matthew Nicks said the veteran, who was captain at the time of the infamous 2018 pre-season camp, had played a selfless role after half-time to help the team, allowing Fogarty to step up and play a crucial hand in the result.   

WEST COAST        3.3    7.4    9.5   13.8 (86)
ADELAIDE             4.0   7.2   12.4   16.6 (102)  

GOALS
West Coast: Kennedy 8, Cripps 2, Darling 2, Duggan  
Adelaide: Fogarty 4, McAdam 3, Laird 2, McHenry 2, Himmelberg 2, Hinge, Murphy, Walker 

BEST
West Coast: Kennedy, Barrass, Naitanui, Kelly, Shuey, Hurn, Ryan
Adelaide: Laird, Fogarty, Dawson, McAdam, Hinge, Berry, Murphy

INJURIES
West Coast: Nil
Adelaide: Hamill (concussion)

SUBSTITUTES
West Coast: Rhett Bazzo (unused) 
Adelaide: Ben Davis (replaced Will Hamill in the second quarter)

Crowd: 50,117 at Optus Stadium