Match Details

Adelaide Crows v Melbourne
Adelaide Oval
Saturday July 28, 7.40pm AEST

Summary

While Melbourne thrashed the Crows by 91 points in Alice Springs earlier this year, Saturday night’s match at Adelaide Oval in front of a raucous, partisan home crowd will be a different proposition.

At home, the Crows almost gain a 23rd man, and they’ve used this to their advantage in wins against West Coast, Richmond and Geelong. All up, they’re 7-3 at the venue this year.

Despite that, Melbourne will have no fear of playing in enemy territory. Melbourne have won two of three against the Crows at Adelaide Oval. The last time the two sides played there in 2017, the Dees cruised to a 41-point win over the eventual minor premiers.

With five weeks left in the season, a lot is at stake in this game in the race for September.

For Melbourne, a win will provide some breathing room, with several sides hot on the Dees’ tail in the eight. In the opposite camp, Adelaide must pull together a win to keep their slim finals hopes alive.

Team news

Melbourne
For the first time since round 11, Melbourne’s team is unchanged. Jordan Lewis is set to become the 85th VFL/AFL player to reach the 300-game milestone while Dom Tyson will play his 100th game. In encouraging news, Aaron vandenBerg has been named as an emergency as he builds to an AFL return.

Adelaide
Adelaide captain Taylor Walker will return after serving a one match suspension. Walker is Adelaide’s only change, with first-year player Tom Doedee out due to a concussion.

Players to watch

Jordan Lewis
Lewis will join an elite club when he plays his 300th game this weekend against Adelaide. Lewis has quietly gone about his business this year, recording the third-most disposals for the club.

Angus Brayshaw
The 22-year-old recently put pen to paper on a four-year deal with Melbourne and has grown into one of the club’s elite midfielders this season. He’ll be looking to repeat his last performance against Adelaide, where he picked up 37 touches and three goals in Alice Springs in round 10.

Josh Jenkins
Alongside skipper Taylor Walker, Jenkins is one of the Crows leading targets up forward. The 200cm forward/ruck has kicked 30 goals this season and is ranked 11th in the league for marks inside 50. After Tom Hawkins bagged seven last weekend, Melbourne will be hoping another tall forward doesn’t run amuck on Saturday.

In the media

Melbourne assistant coach Max Rooke on Adelaide
"I’m sure speaking on behalf of the players, you just love playing in that environment [at Adelaide Oval] – when it’s really loud and it makes it even more enjoyable when you can get up and get a win. There are definitely some things we’ll be able to take away from [the match in round 10]. But we’ve got to have a look at how much their team has changed, along with ours, because Adelaide is starting to go a lot better than they were back then."

Adelaide football manager Brett Burton on Melbourne
"They gave us a good touch-up up in Alice Springs, so we’re keen to bounce back from that. They’ve been in some reasonable form. It’ll be a good contest and clearly, we’re looking to win every game now to give ourselves an opportunity to play finals."

2018 so far

Ladder position (as of publication date)
Melbourne: 7th (W10, L7)
Adelaide: 12th (W9, L8)

Last five matches
Melbourne: LLWWL
Adelaide: LWLWW

Scoring record
Melbourne points for: 261.212 (1778) – highest in the AFL
Melbourne points against: 204.166 (1390) – 10th lowest in the AFL

Adelaide points for: 205.195 (1425) – 10th highest in the AFL
Adelaide points against: 207.196 (1438) – 12th lowest in the AFL

Did you know…

  • Max Gawn will likely move into third place on the club leaderboard of total hit-outs in this match. Gawn, who has 3099 hit-outs, needs 12 more taps to surpass Jim Stynes who recorded 3110 in his career. The club record is held by Jeff White on 4783, while Mark Jamar sits second on 3494.
  • Jordan Lewis, while at Hawthorn, played his 100th and his 150th game against Adelaide.
  • Angus Brayshaw is currently ranked third in the league for average inside 50s per game (having played more than 10 matches). Averaging 5.57 per game, only Brownlow fancies Shaun Higgins (5.88) and Dustin Martin (5.63) have a higher figure.

Melbourne Milestones

Jordan Lewis: 300 games
Dom Tyson: 100 games
Jake Melksham: 100 career goals (needs two more)
Bernie Vince: 5000 career disposals (needs 24 more)

Head-to-head history

Total
Played: 38 games
Melbourne: 14 wins
Adelaide: 24 wins

At the Adelaide Oval
Played: 3 games
Melbourne: 2 wins
Adelaide: 1 win

Past decade
Played: 12 games
Melbourne: 4 wins
Adelaide: 8 wins

Last time we met
Round 10, 2018: Melbourne 23.8 (146) defeated Adelaide 8.7 (55) at TIO Traeger Park, Alice Springs

Highest home and away season attendance
47,882 – round eight, 2017 at Adelaide Oval

Biggest wins
Melbourne: 96 points (round seven, 2011 at the MCG)
Adelaide: 76 points (round eight, 2008 at Football Park)

Match Day Hub

All the key info for Saturday night can be found on our Match Day Hub.