Jamie Kloeden reporting for AFANA from Adelaide, Australia
Big questions have been asked about the Adelaide Crows in recent times. The concerns generally revolve around who will kick the goals to win games with Taylor Walker out for the year and would the Crows be able to use their Round 7 game against the young GWS Giants as a kick start after a very sluggish start to the season.
With Josh Jenkins and Shaun McKernan earmarked as the new hopes for goals up forward, Tom Lynch has been an afterthought, in and out of the side since moving over from St Kilda a season and a half ago. After his outstanding Round 7 performance, Lynch is no longer under the selection radar.
There was early scoreboard action for Greater Western Sydney with Taylor Adams marking but missing a shot close to goals before strong pressure on the Crows defense caused a rushed behind shortly after. When Adelaide quickly moved the ball to the other end of the ground where Rory Sloane kicked the first goal of the game, the ease of the transition looked ominous for the young Giants. By the time the quarter time siren blew, the Crows had kicked four goals while the Giants had struggled to kick the ball straight when it mattered most and had just four points at the first break.
Second quarter action saw part one of the Tom Lynch Show. As with the first quarter, the early forays forward were by the Giants including their first goal through Callum Ward and a second at the eight minute mark when superstar in the making Jeremy Cameron managed to keep the ball in play long enough for big Jonathan Giles to snap a goal. From here on however, it was just a matter of how much the Crows would win by. Patrick Dangerfield was dangerous as both a midfielder and forward and kicked a couple of majors. Even defender Daniel Talia drifted forward and kicked truly in a rare sight but Lynch was the genuine star. Through a combination of strong marking and hard work around the ground, the new focal point registered three goals for the quarter and promised everything he would touch for the day would turn to gold.
Half time showed a 55 point lead to the Crows and that margin grew in the third term with that man Lynch again on the end of a kick out of the middle of the ground. He converted for his fourth goal from as many shots and this started a flurry of goals as the two teams combined for 15 goals for the quarter. Unfortunately for GWS, only four of those goals were theirs, but the positive was definitely the form of Cameron. He kicked three of the four goals and against quality opposition was showing just what has all the experts predicting big things for the 20 year old.
While Cameron was great, Adam Treloar and Adam Tomlinson worked hard and Callum Ward showed glimpses of his class. But this game was always going to belong to the Adelaide Crows and in particular Tom Lynch. Lynch’s performance was unbelievable to say the least as he piled on six goals for the quarter. The fans didn’t have to wait long into the last quarter for history to be made as Lynch broke a tackle and kicked from long range to become just the third player in Adelaide Crows history to collect a ten goal haul. South Australian football legends Scott Hodges and Tony Modra both managed the feat back in the nineties so it has been a long time between drinks for the Crows faithful. While Brenton Sanderson certainly would not be expecting a tally like this every week, he will be hoping that both Lynch and Josh Jenkins can continue to contribute strongly with Walker missing for the next 12 months.
The game finished with 135 points standing between the two sides with Lynch taking all of the plaudits. Others such as Patrick Dangerfield and Jenkins with four goals apiece and youngster Sam Kerridge - who played his best AFL game to date - all put in great performances.
GWS now faces the real possibility of consecutive 100 plus point defeats as they travel to Aurora Stadium to face Premiership favorites Hawthorn while the Crows will host St Kilda with a win offering them the chance to sit inside the Top Eight for the first time this season.
Scoreboard GWS: 0.4 2.7 6.8 7.10 (52) Adelaide: 4.5 11.8 22.10 29.13 (187) Best Players GWS: Cameron, Treloar, Ward, Tomlinson Adelaide: Lynch, Dangerfield, Kerridge, Jenkins, Thompson, Wright
Article last changed on Tuesday, May 14, 2013 - 9:18 PM EDT
