The Western Crows have put on a masterclass as they defeated the 2018 premiers, the Central Giants by 69 points at QBE Stadium yesterday afternoon.
Before the match got underway, both sides huddled in a circle to hold a minutes silence for the victims in the Christchurch tragedy last week.
Both sides were evenly matched and playing attacking footy from the first bounce.
Sam Anderson was amongst the play early and opened the scoring thanks to some good link play from Ben Daly and Jay Johnson.
The quarter ended with Sam Anderson kicking his third as the Crows took a 2 goal lead into the first break.
Anderson then picked up where he left off as he slotted the first 2 goals of the quarter to bring his tally to 5 for the game.
Young development players Daniel Du Plessis and Beren Goodwin were playing well in the second quarter and made an impact around the contest.
The Crows steamed ahead in the third quarter as defenders Sam Burdett and Alastair Maisey held the Giants to only one goal.
Up front, Declan Crann was providing good support in the Crows forward line kicking 3 goals for the quarter.
The Crows had the game sewn up after kicking the first 3 goals of the final term as they stormed home to record the biggest winning margin of the season.
The hero:
It has been said before, but the Crows midfield were phenomenal again.
Ty Smith has a plethora of players to tap it to in the ruck as Jay Johnson, Jay Green and Clayton Campbell communicate to work the ball out of the middle of the ground.
The support cast:
Sam Anderson and Declan Crann were superb as they combined in the forward line to kick 10 goals between them for the game.
The consolation effort:
Giants defender Nick Rhodes gave it his all in a losing effort while Tristan Burnett never gave up as he had a strong game.
Say what?
“We had a 99% performance today. We talked about opening the game up and our midfield really clicked and was the best game that we have played all season.” Crows assistant coach, Sean Mayes.
“It was a tough effort today and hopefully we can get back to how we were playing at the start of the season.” Giants head coach, Izaak Williams.
Goal Scorers:
Western Crows: Sam Anderson 6, Declan Crann 4, Clayton Campbell 2, Ben Daly 2, Luke Williams 2, Jay Green 1
Central Giants: Wayne Sullivan 2, Elliot Bennetts 2, Tyson Schmid 1, Nathan Ryan 1, Ethan Halton 1
Best on ground:
Western Crows: Ben Daly
Central Giants: Nick Rhodes
