Caddy in the clear over ump clash; Adelaide’s win might come at a cost; Surgery an option for Tiger young gun
Meanwhile, the match review officer decided only to fine Richmond’s Noah Balta for making high contact with Geelong’s Tom Stewart in the third quarter of Saturday’s match at GMHBA Stadium, grading it careless and low impact. Because it was Balta’s third forceful, front-on contact offence he will be fined $6250 if he accepts the sanction.
Balta is unavailable for selection next week anyway as he is still subject to a magistrate-imposed curfew as a result of pleading guilty to assault after an incident in NSW in the off-season, which stops him from playing night matches.
Nick Vlastuin was not cited for his bump on Patrick Dangerfield, which caused their heads to clash. Both players played the game out.
Adelaide’s gritty win over Dees might come at a cost
Steve Barrett
Izak Rankine bagged five goals as Adelaide overcame a second-quarter stumble and a knee injury to livewire Josh Rachele to notch a gritty 13-point win over Melbourne.
The Crows strengthened their grip on a top-four spot by inflicting the Demons’ fifth successive defeat, but the victory came at a cost, with Rachele exiting the contest in the closing minutes of the first half.
Rachele landed awkwardly in a marking contest with Jake Bowey inside-50 at the river end of Adelaide Oval and immediately reached for his right knee.
Top Crow Josh Rachele holds his knee in pain after landing heavily.Credit: Getty Images
Rachele, who missed a month of footy earlier this season with fractured ribs, was helped up by trainers before jogging to the bench unaided and being subbed out for Lachlan Murphy at the start of the third quarter.
The Crows repeatedly played into the hands of the Demons’ defence early doors, with one haphazard forward foray after another.
Melbourne’s interceptors Steven May, Daniel Turner and Jake Lever had a field day behind the footy, but the visitors were unable to capitalise in attack, misfiring for 1.6 at the other end to trail by three at quarter-time.
The Dees straightened up after the break and proceeded to destroy Adelaide on the outside.
Jacob van Rooyen and Kysaiah Pickett kicked two goals apiece to start the second term as Melbourne sizzled with five unanswered goals inside the first 12 minutes to steam ahead by 28 points.
During that stretch, the Demons had a whopping 44-7 advantage in disposals, including an implausible 32-1 in uncontested possessions.
But no deficit is too much for this Crows’ offensive juggernaut. Their revival was sparked by the brilliant Rankine.
He booted two in a row against the grain to have three of Adelaide’s first four before Taylor Walker added another.
Melbourne, despite having 79 more touches and 48 more marks for the half, saw their lead scaled right back to five points at intermission.
Rankine added two more in the third, then set up Zac Taylor for another as the Crows moved to a 15 point lead at three-quarter-time, winning the centre-square handsomely while flipping the script on the outside.
To their credit, the Dees kept coming.
They whittled the margin down to single digits when Jake Melksham – who shanked 5.6 last week against Gold Coast – slotted his fourth major from his sixth kick, before Ben Keays sealed it for Adelaide with a tumbling circus trick from the goal square.
Lalor may need hamstring surgery
Sam Lalor starred early in the season but has been struck down by hamstring injuries.Credit: Getty Images
Sam Lalor may need surgery after suffering a second hamstring injury for the season in the opening minutes of his comeback game against Geelong on Saturday.
Playing in his first match since May 23, when he strained his hamstring against Essendon in round 12, the 18-year-old injured the hamstring again in the opening minutes of Saturday’s match.
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The Tigers are not expected to know the recovery program until Monday when the full extent of the injury is revealed, but it is unlikely Lalor will play again in 2025.
The No.1 draft pick showed his prodigious talent in his first 10 matches, but repeat hamstring injuries means the Tigers will need to undertake a rigorous assessment of the issue to ensure the problem is solved before he appears next.
Coach Adem Yze said Lalor’s injury flattened teammates and coaches, but the club would support him through the disappointment.
“I think the mechanism’s something that it’s hard to train. So yeah, it looks like a bad one, which is really disappointing,” Yze said.
“We’ve got to help him through that. We don’t want this to happen again. We want him to have a long career without these little hiccups.”
Jacob Bauer suffered a suspected ACL injury in the VFL on Sunday in Geelong to top off a bad weekend on the injury front for Richmond.
The better news for the Tigers was the reappearance of talented defender Josh Gibcus and best-and-fairest winner Jayden Short in the VFL. Richmond have a talented crop of youngsters, with Taj Hotton moving closer to selection.
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