Hold sway in midfield and invariably you win games – so it was against St Kilda, so it will be against Adelaide.
Marc Murphy and co. will need to come armed with their A games when they take to the MCG late on Sunday arvo, for the Crows’ on-ballers are unquestionably up there with the best of them.
The headline act is without question Patrick Dangerfield, one of the game’s most destructive exponents. Dangerfield is a gamebreaker whose numbers truly stack up. He sits third in the comp for centre clearances (a chief reason why his team is “numero uno” in the AFL for this stat) and third in the comp for contested possessions.
Aiding and abetting is Rory Sloane and Brodie Smith. Sloane comfortably sits equal 2nd in AFL for Inside 50s, is a contested ball freak, but is equally as effective once he takes hold of the outside footy. Sloane’s sixth placing in the AFL for tackles also reflects his hard work ethos.
Smith may not yet be a household name, but he is Adelaide’s leading uncontested possession winner. He’s equal first in the AFL for bounces and, put simply, he breaks the lines.
Make no mistake, it’ll be first in best dressed when the ball is bounced come twilight time Sunday.
