SUMMARY
Adelaide must earn a win this weekend to have any hope of qualifying for a second straight SANFL finals series. The Crows are precariously placed in seventh spot on the SANFL ladder, two wins and percentage behind fifth-placed Glenelg with just three rounds remaining. Adelaide needs to overturn a five-game losing streak – an unwanted Club record during the Crows’ four seasons in the SANFL – against the bottom-placed Roosters. But North Adelaide will also see Saturday’s game as a chance to end its own four-game losing run and possibly lift itself off the bottom rung of the ladder.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Adelaide: 5
North Adelaide: 2
WHERE AND WHEN: Prospect Oval, Saturday, August 12, 2.10pm ACST
LAST FIVE TIMES
R7, 2017, North Adelaide 5.5 (35) d by Adelaide 17.7 (109) at Prospect Oval
R14, 2016, North Adelaide 9.9 (63) d by Adelaide 11.12 (78) at Prospect Oval
R7, 2016, North Adelaide 9.9 (63) d by Adelaide 9.13 (67) at Prospect Oval
R14, 2015, North Adelaide 8.11 (59) d by Adelaide 25.10 (160) at Prospect Oval
R2, 2015, North Adelaide 13.12 (90) d Adelaide 12.15 (87) at Prospect Oval
THE SIX POINTS
1. Adelaide stormed to its biggest SANFL win of the season so far in the last meeting between the two sides back in Round Seven. Jonathon Beech dominated with 31 possessions and three goals while Crows development player Matthew Leigh kicked a career-best four majors.
2. The SANFL Crows have won their past four games against the Roosters.
3. Former North Adelaide junior Harrison Wigg amassed 34 disposals in Adelaide’s SANFL loss to Glenelg in Bordertown last round – more than any other player in the League for the split Round 15.
4. North Adelaide’s James Craig is second in the SANFL for hit-outs (443) and third for taps to advantage (119) this season despite missing two games.
5. Incredibly, Scott Thompson, Harrison Wigg and development player Daniel Fry all laid a SANFL-high 14 tackles against the Tigers last round.
6. Second-year defender Tom Doedee is No.1 in the SANFL for intercept possessions (114) including 31 marks from opposition kicks, ranked seventh in the League.
IT'S A BIG WEEK FOR… Jordan Gallucci
The teenager continues to blossom at SANFL level and produced one of his best performances as a Crow in the trip to Bordertown last round. Gallucci’s speed, strength and willingness to take the game on suits Don Pyke’s game plan to a tee and the young gun could yet earn an AFL recall at the perfect time of the year with another strong SANFL showing.
