The Fremantle Dockers went down to the Adelaide Crows 13.13.91 to 12.9.81 at Strathalbyn Oval in the Dockers first JLT Community Series game of the season.

Adelaide looked on another level throughout the game moving the ball with speed that the Dockers just couldn’t keep up with. New recruit Bryce Gibbs was sensational for the Crows racking up 27 disposals, four tackles, seven clearances and a goal and really showed what Crows fans can look forward to in the season to come, the standout player of the game was Matt Crouch who finished with 36 disposals and was dominant in the midfield battle.

The Dockers looked overwhelmed at times by the sheer speed and ball movement the Crows played with throughout the game and lacked any real method of attack aside from Matt Tabenar who kicked three goals and Nat Fyfe kicking two goals while also getting seven inside 50s. The major take away for Ross Lyon and his team is how his team never gave up, the Dockers fought back from a 29 point deficit at halftime to take a nine-point lead in the final term but it was late goals from Lachlan Murphy, Tom Lynch and Cam Ellis-Yolmen that managed to steer the ship for the Crows and get the 10 point win.

The Adelaide Crows won the disposal count 340-294 and the contested possessions 134-123 thanks to the work done by Crouch and Gibbs but lost the clearance battle 37-34 because of the good work that was done by Fyfe and Lachie Neale for the Dockers.

It was the usual suspects that stood up for the Dockers with Fyfe finishing with 27 disposals, six marks, four tackles and two goals. Fyfe and Fremantle will be hoping he can return to the elite form he had shown in his Brownlow medal-winning season and help lead the young emerging talent the Dockers have coming through with the likes of number two pick Andrew Brayshaw who had a good first outing in the purple picking up 14 disposals and six tackles and Bailey Bainfield who finished with 11 touches. A great sight for Dockers fans was the return of Alex Pearce who returned to the side after being sidelined for 21 months, Pearce put in a solid effort for his first game back finishing with eight touches and six marks.

The future is looking bright for the Dockers with the likes of Pearce, Neale, Bainfield, Langdon, and Tucker but it’s going to take Fyfe, Mundy, Walters, and Johnson to lead the way. Today was just a pre-season game but it was still a win for the kids and they should be proud of the fight they showed.