Between Adelaide’s scoring avalanche and Geelong’s ability to keep the ball from the opposition, something will give in their AFL blockbuster.
The third Gather Round will open tonight at Adelaide Oval, with the Crows set to have a much clearer idea of how much they are improving this season.
After three convincing wins, Adelaide had its first loss against the Suns on the Gold Coast last weekend and was on the wrong end of a crucial umpiring blunder late in the match as it went down by one point.
It was no disgrace as the Crows try to make the top eight for the first time since their 2017 grand final loss.
Now they face the Cats, last year’s preliminary finalists and a team renowned for their discipline and structure.
It’s a clash between two of the league’s outliers – Adelaide has scored 500 points this season and no other team has more than 400.
Geelong took a whopping 148 uncontested marks last week as it played keepings-off in a win over Melbourne.
By comparison, the Adelaide-Gold Coast game featured a combined total of 137 marks.
“That will be a big focus for us tomorrow night,” Adelaide veteran Taylor Walker said of Geelong’s ability to maintain possession.
“It’s certainly a barometer for Geelong … they try and take away one of our strengths, we’ll try and take away one of theirs.”
Geelong’s defensive general Tom Stewart took 11 marks against the Demons and looms as a major headache for Walker and his fellow Crows forwards.
But Stewart looks at Walker, plus fellow Adelaide key forwards Riley Thilthorpe and Darcy Fogarty, and knows he also had a big night ahead.
“We – as a team, collectively – and me, myself, we’re probably going to have our hands full,” Stewart said.
“Three big boys who like throwing their weight around – that’s the one thing I’m going to be on red alert for.
“They’ve done such a great job in their list build. They have damaging players all over the ground, who we really have to respect.
“But we’re not going to be passive in our approach.”
It remained unclear after Adelaide training on Wednesday afternoon whether star onballer Izak Rankine will play.
He was restricted to a light session as he tries to overcome a calf injury.
Rankine was picked, with the Crows to make a last-minute call on his fitness.
