The fifth of Saturday AFL Round 23 matches is between West Coast Eagles and Adelaide Crows. The game is set to commence at 8:10pm local time with the game to be played at Patersons Stadium. home team West Coast Eagles go into the match as the favourites in the market. View our preview and teams for the game between West Coast Eagles and Adelaide Crows.
Round: Round 23 6:10 PM August 31, 2013
Stadium: Patersons Stadium
Weather: 21° A few showers. Becoming windy.
Featured Bookmakers:
West Coast Eagles $1.96 vs Adelaide Crows $1.82 at Sportsbet Australia get a $250 FREE BET on this match
West Coast Eagles $1.84 vs Adelaide Crows $1.96 at Luxbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match
Odds Comparison by AFL Odds:
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| West Coast Eagles | 1.96 | 1.80 | 1.84 | 1.80 | 1.96 | 1.95 |
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Adelaide Crows
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1.82 | 2.00 | 1.96 | 2.00 | 1.82 | 1.85 |
Preview:
It’s been a poor season for both West Coast and Adelaide who site thirteenth and twelfth on the ladder respectively.
Both have a season record of 9-12 and have two losses from their past three matches.
For the home-side, it has been huge losses to both Geelong and Collingwood in the past fortnight. Worryingly in both games, the Eagles failed to score more than 41 points and their effort and commitment were questionable.
This has placed West Coast coach John Worsfold’s position at the club under threat and the players need to stand up here for Worsfold and themselves.
Adelaide cruised to victory last week over Melbourne and unlike West Coast, in their recent defeats to Western Bulldogs, Port and Fremantle, have been competitive.
They have a superior defensive record compared to West Coast and given that the Eagles have struggled to register points in the past few weeks, Adelaide should be able to apply enough pressure to add to West Coast’s current woes.
Adelaide have won only two of their past five against West Coast and hold a losing 4-6 away record this year however, that’s not as bad as West Coast’s 3 -7 home record and current form.
Teams:
West Coast Eagles: 
B: Brown Glass McGinnity
HB: Butler Mackenzie Smith
C: Masten Wellingham Rosa
HB: Embley Kennedy Hill
F: A Selwood Lycett Darling
FOLL: Cox S Selwood Priddis
I/C:Gaff Cripps Wilson Tunbridge
EMG: Carter Dalziell Sheppard
IN: Simon Tunbridge, Andrew Embley, Adam Selwood
OUT: Will Schofield (cheek), Brad Sheppard (omitted), Bradd Dalziell (omitted)
Adelaide Crows:
Backs: Hartigan Rutten Laird
Half-backs: Brown Talia Smith
Centres: Kerridge Dadngerfield Sloane
Half-forwards: Grigg Johnston Douglas
Forwards: Callinan Otten Vince
Followers: Jacobs van Berlo S Thompson
Interchange: Tambling Crouch Wright Mackay
Emergencies: Shaw McKernan Porplyzia
In: Matthew Wright
Out: Jared Petrenko (omitted)
Johnston not for sale, says Crows coach
Adelaide coach Brenton Sanderson says emerging forward Lewis Johnston isn’t for sale as the Crows prepare to be aggressive in the AFL trade market.
Johnston’s stocks rose on Saturday when he kicked six goals in his seventh AFL game, a 68-point thumping of Melbourne at AAMI Stadium.
He falls out of contract at season’s end but Sanderson warned rivals off the 22-year-old.
“He will certainly play for us next year. He will be offered a contract without question,” Sanderson said.
Johnston’s rise comes in a grim year for the Crows, who will miss the finals after being beaten preliminary finalists last year.
Adelaide have taken injury hits this season with key forwards Taylor Walker (knee reconstruction) and Josh Jenkins (broken ankle) both sidelined.
Their replacement Tom Lynch was a late withdrawal from Saturday’s game and will have foot surgery next week.
“It has been one of those seasons for us – it seems like every corner we turn, we are met with a trauma injury and a player going in for surgery,” Sanderson said.
Adding insult to the injuries is that Adelaide have been barred from the initial two rounds of the looming national draft, penalties imposed on the club for their rule-breaking 2009 contract with now-Sydney forward Kurt Tippett.
“We will explore every avenue to make our squad better in the off-season,” Sanderson said.
“We understand that we haven’t got the draft picks in rounds one and two but there is going to be opportunities for free agency, for trading, and hopefully opportunities to move up in the draft.
“How that is going to play out, we will just wait and see.”