Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\nIzak Rankine (28 disposals, one goal), Jordan Dawson (24 disposals, one goal) and Josh Rachele (three goals) were among Kuwarna\u2019s best in a win that could really kick the club\u2019s season into motion after an indifferent start.<\/p>\n
The Crows improved to 6-4 and climbed into seventh place on the ladder.<\/p>\n
It was meanwhile a step backwards for North Melbourne in a fourth-straight defeat as the club\u2019s horror losing streak at Adelaide Oval slid to 0-14.<\/p>\n
The 3-2-1 (what we learned) …<\/p>\n
3. \u2018TURNING POINT\u2019: CROWS PLAYED \u2018LIKE WE HAVEN\u2019T SEEN\u2019 THIS YEAR\u2026 AND IT MIGHT\u2019VE LIT A FIRE<\/p>\n
Kuwarna claimed its fifth win from its past six matches. But it was the way Matthew Nicks\u2019 men did it that might\u2019ve just kickstarted the Crows\u2019 inauspicious season. <\/p>\n
They entered the afternoon 5-4, coming off wins against Carlton, St Kilda, Port Adelaide and Richmond, where they looked unconvincing in patches. They hadn\u2019t looked like the explosive outfit that finished last year as minor premier. <\/p>\n
But against the Roos on Saturday, a more comprehensive performance from a team we haven\u2019t seen this season \u2014 fuelled by an 11-year best second quarter. <\/p>\n
Between the 18-minute mark of the first quarter and the 11-minute mark of the third, the Crows piled on 13 unanswered goals, with their 10.4 (64) in the second term representing their highest-scoring quarter since 2015. <\/p>\n
After their seventh major on the trot, Adelaide great Mark Ricciuto said on Fox Footy: \u201c\u2018Where has this been?\u2019, the crowd\u2019s saying. They\u2019ve been out of form for nine weeks, and they might\u2019ve just clicked.\u201d<\/p>\n
Josh Rachele of the Crows celebrates a goal (Photo by Sarah Reed\/AFL Photos via Getty Images)Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n
At half-time, he added: \u201cThe Adelaide fans will be hoping this is the start of the turnaround for the year. They have not been in form all year. Maybe this is the turning point. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen moments, we\u2019ve seen quarters, but we haven\u2019t seen a half of footy like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley said: \u201cI haven\u2019t seen the Crows play like this all season \u2026 it could be a big moment in their season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kuwarna had 30 loose-ball-gets to North Melbourne\u2019s 14 in the second quarter, and 30 tackles to 14. <\/p>\n
\u201cTheir pressure was really elite, their contest work inside – clearly everything was working in the second quarter – but they got it around their ground-ball game. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s when you know the Crows are playing really well – their work rate is enormous, they get to the next ball \u2026 they went from stoppage to score. They did everything they wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n
And interestingly, in the second quarter, they did it by going -27 handball metres gained – with Matthew Nicks\u2019 side continuing to go against the popularised trend of using hands in transition. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt just shows you that you can play the game in many different ways,\u201d Adam Simpson said on AFL Nation.<\/p>\n
2. \u2018STAGGERING\u2019 DETAILS IN ROOS MASSACRE<\/p>\n
North Melbourne remains winless at Adelaide Oval, dropping its 14th game from as many attempts at the venue – and it probably couldn\u2019t have come in more disheartening fashion. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard to believe that, given the way the Kangaroos started the game on Saturday, they would succumb to an 82-point turnaround at the hands of Kuwarna by half-time. <\/p>\n
Because the Roos were all over the Crows to begin proceedings, recording the game\u2019s first eight inside-50s to jump out to a 16-nothing lead off the back of suffocating forward-half pressure. <\/p>\n
\u201cTheir 2.1 have already come from front-half intercepts – and I know the game\u2019s only just got started, but that\u2019s the pressure that they\u2019ve been able to bring in their forward half. They know what their strengths are,\u201d Ken Hinkley said on Fox Footy. <\/p>\n
The Roos kicked 3.3 of their 24 first-quarter points from turnovers – with all three majors from front-half intercepts. Things were looking up for a North Melbourne outfit<\/p>\n
Dixon: \u201cEspecially in their front half, they\u2019ve really just clamped Adelaide on defensive transition \u2026 so they\u2019re spot-on in this area, giving Adelaide no room.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clarkson: ‘Game over at half time’ | 08:28<\/p>\n
From that point, unfortunately, it was all downhill from Alastair Clarkson\u2019s side, which was battered at contest – which is supposed to be its strength. <\/p>\n
Kuwarna trounced the Kangaroos 7.3 (45) to two behinds in scores from stoppage, and Hinkley couldn\u2019t believe the visitors continued to let their opposition outnumber at the contest. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe Kangaroos allowed them to have the plus-one all the time at the stoppage, which was really strange, considering the way the game went,\u201d he said at half-time. <\/p>\n
Former Hawks sharpshooter Ben Dixon added: \u201cThat was staggering \u2026 we went in thinking (the Roos) were going to dominate this area of the game, but the scores from stoppages has just been off the charts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not only did the Roos concede 10 goals in the quarter, but the top-19 ranked players on the ground were all Crows, and seven Kangaroos went the whole term without a disposal – which were 117-42 in the Crows\u2019 favour. <\/p>\n
Considering the Crows scored 90 points to the main break, things could have been a lot worse for the Roos, who conceded 6.7 in the second half and matched that with 6.5. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a letdown for the Kangas, there\u2019s no doubt about that \u2026 it\u2019s another learning opportunity in their development as a football club. They\u2019ve got more lessons to come, but they\u2019ve certainly improved their game,\u201d Hinkley said on the eve of full-time.<\/p>\n
It was a day to forget for North Melbourne (Photo by Mark Brake\/Getty Images)Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n
1. \u2018SEE IF THAT GETS LOOKED AT\u2019: ACT AFL DOESN\u2019T WANT TO SEE REARS HEAD<\/p>\n
We haven\u2019t seen one of these acts in a little while, but Kuwarna\u2019s Luke Nankervis could be cited in the Match Review after pushing Zane Duursma into a marking contest. <\/p>\n
The incident, which came in the first quarter on Saturday, saw Nankervis – who wasn\u2019t contesting the mark – nudge Duursma into oncoming traffic, with the Roo copping friendly fire in the form of Cooper Trembath\u2019s right quad. <\/p>\n
Upon seeing a slow-motion replay, Ricciuto said: \u201cLittle bit of a push there from Nankervis.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dual All-Australian Leigh Montagna added: \u201cInterested to see if that gets looked at (by the MRO), we know that\u2019s frowned upon now, pushing a player into a contest.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fortunately, despite needing a few moments to gather himself, Duursma was able to play out the remainder of the game – though was out there for just 64 per cent of the match. <\/p>\n
Still, had Duursma fallen just a tad lower, he would have been heavily collected by Trembath\u2019s knee, and Nankervis would almost certainly be suspended. <\/p>\n
But because he emerged unscathed, it may just be a fine that the Crows rebounder receives – or no sanction at all. <\/p>\n
It comes after the AFL cracked down on such acts, which are now considered Rough Conduct. <\/p>\n
The updated Tribunal guidelines read: \u2018A Player may be found guilty of Rough Conduct where they forcefully push an opponent into another player, or players, from either team in circumstances<\/p>\n
that are unreasonable.\u2019<\/p>\n
Re-live Crows-Roos in our live blog below!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kuwarna has produced a dominant 68-point win over a hapless North Melbourne in the Crows\u2019 most dominant performance…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12969,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[395,404,23,133,3713,368,564,525,3945,13587,3948,13588,4660,120,5419,9888],"class_list":["post-12968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-adelaide","tag-adelaide","tag-adelaide-crows","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-crows-reveal","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-jack-jovanovski","tag-jordan-dawson","tag-live-updates","tag-luke-parker","tag-match-details","tag-matt-crouch","tag-north-melbourne-kangaroos","tag-oceania","tag-prime-time-fixtures","tag-taylor-walker"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12968\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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