Footy Forecast: Your weekly AFL preview from SA’s most diehard fans
In this week’s Forecast, an Adelaide Crows fan says last week’s victory could kickstart their season, while a Port Adelaide supporter shares her love of Chad Wingard.
Thursday night Cherry Ripe: Adelaide Crows’ Peter Kennedy
President of the Riverland Crows Supporters Group Peter Kennedy was a former Glenelg Football Club fan before jumping ship to Adelaide in the 90s after watching Hall of Famer Andrew McLeod play.
Since then, Kennedy has been all-in on the Crows with his favourite memory watching 50,000 fans chant “Nigel” in Hall of Fame defender Nigel Smart’s final match.
He also loved watching his side defeat North Melbourne at Adelaide Oval last Saturday.
The Crows ran away 68-point victors, with standout performances from Izak Rankine who finished with 28 disposals, 10 clearances and a goal, Jordan Dawson 24 disposals and a goal, and Josh Rachele three goals.
Kennedy said the “composition of the side” was the strongest so far this season, highlighting “running players” as the key to success.
“The positive attitude of the players to just keep the ball moving fast, keep running to create options for the other players, and backing themselves when it came to having a shot at goal,” he said.
“Izak Rankine in the in the midfield is a good thing. A lot of the other clubs have champions in their midfield, and he’s our champion, so we need him in there.”
Kennedy said the second quarter blitz that saw the Crows kick 10 goals to zero was one of the best quarters of football he had seen his team play.
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“Brisbane is one of the best sides in recent time, and they haven’t had a 10-goal quarter in 22 years, so for us to do that just shows that when we are going, we are a formidable force,” he said.
“If we can avoid injuries, get the right players on the field, and just keep building towards the finals, we could be around the mark when it comes September.”
Adelaide will again be referred to as Kuwarna this weekend as Sir Doug Nicholls Indigenous Round continues into its second week as the team heads south to Tasmania on Thursday night to take on Hawthorn.
Kennedy said his weekly ritual of eating a good-luck Cherry Ripe at half-time will give the Crows the edge.
“It will be hard fought early, and one of the two sides will get on top of the other and probably win by about five goals. Now I’m hoping that it’s the Crows,” he said.
“Hawthorn has a good record in Tasmania, and they know how to play down there. It’s supposed to be very cold, so I think they’re probably the favourites heading into the match.”
Key forward Riley Thilthorpe will return to the side from a back injury, while Taylor Walker will return from hamstring injury through the SANFL — his first reserves game in more than 12 years.
Callum Ah Chee will also return while Isaac Cumming will be sidelined with a hamstring injury and Luke Pedlar will miss with a knee injury.
Despite the injuries, Kennedy believes last week’s win could get the Crows’ season on track, with hopes they can feature deep into September finals.
“We just want to see some consistency and some effort. The guys can be a bit lethargic at times, and when they really want it, and they’re running hard, they are hard to beat.”
Wild for Wingard: Port Adelaide’s Caity Wilson
Port Adelaide supporter Caity Wilson has been a diehard fan for many years, securing her first membership in 2015. She said her obsession with former forward Chad Wingard sparked her love for the football club.
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“I just loved the way he played his footy and he was really good at his banana kicks on goal. I thought, yeah, he is my favourite,” Wilson said.
Her favourite Port memory coming from the 2013 Showdown at AAMI Stadium when Wingard was awarded the Best on Ground Medal for his five goals, including the match-winning goal in the final minute.
She said Port Adelaide would have welcomed the likes of Wingard last weekend, with the team suffering a 25-point loss to the Gold Coast Suns in Darwin on Friday night.
Wilson said it was “always going to be hard” to defeat Gold Coast in Darwin, who have now won their past 13 matches at the venue.
“I don’t think they’ve lost there for a long time, so I think they were probably more used to the conditions than Port were,” she said.
“I think the fourth quarter was promising. When everyone thought Port had given up, they kicked a few late goals and made it a bit closer than what it was going to look like.”
Midfielder Zak Butters was prolific once again, amassing 35 disposals and nine clearances, while Jase Burgoyne’s 28 disposal performance off half-back and Joe Richards’ three goals were among the team’s best.
“Mitch Georgiades has also been great so far. If he can just convert a few more of his points into goals, he will be a really key player for us.”
Port Adelaide will again run out as Yartapuulti for the second week of Indigenous Round on Saturday night when they take on Carlton at Adelaide Oval.
Last time the two teams met, Carlton won by 54 points with full-forward Harry McKay booting seven straight goals.
But Wilson said it would be “a lot closer” this time around if Port could quell the influence of Carlton midfield duo Sam Walsh and dual-Brownlow medallist Patrick Cripps.
“Port haven’t really shown that they can win and close out games, obviously losing by one point to the Crows and then three points to the Bulldogs the other week,” Wilson said.
“With Carlton’s new coach, I think they will be up and about after their win on the weekend. So, I think it’ll be a very interesting game.”
Port will be without defender Lachie Jones on Saturday after entering concussion protocols following a head knock in last week’s match.
Josh Lai is expected to return to the side after sustaining a concussion the previous week, while Port Adelaide small-forward Corey Durdin will face his former side for the first time since being traded in the off-season.
Although Wilson hasn’t secured tickets for Saturday night just yet, she will be hoping to find herself in her lucky Western Stand seats with a box of hot chips to cheer Port on.
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