Footy Forecast: Your weekly AFL preview from SA’s most diehard fans
In this week’s forecast, an Adelaide supporter says her team cannot be complacent in their finals chase, while a Port fan says he was in “disbelief” after watching a big Showdown victory last week.
‘Reality check’ – Adelaide Crows’ Elissa Shea
Elissa Shea was inspired to support the Adelaide Crows back in the early 1990s when they became the first South Australian team to join the AFL, saying it provided a sense of state pride.
“You can have 10,000 South Australian teams join the AFL, but the Crows will always be the first one, and that’s a large part of it for me,” Shea said.
“They’ve become an iconic organisation in SA and I just couldn’t support Port Adelaide. I could never do that.”
Adelaide was defeated by 26 points by crosstown rivals Port Adelaide in last week’s Showdown 60, but Shea believes it was “a good way of keeping ourselves grounded”.
“Last year things kind of took off as we got further into the season and the lid was struggling to stay on there for a while,” she said.
“We can’t afford to be complacent in any of these last games. We have to work hard and put 100 per cent into it, and hopefully we’ll do well in the back end of the season.”
Shea said the Crows did not have many standout players in the shock loss, with key forward Darcy Fogarty playing a lone hand with five goals.
Adelaide will travel to Optus Stadium in Perth tonight to face the West Coast Eagles in a now must-win match to stay in touch with the top six.
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“Last weekend has given us a bit of a reality check and kept us grounded, and hopefully everyone’s had a bit of a wake-up call from that,” Shea said.
“I think that everyone just needs to contribute, really, if we want to win. I don’t think that we can rely on one person carrying everybody else.”
Tall forward Toby Murray will return to the side, replacing wingman Isaac Cumming who has been dropped after his 11 disposal match last week.
When Adelaide faced West Coast last season, the minor premiers were given a scare from the wooden spoon side, with the Crows coming away nine-point victors.
Shea believes the Crows are still firmly in the race for a top six finals position and that the team is capable of a top four finish.
Although she admits the current crop of players are a “pretty elite bunch”, dual Norm Smith Medallist Andrew McLeod remains Shea’s all-time favourite Crows player.
She also has fond memories of winning the 1997 and 1998 Premierships and the aftermath in the Adelaide CBD.
“I remember everyone was out buzzing on the night of that first premiership. People were in their cars waving Crows flags,” Shea said.
Shea said the fellow members in the Adelaide cheer squads are “so important to me” and add to the experience of attending games.
“We all look out for each other, help each other out, contribute to the banner making, and everything else that comes along with being a fan.”
‘Can see the improvement’ – Port Adelaide’s Robert Mastrolacasa
Port Adelaide fan group leader Robert Mastrolacasa was in “a little bit of disbelief” to watch his side get a commanding win over the archrivals in last weekend’s Showdown.
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“You always go to the game hopeful that you’re going to come away with a win. But watching them and seeing how they played as a team, it was just unbelievable,” Mastrolacasa said.
“Everybody from the defence to the midfield, the rucks, the forwards, they all played together as a real team, and you can see the improvement under the new coach Josh Carr.”
Midfielder Zak Butters starred in the match, taking home his second Showdown Medal for his 37-disposal and 13-clearance performance.
Mastrolacasa said ruckman Jordon Sweet, who finished with 38 hitouts, and young defender Josh Lai, who took nine intercepts and kept Crows forward Josh Rachele to one goal, were among the standouts.
“The Showdowns are always good when you win, because you get to stick it to all the Crows supporters at least for a whole week or until the next showdown,” Mastrolacasa said.
Port Adelaide will be hoping to back up their Showdown heroics when they face North Melbourne at Adelaide Oval on Sunday afternoon.
North Melbourne comfortably defeated Port Adelaide by 46 points in Round One this season, but Mastrolacasa believes his team are a strong chance to win.
“Hopefully on our home deck and on a high from the Showdown win, we should get up,” he said.
“If Josh Lai can back up his performance in defence, because the Kangaroos have a couple of strong forwards, and Jason Horne-Francis performs well against his old club they can do some damage.”
Fan favourite Sam Powell-Pepper returned to the footy field in the SANFL last week after 12 months out of the game with a ruptured ACL.
While Mastrolacasa would love to see Powell-Pepper return to the AFL side, he said there was no point in rushing him back into the team without getting some “match fitness”.
“He might get an AFL game late in the season, but they might just try to get him match fit and just look forward to a big season next year,” he said.
Port Adelaide remain in striking distance of a top 10 finish, and Mastrolacasa is holding out hope if the team can “turn the season around” and win the close matches.
The Port Adelaide fan said his favourite memory was attending the 2004 Premiership win against the Brisbane Lions at the MCG.
“Before the game I was so nervous, but we had breakfast with some Brisbane supporters and they said, ‘we’ve been this before, just relax and enjoy the moment,’” he said.
“It’s hard to explain, but the camaraderie between the members from different clubs at that game was just incredible.”
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