Adelaide’s faint AFL finals chances have been dashed by the fast-finishing Western Bulldogs and Crows coach Brenton Sanderson hopes his players are really feeling the pain.
In a see-sawing game, the Crows trailed by three goals at quarter-time, hit back to lead by 22 points deep in the third quarter, then faded as the Dogs stormed to a 20.11 (131) to 17.12 (114) win at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
Bulldogs forwards Tory Dickson (six goals) and Tom Campbell (four) produced the biggest goal hauls of their careers, with Dickson booting three in six minutes in the last term as the Dogs surged.
Midfielder Tom Liberatore continued his superb season with 30 disposals, while the ruckwork of Will Minson, who seems headed for All Australian honours, was crucial in the last quarter, in which the Dogs won the disposal count 105-60.
Adam Cooney was also inspirational with two goals and 23 touches in his 200th game.
Midfielders Bernie Vince and Richard Douglas were the Crows’ best.
Sanderson acknowledged his side was out of the finals race, even if Essendon are stripped of their place as a result of their supplements saga.
He said it was bitterly disappointing, given they should have won from their position of dominance during the third term.
“It’s got to sit in your guts and make you upset,” Sanderson said.
“Winning is great, losing’s got to really hurt.
“It can’t just be `we lost today’, it’s got to really make you angry and sit in your guts.
“We’ve got to learn from that over the summer.”
After being less than a kick from a grand final last season, Sanderson said it felt like nothing had gone right this year, with too many serious injuries and losses from winning positions.
The Bulldogs’ mood is much more positive, with Sunday’s win their third in four games and winnable fixtures to come against Brisbane and Melbourne.
Oddly, though, coach Brendan McCartney felt his side’s improved results in recent weeks contributed to them letting Adelaide back into Sunday’s game, as he sensed they were more focused on posting another win than on what they needed to do to achieve it.
His message at three-quarter time was to not think about the result, just play to their strengths, such as winning the contested ball.
They trailed substantially in that statistic to three-quarter time but dominated it in the last quarter.
“The last quarter we probably got back to what we do best – won some contests and got the ball into some space and converted pretty well,” McCartney said.
The Dogs’ one potential down note is that Minson might attract match review panel attention for pulling the left arm of Adelaide’s Patrick Dangerfield behind him while he was being held in a tackle in the second term.
