Star captain\u2019s efforts go in vain; retiring legend \u2018ignored\u2019 as TEN fail<\/a><\/p>\n5. Josh Dunkley<\/p>\n
As reliable as the day is long. Played some defensive roles on Izak Rankine around the ground and nullified the red-hot Crows star. \u201cHe is just clamping Izak Rankine,\u201d Jonathan Brown said. Still picked up 22 disposals (14 contested) and six tackles. 7<\/p>\n
6. Hugh McCluggage<\/p>\n
Building nicely. The underdone midfielder looked good early after he\u2019d been down on form. Still hasn\u2019t quite hit his straps but a compromised McCluggage is still better than most. Kicked two goals from 16 disposals. 7<\/p>\n
7. Jarrod Berry<\/p>\n
A solid night from the hardworking winger that ran hard all game and provided good defensive support. Finished with 19 touches. 6.<\/p>\n
8. Will Ashcroft<\/p>\n
In the thick of everything early with eight of his team-high 31 disposals in the first quarter. Injected great run and dash through the midfield with 489 metres gained. As consistent as they come and somehow still underrated. Also had 13 score involvements. 8<\/p>\n
9. Lachie Neale<\/p>\n
A strong first quarter from the veteran with seven of his 21 touches. Strong and composed around the contest in a workman performance through the midfield. The 33-year old seemed to take his foot off his gas as the night progressed. 6<\/p>\n
10. Levi Ashcroft<\/p>\n
A good game from the 19-year old. Ashcroft, still only 52 games into his career, had 21 disposals and a goal in his sixth final. He must be thinking: \u2018How easy is AFL footy?\u2019\u201d 7<\/p>\n
12. Darcy Gardiner<\/p>\n
Matched up with Taylor Walker and kept him well checked for most of the night in the Crows veteran\u2019s last game. Gardiner came off with an injury concern in the third term but returned. Got the job done. 6<\/p>\n
13. Logan Morris<\/p>\n
Uncharacteristically quiet for most of the night including a goalless first half. Got on the scoreboard in the third term with the two goals but the young star wasn\u2019t as influential as normal. Finished the game on the bench with calf soreness in a key watch. James Borlase got the points in a rare win for the visitors. 5<\/p>\n
15. Dayne Zorko<\/p>\n
One of his side\u2019s best. Draws the ball and always uses it well. Kicked a ripping running goal in the third quarter when Brisbane really started to flex. As usual, in the thick of argy-bargy with Adelaide. Racked up 27 disposals with a game-high 687 metres gained. 7<\/p>\n
16. Cam Rayner<\/p>\n
A big night from the mercurial forward as the highest-rated player on the ground. And when he plays like this, Brisbane is damn hard to beat. Kicked a cracking running goal in the opening term with his first disposal. Applied maximum damage with his 22 touches, two goals and 11 score involvements. \u201cI have not seen anyone capable of tackling him yet. He is just destroying everyone around him,\u201d Jason Dunstall said. 8<\/p>\n
22. Ty Gallop<\/p>\n
A strong night in defence for the youngster. Tasked with Darcy Fogarty, who started to get off the chain in the second term with consecutive goals, but Gallop got the better of him outside of that. 7<\/p>\n
23. Charlie Cameron<\/p>\n
Towelled up his old mob as the fire starter in a four-goal first half. Set the tone with two first-quarter goals as \u2018Country Roads\u2019 was gleefully belted out around the Gabba. Kicked an important goal in the second term that snapped a run of three-straight majors when Adelaide had gained momentum. Quiet in the second half when the job was done but an equal season-best five goals, which he also got against Adelaide earlier this year, and 13 score involvements is a great return. 8<\/p>\n
26. Conor McKenna<\/p>\n
Reinvented himself as a defensive small forward. The Irishman negated Wayne Milera and got on the scoreboard. \u201cPlayed an important role this year since he\u2019s come back into the side … he\u2019s come in as a pressuring small forward in a defensive forward role. Done a really good job on Milera,\u201d Jonathan Brown said. 6<\/p>\n
30. Eric Hipwood<\/p>\n
Played with a swagger like he knew he was \u2018the man\u2019 up forward. Kicked two goals from 12 touches and seven marks. Jason Dunstall said it was \u201cas good as I\u2019ve seen him compete,\u201d while Jonathan Brown called it \u201cthe best I\u2019ve seen him play for a while. He\u2019s commanding, playing with presence.\u201d 7<\/p>\n
31. Harris Andrews<\/p>\n
Didn\u2019t quite feel the star backman out there like you normally can in the big assignment on Riley Thilthorpe, who kicked two goals. 5<\/p>\n
32. Darcy Fort<\/p>\n
A solid enough showing in an effective pairing with Sam Draper. Combine both of their fives and you get a 10! 5<\/p>\n
33. Zac Bailey<\/p>\n
Have mercy on Crows fans! The slippery re-signed star showed Adelaide what they missed out on in a dominant showing as the best player on the ground. Kicked 3.3 goals from 23 touches, 558 metres gained and a game-high 14 score involvements. \u201cPutting on an absolute clinic … he\u2019s just dominated the game. He\u2019s been outstanding,\u201d Alastair Lynch said. The crowd exploded with extra gusto when he kicked his goals in a brutal kick in the guts for Adelaide. \u201cShow the Crows what they missed \u2014 get your hands off our man!,\u201d Gerard Whateley exclaimed after Bailey\u2019s first goal. More performances like that and he\u2019ll be worth every penny of his monster deal worth up to $10 million. 9<\/p>\n
35. Ryan Lester<\/p>\n
The always reliable veteran stood tall in defence in a super showing with some great moments that always seem to lift his side. Shut down Josh Rachele and gathered 17 disposals, eight marks and a game-high seven intercepts. 7<\/p>\n
44. Darcy Wilmot<\/p>\n
His numbers were slightly down but used the ball well. Impressively, Wilmot racked up a game-high nine intercepts to go with 15 touches. 6<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Zac Bailey starred in first game since penning a mega eight-year extension and rejecting interest from Adelaide to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":889624,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-889623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/889623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=889623"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/889623\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/889624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=889623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=889623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=889623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789237094_568_poster-fallback.png\"\/)