The second of today’s AFL Round 4 matches will be played at AAMI Stadium between Adelaide Crows and Western Bulldogs with the Crows looking to turn around their poor start of the season. The opening bounce is set to commence at 3:20pm AEST time and 2:50pm local time with the Adelaide Crows being the early market favourites for the game. View our live scores and results for the game between Adelaide Crows and Western Bulldogs.
WHERE AND WHEN: AAMI Stadium, Sunday April 21, 2:50pm
Opening odds:
Adelaide Crows $1.12 vs Western Bulldogs $6.75 at Sportsbet Australia
Adelaide Crows $1.10 vs Western Bulldogs $7.00 at Luxbet Australia
Preview:
Adelaide take on the Western Bulldogs on Sunday at 3.15pm at AAMI Stadium, in what is possibly the most uneven match-up of the weekend. Despite the fact that only one place separates the 11th-placed Crows and the 12th-place Bulldogs, it is the Crows who go into this match as big favourites. Part of this is down to depth, with injuries to Robert Murphy, Easton Wood, and Tory Dickson in the last few weeks. While Adelaide were far from impressive in last week’s derby loss, most people will have their money on the Crows for this one.
Adelaide Crows:
B: Luke Brown, Ben Rutten, Andy Otten
HB: David Mackay, Daniel Talia, Brent Reilly
C: Rory Sloane, Scott Thompson, Sam Kerridge
HF: Matthew Wright, Josh Jenkins, Richard Douglas
F: Jared Petrenko, Taylor Walker, Ricky Henderson
Foll: Sam Jacobs, Patrick Dangerfield, Brad Crouch
I/C (from): Matthew Jaensch, Graham Johncock, Tom Lynch, Jarryd Lyons, Shaun McKernan, Jason Porplyzia, Rory Laird
IN: Lynch, McKernan, Kerridge, Laird, Lyons
OUT: van Berlo (knee), Vince
New: R.Laird
Western Bulldogs:
B: Tom Young, Jordan Roughead, Liam Picken
HB: Jason Johannisen, Dale Morris, Brett Goodes
C: Jackson Macrae, Matthew Boyd, Koby Stevens
HF: Ryan Griffen, Liam Jones, Daniel Giansiracusa
F: Jason Tutt, Ayce Cordy, Luke Dahlhaus
Foll: Will Minson, Nick Lower, Adam Cooney
I/C (from): Mitch Wallis, Daniel Cross, Jake Stringer, Clay Smith, Tom Liberatore, Christian Howard, Lukas Markovic
IN: Boyd, Markovic, Cordy, Tutt, Howard, Stringer, Johannisen, Macrae
Out: Murphy (calf), Higgins (foot), Wood (hamstring), Campbell, Dickson (ankle)
Adelaide dump fans favourite players
Adelaide’s dumping of fan favourites Graham Johncock and Bernie Vince is a calculated gamble, Crows assistant coach Mark Bickley says.
The decorated duo have been axed for Sunday’s home clash against Western Bulldogs, with captain Nathan van Berlo also to miss the match with a knee injury.
The Crows summoned three inexperienced players as replacements for the experienced trio, in 12-gamer Tom Lynch, debutant Rory Laird and Sam Kerridge, who will play his second AFL game.
“The guys who have come in have all been in good form in the SANFL and are playing really confidently and we think they are going to give us a really strong effort,” Bickley told reporters on Saturday.
“It’s fantastic when you have young players come in … it’s more about their form and the way they have been going about their business, they have been in really good playing and training form.
“But you’re not quite sure what you’re going to get when you change almost 25 per cent of your side.”
The Dogs, cursed by injury, have made six changes to their side for the AAMI Stadium encounter.
Among the inclusions are captain Matthew Boyd, returning from a calf injury for his first game this season, and debutants Jack Macrae and Jake Stringer.
Bickley said the number of changes in the Bulldogs’ line-up made them somewhat hard to read, but added Adelaide would be more focused on their own performance.
“It’s more about us getting more players in form,” he said.
“That is generally a really easy way of looking at your side and seeing how you’re going: go through and look at how many players are in good form. And you can probably count them on one hand for us.
“For us, it’s about making sure we have real clarity on each player, what their role is, and then being able to go out and do that really well.
“We don’t expect everyone to get 25, 30 possessions. But we have seen in the past that when everyone has a clear understanding of their role and they carry that out to the letter, generally we get a good result.”
