Waalitj Marawar (West Coast) star Jake Waterman injured in heavy defeat to Kuwarna (Adelaide)
A shoulder injury to star forward Jake Waterman has rubbed salt into Waalitj Marawar's (West Coast's) wounds in a heavy 66-point defeat to Kuwarna (Adelaide) at Adelaide Oval on Sunday.
Waterman had been one of the Eagles' best with three goals but the All-Australian forward was taken from the field holding his right shoulder after finding himself in the middle of a massive collision early in the final quarter.
It came after the Eagles were ambushed by a ruthless Crows in the third term, the home side kicking seven goals to one to shake off the brave visitors and secure a 19.14 (128) to 8.14 (62) victory.
The Eagles went into the game having lost their past eight games at the iconic South Australian venue, including a 99-point defeat 264 days prior.
For more than a half of footy, Andrew McQualter's men gave the Crows a fight but ultimately the home side were able to make the scoreboard reflect the gap in class between the two outfits.
Crows captain Jordan Dawson lifted his game in the third term when Kuwarna put the Eagles to the sword, finishing with 27 disposals, eight clearances, two goals and 11 inside 50s.
Sam Berry relished his rare exposure to full midfield minutes with 26 disposals, four clearances and a goal, while prized recruit James Peatling (16 disposals and two goals) glided across the ground in an eye-catching performance.
West Coast's day was epitomised by defender Reuben Ginbey who was incredibly brave – including taking an amazing mark back with the flight – but butchered the footy when given the chance.
Their veterans who had been so staunch in the past fortnight looked tired as the toll of a gruelling season begins to take its toll already.
The Eagles' undersized defence would've breathed a sigh of relief when the Crows withdrew former skipper Taylor Walker before the bounce.
And then the reality of the monumental task ahead of them would've set in when Riley Thilthorpe (two goals) out-positioned two Eagles defenders to kick the first goal.
Skill errors plagued the Eagles early at both ends of the ground as simple missed kicks left them exposed on the turnover and cost them early scoring opportunities.
Oscar Allen (two goals) would've been the most frustrated man in South Australia, with the Eagles' co-captain beating his opponent on several occasions only for his teammates to be unable to find him on the lead.
Promisingly, the visitors didn't let the mistakes discourage them and they maintained their strong pressure to create turnovers the other way and hit the scoreboard.
They could've been in front had they been cleaner going forward, with the Crows taking an incredible nine intercept marks in the first term alone.
And they didn't fix the issues at quarter time. Waalitj Marawar went from competitive to on top through the middle of the ground and it allowed them to dominate the territory battle.
While they had 18 inside 50s for the term, for much of the quarter it looked as if their only goal would come courtesy of a lucky bounce from Tyler Brockman, who was trying to find Allen but overcooked the kick.
At the other end Adelaide were efficient with their limited opportunities and held a 23-point lead when Thilthorpe kicked his second late in the term.
Waterman kept the Eagles within touch when he converted a long-range set shot after the half-time siren, but they could've been a lot closer had their midfield-forward connection been better.
The Crows was finally able to break the game open late in the third term, kicking five unanswered goals in a 13-minute ambush to blow the 17-point half-time lead out to 57 points at the last break.
Waterman's unfortunate injury seemed to suck the life out of the contest as Josh closed the door on a miracle comeback when he ran into an unguarded goalsquare to kick his fourth of his five majors.
Within 30 seconds the Eagles' day may have got worse with premiership defender Tom Cole limping from the ground with a potential ankle injury.
Recruit Liam Baker may face scrutiny from the match review officer after pushing his elbow into the back of Peatling's head after giving away a free kick.
KUWARNA 4.2, 8.5, 15.12, 19.14 (128)
WAALITJ MARAWAR 3.2, 5.6, 6.9, 8.14 (62)
Goals – KUWARNA: A Rachele 5 J Dawson 2 J Peatling 2 L Pedlar 2 R Thilthorpe 2 S Berry D Fogarty B Keays A Neal-Bullen R O'Brien I Rankine. WAALITJ MARAWAR: J Waterman 3 O Allen 2 T Brockman B Hough H Reid.
Best – KUWARNA: J Dawson S Berry R Thilthorpe J Rachele J Peatling I Rankine. WAALITJ MARAWAR: R Ginbey J Waterman J Graham T Brockman S Brock H Reid.
Injuries – KUWARNA: T Walker (managed) replaced in the selected side by S Draper. WAALITJ MARAWAR: T Cole (ankle) J Waterman (shoulder).
Umpires: L Haussen C Deboy A Adair N McGinness. Crowd: 39,271 at Adelaide Oval.
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The ACT Brumbies have booked a Super Rugby Pacific semi-final berth with a gutsy 35-28 playoffs win over the Hurricanes at GIO Stadium. The home side's forward pack were prolific, with hooker Billy Pollard scoring a double, in the Brumbies' five-tries-to-four victory over the Wellingtonians on Saturday night. The Brumbies will now need to make history by beating the ladder-topping Chiefs in Hamilton next weekend to avoid a fourth straight semi-final exit against a New Zealand club. No Australian side has won a knock-out game in New Zealand in the almost 30-year history of the competition. "The process this year has been about going one better than last year, so there's a big challenge in front of us against the Chiefs in Hamilton," said Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham. "We've been in this situation multiple times. "Very happy that we've won the game, but we know that there's a lot of work to do." 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The home side's forward pack were prolific, with hooker Billy Pollard scoring a double, in the Brumbies' five-tries-to-four victory over the Wellingtonians on Saturday night. The Brumbies will now need to make history by beating the ladder-topping Chiefs in Hamilton next weekend to avoid a fourth straight semi-final exit against a New Zealand club. No Australian side has won a knock-out game in New Zealand in the almost 30-year history of the competition. The tried-and-tested methods of rolling mauls and pick-and-drives paid dividends for the Brumbies. After the Hurricanes opened the scoring through fullback Ruben Love, a Brumbies maul from a lineout in opposition territory slowly but surely rolled over the tryline, with Pollard the man to dot down through a sea of bodies. Fatafehi Fineanganofo hit back for the visitors before Brumbies captain Allan Alaalatoa burrowed over after a succession of pick-and-drives on the Hurricanes' line. 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The Advertiser
6 hours ago
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Cats back Stewart after bump sends Anderson to hospital
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"If it's a protective action where contact's unavoidable and you don't get them in the head, then you've done everything you can," Scott said after the match. "I sort of feel for Noah. Everyone loves him, he's a gun player and it was pretty heavy contact to the ribs, but it was to the body. "Stewy, I thought his duty of care to Noah was as good as it could have been, and he was good enough to hit him in the body." Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick didn't feel there was anything untoward in the bump from Stewart, who was given a four-match ban in 2022 for a nasty hit on Richmond's Dion Prestia. "The game's combative, accidents happen on the footy field. It's one of those things," Hardwick said of Saturday's incident. "We'd love Noah to keep playing (but it's) within the rules, still allowed to bump. "It was a reasonable hit, a solid hit. He's a big boy, Tom Stewart. "But once again, we'll make it very clear, it was chest. It wasn't head or anything like that - no concussion. 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Hardwick felt Geelong were better around the contest, conceding they were "too good, too clean and too strong" for the Suns. "We've got some work to do and I was really pissed off, to be perfectly honest," he said. "We knew the game that we needed to have, and we unfortunately failed the test." Geelong lost Shannon Neale to an ankle injury before halftime, and Gold Coast's Jed Walter could face scrutiny for late and high contact on O'Connor with a swinging arm. Geelong coach Chris Scott has launched an impassioned defence of Tom Stewart as the star utility faces AFL scrutiny over the bump that landed Gold Coast's Noah Anderson in hospital. Stewart crunched Anderson in a heavy collision during the fourth quarter of the Cats' dour 9.7 (61) to 5.7 (37) victory at a rain-soaked GMHBA Stadium on Saturday. Play was held up while Anderson was assessed by medical staff, before he jogged slowly off the ground. He was eventually taken to the Suns' change-room. The Gold Coast captain was cleared of concussion after his head hit the ground following the body contact from Stewart, but was later taken to hospital for scans on his chest region. Scott insisted Stewart showed the appropriate duty of care to Anderson and was adamant there would have to be a fundamental shift in rules for the five-time All-Australian to face sanction over the bump. "If it's a protective action where contact's unavoidable and you don't get them in the head, then you've done everything you can," Scott said after the match. "I sort of feel for Noah. Everyone loves him, he's a gun player and it was pretty heavy contact to the ribs, but it was to the body. "Stewy, I thought his duty of care to Noah was as good as it could have been, and he was good enough to hit him in the body." Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick didn't feel there was anything untoward in the bump from Stewart, who was given a four-match ban in 2022 for a nasty hit on Richmond's Dion Prestia. "The game's combative, accidents happen on the footy field. It's one of those things," Hardwick said of Saturday's incident. "We'd love Noah to keep playing (but it's) within the rules, still allowed to bump. "It was a reasonable hit, a solid hit. He's a big boy, Tom Stewart. "But once again, we'll make it very clear, it was chest. It wasn't head or anything like that - no concussion. "From our point of view he'll just go there (hospital) and see what that comes back at." Hardwick was more concerned with his team failing what he had termed a "litmus test" before the match, and ceding their top-four spot to Geelong in the process. The Cats never trailed and pulled clear after halftime to improve their record to 9-4 with a fourth straight win, while Gold Coast slipped to 8-4 with a second successive defeat. It was also the Suns' ninth loss in as many visits to Geelong's Kardinia Park base - eight of those against the Cats - since their AFL inception in 2011. Tyson Stengle (four goals) and Max Holmes (40 disposals, 10 clearances) starred for Geelong, while Tom Atkins (23, eight) and Mark O'Connor (21, seven) were also important. AFL great Gary Ablett Jr was among the 29,502 fans on hand to watch his two former clubs do battle, and witnessed a scrappy, stoppage-heavy encounter in wet conditions. Hardwick felt Geelong were better around the contest, conceding they were "too good, too clean and too strong" for the Suns. "We've got some work to do and I was really pissed off, to be perfectly honest," he said. "We knew the game that we needed to have, and we unfortunately failed the test." Geelong lost Shannon Neale to an ankle injury before halftime, and Gold Coast's Jed Walter could face scrutiny for late and high contact on O'Connor with a swinging arm. Geelong coach Chris Scott has launched an impassioned defence of Tom Stewart as the star utility faces AFL scrutiny over the bump that landed Gold Coast's Noah Anderson in hospital. Stewart crunched Anderson in a heavy collision during the fourth quarter of the Cats' dour 9.7 (61) to 5.7 (37) victory at a rain-soaked GMHBA Stadium on Saturday. Play was held up while Anderson was assessed by medical staff, before he jogged slowly off the ground. He was eventually taken to the Suns' change-room. The Gold Coast captain was cleared of concussion after his head hit the ground following the body contact from Stewart, but was later taken to hospital for scans on his chest region. Scott insisted Stewart showed the appropriate duty of care to Anderson and was adamant there would have to be a fundamental shift in rules for the five-time All-Australian to face sanction over the bump. "If it's a protective action where contact's unavoidable and you don't get them in the head, then you've done everything you can," Scott said after the match. "I sort of feel for Noah. Everyone loves him, he's a gun player and it was pretty heavy contact to the ribs, but it was to the body. "Stewy, I thought his duty of care to Noah was as good as it could have been, and he was good enough to hit him in the body." Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick didn't feel there was anything untoward in the bump from Stewart, who was given a four-match ban in 2022 for a nasty hit on Richmond's Dion Prestia. "The game's combative, accidents happen on the footy field. It's one of those things," Hardwick said of Saturday's incident. "We'd love Noah to keep playing (but it's) within the rules, still allowed to bump. "It was a reasonable hit, a solid hit. He's a big boy, Tom Stewart. "But once again, we'll make it very clear, it was chest. It wasn't head or anything like that - no concussion. "From our point of view he'll just go there (hospital) and see what that comes back at." Hardwick was more concerned with his team failing what he had termed a "litmus test" before the match, and ceding their top-four spot to Geelong in the process. The Cats never trailed and pulled clear after halftime to improve their record to 9-4 with a fourth straight win, while Gold Coast slipped to 8-4 with a second successive defeat. It was also the Suns' ninth loss in as many visits to Geelong's Kardinia Park base - eight of those against the Cats - since their AFL inception in 2011. Tyson Stengle (four goals) and Max Holmes (40 disposals, 10 clearances) starred for Geelong, while Tom Atkins (23, eight) and Mark O'Connor (21, seven) were also important. AFL great Gary Ablett Jr was among the 29,502 fans on hand to watch his two former clubs do battle, and witnessed a scrappy, stoppage-heavy encounter in wet conditions. Hardwick felt Geelong were better around the contest, conceding they were "too good, too clean and too strong" for the Suns. "We've got some work to do and I was really pissed off, to be perfectly honest," he said. "We knew the game that we needed to have, and we unfortunately failed the test." Geelong lost Shannon Neale to an ankle injury before halftime, and Gold Coast's Jed Walter could face scrutiny for late and high contact on O'Connor with a swinging arm.
