Adelaide have thrown a cat amongst the pigeons in this year’s AFLW premiership race after they sensationally upset red-hot favourites Melbourne by 10 points at Casey Fields on Saturday in what could be a grand final preview.
The visitors wrenched the ascendancy from Melbourne’s grasp in the second quarter, booting the only two goals of the stanza and restricting Melbourne’s No.1-ranked offence to their first scoreless quarter of 2023.
The rampant Crows took the momentum well into the second half and by the time they found themselves up by 25 points late in the third term, they had booted six majors in a row.
The notoriously fast-finishing Demons wouldn’t lie down, though, and got back within three points at the 14-minute mark of the final term after kicking five of the next six goals, including three from star forward Eden Zanker in the last quarter.
But just as Melbourne looked like they were going to complete a tremendous comeback, Caitlin Gould ran into a vacant Adelaide goal square to kick the winning goal with 88 seconds remaining.
DEMONS RUN ENDS
The 8.8 (56) to 7.4 (46) result snapped the Demons’ record-breaking 14-game winning streak and delivered them just their second loss from their past 19 games at their home ground.
Much like Arnold Schwarzenegger in his role as Major Alan Schaefer in the movie Predator, the Crows have triumphantly declared to the footy world that: “if it bleeds, we can kill it”.
With an average winning margin of seven goals, Adelaide had made plenty of big statements so far this year, but none came close to the one they made in downing the dominant Demons in what will be hard to beat for game of the year.
Melbourne have looked like careering towards back-to-back flags for most of the season, but Adelaide will now fancy their chances of an unprecedented fourth premiership more than ever before. The Crows’ victory will also buoy the spirits of other contenders, namely North Melbourne and the Brisbane Lions.
Adelaide will now finish the round on top of the ladder as the last remaining undefeated team after winning their top-two blockbuster against the Demons, which was also a meeting between two of the league’s perennial heavyweights with four flags and six grand finals between them.
Meanwhile Melbourne could tumble to fourth spot if the Kangaroos and Brisbane beat Fremantle and Collingwood respectively.
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