Only a miracle could see West Coast sneak into the top eight by the end of the season, but perhaps its incredible victory at Adelaide Oval is just the sort of win it needs to start a special run. The club has four very winnable games remaining against Collingwood at home, Essendon, Melbourne and Gold Coast and, depending on other results, could sit just two wins out of the eight by the end of this round. Footy is a strange game indeed…
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2. A repeating pattern
It was a case of déjà vu for the Crows on Saturday, who let another opportunity slip after pushing into the top eight last weekend. Too many times this year the club has produced its best one week before immediately slumping, and the all-too familiar scenario played out again at Adelaide Oval on Saturday. Lousy kicking hurt again as did handballs given under pressure to players also under pressure. Adelaide had 13 contested handballs to West Coast's three.
3. Eagles' movement is top notch
West Coast's delivery inside 50 was superb on Saturday. The likes of Josh Kennedy and Jack Darling were so often able to mark the ball in space, and in scoring positions. Thanks to West Coast's delivery, its forwards were able to take 17 marks on leads to Adelaide's four. The Crows' forwards were made to fight for every touch, and too often asked to sit under a ball bombed long and high inside 50, allowing ample opportunity for West Coast's defence to spoil and then rebound.
4. Milestone for Sauce
There was a time when Sam Jacobs doubted he'd ever play 100 games of senior footy. He was stuck behind Matthew Kreuzer, Robbie Warnock and Shaun Hampson at Carlton in 2010, but hasn't looked back since joining Adelaide and has clearly surpassed the three that stood in his way at the Blues. Saturday wasn’t the day he or any of his teammates wanted, but another 17 possessions and 42 hit-outs against the Eagles furthered his All Australian claims this year.
5. Crows celebrate their star ambassadors
The Crows got their chance to honour two of their favourite ambassadors in the lead-up to the opening bounce on Saturday, with NBA champion Patty Mills and recently crowned BMX world champ Sam Willoughby taking a lap of honour after visiting Adelaide's rooms. Mills also got to toss the coin and watch the game from the Crows' coaching box, although his presence clearly did little to help his team rise to any great heights.
Patty Mills and Sam Willoughby soak up a lap of honour at the Adelaide Oval. Picture: AFL Media
