Adelaide rode a wild rollercoaster ride to the top of the AFL ladder after outlasting Hawthorn by 14 points in a topsy-turvy, and at times bizarre, Friday night clash punctuated by wild momentum swings.
An astonishing 23 of the 28 goals were scored to the Cathedral end of the ground for no plausible reason other than both strong sides mixing their top-shelf best with spells of their worst, but almost never simultaneous with each other.
Historians in years to come will assume a mid-winter gale was howling in from the south all evening, but the flags atop Adelaide Oval’s heritage-listed scoreboard never budged a millimetre.
Taylor Walker was at his clutch best inside forward 50Credit: AFL Photos
It was just one of those nights when the final scoreline looked tight, but it rarely resembled that on the field for large stretches.
Will Day was the key figure early, racking up more first-quarter clearances than the Crows’ entire shell-shocked team, piloting Hawthorn to a 5.3 to 0.1 ambush which hushed the 50,654-strong crowd into stunned silence.
It was easily Adelaide’s worst quarter of the season.They responded with perhaps their best.
With Jordan Dawson stepping up in the engine room and Riley Thilthorpe getting hold of Tom Barrass, the Crows suddenly started scoring at will out of their back half, keeping the Hawks scoreless while marching to a shock but spectacular 16-point half-time lead.
Adelaide’s run of goals was eight unanswered before Hawthorn’s interceptors James Sicily, Jack Scrimshaw and Josh Battle ran amok behind the footy in the third term to get the visitors back on top.
The home side’s backline, conversely, was suddenly frazzled, both with and without the footy.
Ex-Crow Jack Gunston’s back-to-back fourth-quarter goals to the River end handed the Hawks the lead, before Izak Rankine and Taylor Walker – who split Adelaide’s last four majors – sealed it for the top-two bound Crows.
Final: Adelaide 15.11 (101) def Hawthorn 13.9 (87)