1. St Kilda's Good Friday resurrection falls flat
St Kilda's banner read "Making a comeback after Good Friday? It's been done before", and for the first half, it looked like it would come good on its promise. The Saints had been woeful in their Good Friday clash against North Melbourne, managing just 5.13 (43) to lose by 52 points. St Kilda had the better of the first half against Adelaide but struggled to convert its dominance on the scoreboard. It came back to bite in the third term, when Adelaide pulled away and St Kilda's clangers caught up with them. By three-quarter time, St Kilda had only 4.12 to show from its 41 entries. Its goal-kicking accuracy – an issue which has reared its head in the past – remains a real worry.
STRUGGLING SAINTS: Full match details and stats
2. Slow-starting Adelaide does enough
After finishing round two in such blistering fashion in its Grand Final rematch against Richmond, Adelaide was surprisingly slow out of the blocks. Warm favourites going into the match, the Crows struggled to get their hands on the ball at times in the first half and were uncharacteristically sloppy in the second term in particular. But Adelaide seemed a different side after half-time, opening up their forward line and piling on six goals in a game-changing burst to take the lead from 10 to 40 points. Rory Laird (32 disposals) and Paul Seedsman (26 and two goals) provided vital run, while Richard Douglas impressed in his return from suspension.
WATCH: Eddie and Tex combine to hurt Saints
3. Sauce and Kiwi, an unusual pairing
Eyebrows were raised at selection when St Kilda opted to bring in second gamer-Rowan Marshall ahead of Tom Hickey to replace the injured Billy Longer in the ruck. But the New Zealand-born ruck was better than expected against Sam Jacobs, one of the best ruckman in the competition. He made Jacobs work for his hit-outs and was useful around the ground in the opening half. His influence faded as the match progressed (Jacobs ran away to finish with 37 hit-outs and 20 disposals), but it was far from a disappointing performance from the 22-year-old rookie.
4. Betts breaks the duck
In his 14-year AFL career, Adelaide star Eddie Betts had never failed to kick a goal in both rounds one and two. But at the start of Saturday night's match against St Kilda, Betts had not yet registered a major in 2018. That lasted just a quarter and a half, as the crafty forward had a cunning plan. A stab pass from Mitch McGovern didn't travel the required 15 metres, so Betts dodged around Jake Carlisle and took the unusual path to goal along the boundary line, coolly slotting his first for the year. The 31-year-old ended up with three goals for the match and several "EDDDDDIE" chants around the ground.
WATCH: Eddie Betts kicks his first goal of 2018
5. An unexpected opponent
There has been much discussion about the decision to have the Etihad Stadium roof open during dry games this season. The roof even has its own Twitter account to announce whether it will be open or shut for individual matches. The main talking point has been around the shadows produced during day games, but Saturday night's game threw up its own quirk – seagulls. And lots of them. The MCG has a fake eagle which "flies" above the stadium as a seagull deterrence. It may be time to introduce one at Etihad, especially considering the numbers which hang around the Docklands.
