Crows trounce under strength Hawthorn - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Crows trounce under strength Hawthorn

By Daniel Brettig 07/03/2009 09:30:16 PM Comments (0)

Adelaide strolled to a predictable 67-point victory over an unrecognisable Hawthorn side in their AFL practice match at Berri Oval on Saturday.

The Crows weathered an early harrying effort by the undermanned Hawks, which saw the first term elapse without a goal, before building some confidence for the regular season by winning 15.10 (100) to 5.3 (33).

Nathan Bock, Chris Knights and Bernie Vince were the prime movers for the Crows, while up forward knee injury survivor Trent Hentschel (four goals) and young livewire Taylor Walker (three) showed they could grow into a devastating tandem.

Matthew Suckling, Ben McGlynn and Simon Taylor all worked hard for the overmatched Hawks.

For Hawthorn, only back-up ruckman Brent Renouf took part among the Hawks' 2008 premiership 22, with numerous ring-ins from the club's Box Hill affiliate filling out the travelling squad.

Adelaide also rested numerous senior players, but their side remained relatively strong with the likes of Brent Reilly, Bock and Hentschel on the ground.

There was some experimentation from the Crows, forward/ruckman draftee James Sellar showing some promising early touch in defence to indicate his future may not have to be at the attacking end of the ground.

What they lacked in class, the makeshift Hawks made up for in grit in the opening minutes, fighting the Crows to a first term stalemate.

The Crows re-jigged their forward line slightly in the second quarter and found a useful focal point in Kurt Tippett (two goals) to start asserting some scoreboard dominance.

Majors to him, Hentschel and Walker gave Adelaide a four-goal halftime advantage.

Walker's confidence and poise around goal proved dangerous.

In the final term Hentschel and Walker added to their hauls while defensive playmaker Bock ran downfield to get his name on the scoresheet.

Crows coach Neil Craig said he was happy with the attitude and ball movement of his players in an environment where they could have been expected to lose concentration.

"I really enjoyed the attitude of the players and the energy they played with, we spoke about that in yesterday's meeting," he said.

"Hawthorn had a lot of young kids in their side, I appreciate that, but our ball movement didn't change for that, they (the young players) were still trying to do it.

"So it's really positive for us, we understand the composition of both teams and what it was for us, but it's been a good week."

Hawthorn football operations manager Mark Evans said last year's Coleman Medallist Lance Franklin (thumb/shoulder) was one of a number of players with a chance of returning to action next week.

Sam Mitchell, Jarryd Roughead and Cyril Rioli will also come into contention.

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