Showdown

Adelaide have won their first match in 2023, breaking clear in the last term to beat Port Adelaide by 31 points in an epic AFL Showdown.

Rankine should of won it by a mile.“ Port kicked two of the first three goals in the last quarter and led by four points at 10 minutes. It was a fair hit that sent Michalanney to the bench with sore ribs, but the 19-year-old sucked it up and returned to the field to be among the Crows’ best. The Power started favourites in their home game, but the Crows ran over the top of them after a pulsating duel, with seven goals to two in the last term. Another added: “Jordan Dawson..... Stream them all for free on

The AFL will have some answering to do after an extremely contentious umpiring call against Adelaide in the Showdown clash against Port Adelaide on Saturday ...

You’re supposed to have a 5m protection zone around you. He shaped to kick the ball, is that considered play on? It’s either a 50 or a free kick. “This is a huge call. Even through Powell-Pepper was strictly within the 5m protected zone for a player who has taken a mark, the umpire deemed Sholl had played on and paid a holding the ball free kick to Powell-Pepper. Thankfully for the Crows, the free kick wasn’t a factor in the result as they kicked the last six goals of the game in a dominant fourth quarter to cruise to a 18.9 (117) to 13.8 (86) victory.

Surely no rivalry in Australian sport delivers as spectacularly, and as regularly, as the Showdown. Every year without fail, Adelaide and Port Adelaide ...

It’s become a blueprint for how to take them to the cleaners. In truth, the Crows shot themselves in the foot that quarter – with 19 inside 50s to 10 to a seriously potent forward line, mustering just 2.5 and a mere three-point lead to the final change seemed match-defining. Port and the Crows went to half time on 9.3 apiece, and for the Power especially, there was hardly a difficult shot to speak of, with the majority of majors coming through the corridor, directly in front. This is a forward line that, in a few years’ time, could easily be the envy of the competition. Without the injured Darcy Fogarty, with a subdued Walker, the Power had no answers for their myriad of options. The veteran’s presence is still profound, and he regularly draws attention from the best defender, but he doesn’t need to kick four or five anymore for the Crows to be in with a chance. In defence, without as many Port entries to neutralise, Adelaide began to look a lot safer behind the ball. With Murphy working hard and effectively into space to provide outlet kicks, the Crows started to look, for the first time all evening, the better team. The Power were especially keen on this – in the first two rounds, their kick-handball ratio had been 1.37:1 while ranking sixth for marks with 99.5 per game. In and out of the side through the last two years, his was a game of moments rather than pure dominance. For the Crows to kick 18 goals, six straight coming in a final term for the ages, despite a goalless evening from Taylor Walker is another sizeable positive. When the whips were cracking in the final 15 minutes, only one side had enough left in the tank to blow apart a game that had hardly had a double-figure margin before then.

Adelaide have kicked the last six goals to beat Port Adelaide by 31 points in another intense AFL Showdown duel at Adelaide Oval.

That opened the floodgates, with the Crows kicking the last six goals of the match. Port kicked two of the first three goals in the last quarter and led by four points at 10 minutes. The intensity of the match was summed up at the start of the third term when Crows teenager Max Michalanney was ironed out by Todd Marshall. The Power started favourites in their home game, but the Crows ran over the top of them after a pulsating duel, with seven goals to two in the last term. It is Adelaide's first win of the season and leaves the fierce local rivals with 1-2 records. Crows captain Jordan Dawson won the Showdown medal as star recruit Izaak Rankine, young key forward Riley Thilthorpe and stalwarts Rory Sloane and Rory Laird shone in the 18.9 (117) to 13.8 (86) win on Saturday night at Adelaide Oval.

Crows captain Jordan Dawson won the Showdown medal as star recruit Izaak Rankine, young key forward Riley Thilthorpe and stalwarts Rory Sloane and Rory Laird ...

That opened the floodgates, with the Crows kicking the last six goals of the match. Port kicked two of the first three goals in the last quarter and led by four points at 10 minutes. It was a fair hit that sent Michalanney to the bench with sore ribs, but the 19-year-old sucked it up and returned to the field to be among the Crows' best. The Power started favourites in their home game, but the Crows ran over the top of them after a pulsating duel, with seven goals to two in the last term. The intensity of the match was summed up at the start of the third term when Crows teenager Max Michalanney was ironed out by Todd Marshall. Port had won five of the past six Showdowns and also had a major victory ahead of this match, striking a deal with Collingwood that allowed them to wear their traditional black-and-white "prison bar" guernsey.

ADELAIDE Crows captain Jordan Dawson has collected his second Showdown Medal, claiming best on ground honours in Showdown LIII. Dawson had 18 disposals, ...

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Adelaide captain Jordan Dawson has praised Riley Thilthorpe's five-goal performance in the latest Showdown, saying he gave the Crows a "big boy' presence.

"We wanted to make sure ... he was ready and he showed that." "He knew he was close and he knew his opportunity would come - that's the way the season works. "The frustration didn't show, he just put his head down and went to work," Nicks added. Asked what he said to Thilthorpe immediately after the game, Dawson said: "I probably said I thought it was his medal. "To step up and play a real 'big boy' presence down there, it was really pleasing to see as a captain."

Power coach Ken Hinkley says his team failed defensively against the Crows, as an Adelaide star reveals his surprise at Showdown Medal victory.

They got a bit of belief. "We probably struggled early in that first quarter, but we were able to right the ship and get the game back on our terms." "He knew he was close and he knew his opportunity would come — that's the way the season works. Asked what he said to Thilthorpe immediately after the game, Dawson said: "I probably said I thought it was his medal. "We got a bit jumpy around what was happening to 'me', more than what was happening 'to the rest'," he said. "We're really disappointed that in a home Showdown, and prison bar jumper, that everyone was up for and built up for, we've delivered poorly at the end of the day," Hinkley said.