Today’s second match on Sunday of Round 4 of the AFL 2013 season is between Adelaide Crows and Western Bulldogs. The opening bounce is set to commence at 2:50pm local time and 3:20pm AEST with the game to be played at AAMI Stadium in Adelaide. The home team Adelaide Crows are the current favourites in a game. View the preview and teams for the game between Adelaide Crows and Western Bulldogs.

Round: Round 4 2:50 PM April 21, 2013
Stadium: AAMI Stadium
Weather: 22° Shower or two.

Featured Bookmakers:

Adelaide Crows $1.12 vs Western Bulldogs $6.75 at Sportsbet Australia get a $250 FREE BET on this match

Adelaide Crows $1.10 vs Western Bulldogs $7.00 at Luxbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match

Odds Comparison:

Adelaide Crows	1.12	1.11	1.10	1.11	1.12	1.13
Western Bulldogs	6.75	6.75	7.00	6.75	6.75	6.70

Preview:

The Western Bulldogs have won four of the past five clashes between the two sides and travel to SA on Sunday afternoon in the hope of adding to that record.

They started season well with a strong 68 point win over the Lions by have been average at best in the two weeks since, going down to Fremantle and Richmond.

Adelaide haven’t been in sparkling form either and after losing to Essendon in the opening round, struggled to a win over the Lions at the Gabba before coming up short by nine points in the local derby again Port.

They get their chance here, at home, to put the sluggish start behind them and get back to establishing themselves as final contenders.

Teams:

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 coach losing trust in players

Adelaide coach Brenton Sanderson says he’s lost trust in some of his players as he prepares to swing a selection axe to save the Crows’ AFL season.

Sanderson says he must make personnel changes before it’s too late to rescue the Crows, wobbling at one win from three matches.

“It’s not panic stations yet. But we can’t let it go too deep into the season before we start to make some adjustments,” Sanderson told reporters on Thursday.

Asked if his trust in players had been damaged by a poor start to the season, Sanderson said: “It has, no question”.

“There has been too much variance in output at the moment, so we’re looking for players that unconditionally will perform at the standard that is required at AFL level,” he said.

“We will look to get players in our team that can give us that week in, week out – not just every now and again.”

Adelaide on Thursday promoted rookie Rory Laird to their senior list, with the small defender renowned for his competitiveness likely to debut in Sunday’s home match against Western Bulldogs.

“We need some players in our squad that can play on edge for 120 minutes,” Sanderson said.

“I would rather play players that we can trust, that are going to give us that sort of intensity and that sort of passion for a full game – not just in fits and spurts.”

Sanderson bluntly said he wasn’t enjoying coaching at the moment because of his team’s win-loss ratio.

“I’d be enjoying it a lot more if we were winning, but this is the challenges of coaches,” he said.

“Some people have written us off already, which is fine … if anything, it probably fuels the determination to perform better.”

The usually affable Sanderson also bristled when questioned about Adelaide’s inability to cover the loss of Kurt Tippett, the key forward who departed in bitter circumstances to Sydney.

“I’m a little bit tired about hearing about Kurt Tippett still,” he said.

“It’s round four now of the 2013 season. He doesn’t play for us any more.”

Sanderson said the Crows’ capitulation to Port Adelaide last Sunday, giving up a 31-point lead in the third quarter to lose to their arch rivals, was his worst defeat as a head coach.

But he took aim at pundits suggesting the Crows weren’t fit enough, saying Adelaide’s problems were mental, not physical.

“Sides are out-working us and out-running us. That is not a fitness thing. That is determination and will,” he said.

“We’re not playing to a standard at the moment which is acceptable so we’ll make adjustments until we do.”