Adelaide signals its arrival as a genuine AFL heavyweight and is perfectly placed for a premiership charge

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3 days ago

The Crows are perfectly placed for a September charge this AFL season.
A crushing 61-point defeat over the rising Gold Coast Suns has helped Adelaide soar into premiership contention, now among the favourites to take out the flag alongside Brisbane and Victorian heavyweights Collingwood.
With seven wins from their last eight games, (the only loss in that period coming against Hawthorn by three points), the Crows have signalled their arrival as a force to be reckoned with late in the season.
Captain Jordan Dawson has led the charge again this season, but he wouldn't be drawn into the argument that his club was the new flag favourite, ahead of Adelaide's Showdown 58 clash against the Power this weekend.
"I think we've got a great group and I'm really confident in the way we play our footy and the way we go about it," Dawson said.
"I've got no doubt our best footy is definitely good enough but like we've seen this year, any team on any given day can beat you, so we're very wary of that."
James Peatling, Isaac Cumming and Alex Neal-Bullen all joined the Crows ahead of 2025 and have all had their moments to shine in 2025.
Neal-Bullen's role as a midfielder and forward has given other players, like Dawson and Izak Rankine, freedom to be more damaging up the field.
The former Demon has also been damaging himself, kicking three goals and gathering a career-high 31 disposals against the Suns last weekend.
Former Giants Peatling and Cumming have also locked up spots in Adelaide's best team, showing versatility with their ability to play multiple roles.
Dawson this week said his side now had the depth and talent to challenge for a flag.
"Obviously bringing those three recruits in has helped us a lot and internally there's been a lot of growth from individuals," Dawson said at a press conference this week.
"We've always had a lot of belief but we've just really narrowed the focus, I suppose, this year and focused on the week to week."
In years gone by, if Taylor Walker didn't fire then the Crows struggled up forward.
Now in the later stages of his career, the veteran certainly hasn't been poor, but has handed the reins over to Adelaide's young brigade to lead the charge.
Riley Thilthorpe has kicked 41 goals this season, including bags of six against the Bulldogs in Round 18 and five against the Suns and Richmond early in the year.
Izak Rankine and Josh Rachele have both provided a spark and pinch-hit in the midfield — with both adding 25 goals to the team's goal tally.
Because of this, the pressure has been taken off of Walker — who has led the forward line for the past decade.
He's still managed 28 goals as a third option, while Darcy Fogarty has also benefited from Thilthorpe's form, with 34 goals as well.
Ben Keays and Alex Neal-Bullen also provide pressure and energy inside 50, providing a headache for all opposition defenders.
This has helped Adelaide become the third-ranked team in the competition for points per game, behind only Geelong and the Western Bulldogs.
Mark Keane, Josh Worrell and Nick Murray are three players not often spoken about as superstars of the competition.
With the likes of Carlton's Jacob Weitering, GWS defender Sam Taylor and Brisbane's Harris Andrews marshalling defensive 50s, Adelaide's key defenders are somewhat unheralded.
Despite the lack of media attention, Worrell and Keane are currently the top two players for intercept marks this season, Worrell with 137 and Keane with 134.
This form has catapulted Adelaide into the number one spot for total intercepts, with Worrell taking 11 marks against the Suns alone in Round 19.
Adelaide also sits second behind only Collingwood for points conceded and, thanks to its damaging forward line, has the healthiest percentage of 139.6 from 18 games.
It is worth mentioning Adelaide hasn't played in a final since being belted by the Tigers in the 2017 decider.
And it's quite rare for a team to jump straight to a premiership in its first finals appearance in years.
So, how much impact will that have on player mentality come September?
Crows Coach Matthew Nicks backed his team to lift when the finals begin.
He said they would treat their remaining games as a warm-up for September, starting with this week's Showdown.
"If you look back on the history of the game, we know what's coming," he said.
"It's often talked about in the post-game as finals-like footy, there's not many Showdowns that haven't been.
"From our point of view, it's perfect. We want to play in the hardest possible games we can and test ourselves and it won't be any harder than this."
Despite their form, the Crows have only won three games against current top eight teams this season, the Suns, Brisbane and the Giants.
Nicks said despite the extra commentary his side was getting late in the season, they were not thinking about finals at all.
"It's not even something that's crossed our mind," Nicks said.
"I think the position we're in is off the back of us not looking at any of that … the reality is it's there and it's noise."
Port Adelaide Coach Ken Hinkley, however, was keen to put some pressure on, claiming the Crows should finish on top of the ladder.
"Without pumping them up too much … they're the form team of the competition," Hinkley said at this week's Showdown press conference.
"They've had an unbelievable run, I think eight or 10 of the last 12 or something.
Adelaide play Port Adelaide in Showdown 58 this Saturday night, with clashes against Hawthorn and Collingwood to come in the run to finals.
A top four spot should be more than achievable, with Adelaide's remaining matches coming against lowly West Coast and North Melbourne.