AFL Round 14 – Essendon v Adelaide: Jeckyll and Hyde Crows slayed by Bombers – Who is Corey Parish?

JECKYLL AND HYDE CROWS SLAYED BY GRITTY BOMBERS – WHO IS COREY PARISH?

The last leg of the boys weekend had a lot of pressure on it. After a disappointing game between the Swans and the Tigers on Friday night and a missed quad at Moonee Valley, as well as an unfruitful Friday at Crown Casino, the Crows – Bombers game needed to deliver. A possible $5,000 collect at the Valley was thwarted in the last leg by jockey Corey Parish, who all of our group of 10, including one who worked in the industry, had never heard of. Who is Corey Parish? we asked the attendant as we exited the Valley on the way to Docklands. No response. It was agreed that a Crows win would perhaps ease the pain. The consensus among the boys was that after a big win against the Kangas the week previous, surely the Crows would deliver. They had been one week on and one week off all year but against a Bombers outfit without Watson, coming off a loss to the Dees and ravaged by ASADA, surely this was the Crows’ night.

How wrong can 10 blokes be? Within five minutes goals to Hocking and two to Stanton had the Dons up by three goals with the Crows still with their minds in Adelaide, or maybe trying to work out who Corey Parish is. Heppell and Winderlich both had seven touches in the first quarter and the Bombers were off to a flyer; up by four at the first break. The call went up for an early exit to the Crown. Maybe a beer with Corey Parish? In retrospect we could have saved ourselves a lot of pain taking that option.

The Crows deceived all night winning each of the last three quarters but there were far few contributors for the Crows. At 36 points up 15 minutes into in the third quarter, the Bombers looked home but the Crows kicked the last three in the third to keep it interesting. Maybe the last quarter fade out was in the Bombers’ mind from the previous week. Could the ASADA investigation take its toll?. The Bombers needed leaders and it was former Saint Goddard who was Herculian with 16 last quarter possessions. Whenever the Crows got within range the Bombers answered; with freak goals to Hurley from 50 of the left, and Howlett with a check-sider from the pocket, like Betts the week before. It appeared to graze the post but no review was called for. Why have the technology? The Bombers found heroes Goddard, Heppell and Hibberd who all stood up at the big moments.

The Crows had chances but Jenkins, who had a good game, missed a crucial set shot from 20 and Dangerfield, who did not have a good game, played on late in the game and turned the ball over at a crucial stage. The Mailman, one of our party of 10, promised to call Adelaide radio midweek and suggest Danger needed two weeks in the magoos. He looked slow and banged up and in need of a spell. Only Thompson, Jacobs, Betts, Jenkins and Wright got ticks for the night. Too many passengers and no leadership in total contrast to the Bombers.

Had the Crows stolen victory it would have been an injustice for the Bombers, who despite off field dramas, continue to fight against the odds. Their supporters belted out the song with pride whilst the Crows supporters headed to the Crown to lick their wounds and wonder what might have been . Maybe Jeckyll and Hyde could pull off a miracle in next week’s Showdown; after all Cory Parish had done it at the Valley.

 

ESSENDON 7.0 9.2 11.10 15.11 (101)

ADELAIDE 2.6 5.7 9.7 14.8 (92)

GOALS

Essendon: Stanton 2, Ryder 2, Winderlich 2, Hocking, Ambrose, Goddard, Daniher, Zaharakis, Melksham, Howlett, Colyer, Hurley

Adelaide: Jenkins 4, Betts 3, Walker 2, Podsiadly 2, Dangerfield, Smith, Martin

BEST

Essendon: Hibberd, Goddard, Heppell, Melksham, Hooker, Hocking

Adelaide: Thompson, Jenkins, Wright, Jacobs, Betts, Walker

INJURIES

Essendon: Hibberd (left leg)

Adelaide: Mackay (concussion), Dangerfield (corked quad)

SUBSTITUTES

Essendon: Zach Merrett replaced Tom Bellchambers in the third quarter

Adelaide: Jarryd Lyons replaced David Mackay (concussion) in the third quarter

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Chamberlain, McInerney, O’Gorman

Official crowd: 30,948 at Etihad Stadium

 

Our Votes Goddard 3 Thompson 2 Hibberd 1

Comments

  1. Malcolm Ashwood says

    Essendon were to good , Goddard stood up big time in the last q and his leadership stood out great point , Raj . Crows are missing , Van Berlo just like ,Nick Maxwell a very good leader . Crows in my opinion get sucked in by the hero worship and get ahead of themselves so easily ,, Port are so much better in this area it is a joke . Frusrating and disappointing crows. But away from the distractions of there own stupidity and incompetence which is impossible , on pure ability the bombers should make the 8

  2. Rick Neagle says

    The Crows have a second rate brand. This week’s showdown will highlight what is required in The AFL these days. Well done to Keith Thomas, Peter Rhode and Richard Kelly for bringing he culture of Norwood FC to the Power

  3. great write up raj. spot on re: crows 2014.
    hit the nail on the head.

  4. Nice work Raj. Carn the pear.

  5. Alan de Menezes says

    The Bombers have been just as inconsistent as the Crows. Yep they may have their reasons or even excuses but as a Bomber supporter that was an Ugly, Scary but still Gutsy win in the end. Crows did very well to come close after that first quarter and I sat watching helplessly as visions of Anzac day started to reappear. Josh Jenkins stuck it right up us and rightly so. He would have been handy for us rather than an out of form Belly. More than are usual leaders I was impressed with the work of Hibberd and also Hooker keeping the BIG Tex relativley quiet. I guess 4 Ugly points is better than no points like the loss against the Dees.
    Sadly the Craows are going to have to play out of their skin to beat a rampaging Port Adelaide….but footy is a funny game.

  6. Lyndon Foot says

    For all the talk about the poor start – and the first 10 minutes were disastrous – we still had more scoring shots on the board at quarter time. Poor kicking is poor footy and it is becoming too common a theme for Adelaide this year, especially away from home.

  7. Sam McEwen says

    Good summing up Raj. It seems the Crows lose their intensity and commitment to the ball if they don’t have the big crowd behind them at Adelaide Oval.

  8. Can’t help thinking that Goody and Fred may have had something to do with the Bombers win? Tag Brodie Smith, bash into Danger anywhere around the contest, zone into Tex’s path and force errors with midfield foot disposal. I think the bar might be the winner this weekend.

  9. I was there to share the pain of the day – Spot on!
    Crows were missing in the first half and Corey ???? gave us nothing!
    Winner from the weekend was the beers and company!
    A great read Raj

  10. Good summary, Raj. C Parish owes us.
    Unfortunately for their supporters, the Crows have again tickled their hopes and dreams in 2014, but clearly shown they cannot win away. They’re not a finals team. They simply cannot beat a fellow contender when they must. They lack on-field leadership. Time and time again they refused to take the game on and challenge Essendon with quick transition play….until it was too late in the game. Someone has to stand-up for them to progress. Defence was exposed for its lack of pace. I think every side in the comp knows this, except the Crows! Walker plays too far up field – he cost them the Hurley goal due to his lack of mobility once the ball hit the ground. Thompson, Betts and Jenkins saved them from total embarassment. There’s a football lesson hatching in Adelaide this week, but the Crows won’t be delivering it!

  11. Mark 'Swish' Schwerdt says

    As I tweeted during the game, the Crows showed all the intensity of a Balfours Vanilla Slice.

    Especially early, Scott “Kev Kavanagh” Thompson butchered everything he touched, so his stats were somewhat misleading.

    Can’t remember too many leads into space from Tex, but numerous examples of Crows having the running forward of the wing, then needing to reverse and wait for someone to kick to.

    Don’t get me started on the fact that it was an all-ticketed affair attended by less than 31000.

    I was sat next to the Crows supporter from hell – think he was Danny from Droop Street’s cousin. I’m glad the result of a footy match doesn’t churn my insides out like it did for him – it used to though.

  12. Matthew Wojcik says

    If you can’t string four quarters together you are not going to win any game…gone are the days where you can get away with it. The sides are too even now.

  13. A boys weekend ruined by the Crows.

    Reminds me of a footy trip to the Prelim in 1993.

    Do Danger and Thommo burn it more than Ash Wednesday?

    The new Trigger/Connell combo.

    Go Pear

  14. Good article Raj. I agree that what’s the point of having the review technology if you’re not going to use it.

  15. Thanks for all the comments. Clearly no-one knows who Corey Parish is and everyone agrees the Crows have fallen short of the mark

  16. Shane D. says

    Keep ’em coming Raj. Enjoyable read and interesting to read in a few places/articles how some individuals – Goddard, Hibberd and Heppel rose up for this game and displayed what leadership can do on the field.

  17. Luke Reynolds says

    Great read Raj. Crows are as hard to read, and tip, as North Melbourne. Of course I tipped Adelaide to beat Essendon. Goddard was superb in the last half.
    Will keep an eye on C.Parish.

  18. Great article raj – I like the dynamic of the personal story you put into each write up. Classy. You have underlined the crows ineffectiveness and continuous clumsy disposal when it matters.
    What gets me about the crows is they have never been a team like a hawthorn or a Geelong who never go into their 50, score a goal and make it look so easy, like a training drill. Until they do, we are constantly goin to be banging our heads against a wall with their inconsistency.
    I want them inside fifty, and bang goal. Then a centre clearance and bang goal. Then a turnover and bang goal.
    It has to happen very soon, otherwise I’ll get ready for season 2015 for the crows.

  19. Another enjoyable read, Raj. I was happy with the result at Etihad Saturday night, having escaped the stranglehold of Adelaide’s footy fever many years ago. But I admit you wouldn’t have known it, such was my reserved enthusiasm.

    Neither team look a top 5 chance, clearly. But take out the first 5 mins and the match was a good contest to watch, although very frustrating. I just love it when the Crows lose. The autopsy starts and heads roll. You’d have to be thick skinned to play AFL these days, especially for the Crows!

    The Bombers’ win managed to break the record run of second placings from Moonee Valley during the day. (Hard Stride failed to win any of the replays on Sunday morning either). As for Cory Parish, his last four wins before Saturday were at Hobart’s world famous Elwick racecourse. Now he has a cult following!

  20. Nice article Chilavert. Quite simple leadership group needs to step up in crucial games. The group must simply LEAD! take the game on. With many young players in the team the leadership group must step up and show the youngsters how its done… if they cant they need to be dropped or sacked from the leadership group. Van Berlo is a big loss to the crows. Goddard proved my point… Crowns cannot always reply on Thompson and danger and sloan others have to step up. A young player in Jenkins just did that.
    The likes of henderson, lynch hopefully returning to the team, should bring some experience, and forgotten young gun brad crouch some zip in the midfield.

  21. I bet you know who Corey Parish is now Raj ;-) Good read…even if it was about the Crows!

  22. Nice report Raj. I was marooned in Kingaroy with no TV access to the game. Logged on early in the first quarter to see that the Bombers had kicked six straight, while we had done bugger all. Was then very pleased that I could not watch the game. Queensland regional TV has its charms, but I can’t quite identify them at this point.

    Footy and racing results aside, you’ve had a good weekend!

  23. Luke Smith says

    Shame about Danger. Great player but looks injured.

  24. The Mailman says

    Dangerfield is a very good player, as a diehard crows supporter it’s not unfair to say his impact on games this year has dropped this is supported by raw statistical numbers at his best he is devastating , inspirational and vertually unstoppable Rightly or wrongly we expect a lot . How he works out of his current form slump will decide whether he remains a good player or becomes a elite superstar of the competition . . May be he needs a rest or hopefully a showdown ! Thanks Raj great write up

  25. Tom Martin says

    Great write up Raj.

    There are some trips away when you just can’t take a trick.

    Flight delayed, hotel booking astray, wagers lost, love spurned, tequilas slammed, cash blown, court summons received, stomach pumped and relationship on shaky ground at home after thirty missed calls ignored and a credit card bill that will show $1800 withdrawn in 9 separate transactions between the hours of 2am-5am with a counterparty recorded as ‘XXX-ENTER-HER-TAINMENT’.

    But it was all worth it for Corey Parish’s buck show.

    Next time you should arrive a couple of hours before the Crows game and get the major disappointment over with early.

  26. Terrific article Raj. You had better takeover from M Rucci and give us some unbiased reports.
    The Crows surprised a few people at the showdown including me. All teams are vulnerable when enough pressure is applied. Brings a few of my Power friends down to earth

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