Blog log from R17 of 2025: Adelaide vs Melbourne

Neal-Bullen passes to Fogarty 40m out on the flank after van Rooyen fumbles a Viney handball in the centre, the Fog leaves his set shot to the left. (Q1 1:01)
van Rooyen redeems himself with a nice pass to Petracca to mark in front of Worrell 40m out on the flank, but that set shot is also to the left. (Q1 2:53)
Lever drops an intercept mark 20m out from the Crows goal, Keays tries a soccer but it’s to the left. (Q1 6:24)
Petracca gives outside a pack at half forward to Rivers who sails through the first goal of the sunny afternoon off the right from 45m on a slight angle. (Q1 7:05)
Melksham gathers a bounce pass from Petracca on the HFF and uses excellent vision to centre for Langdon 40m out in front, who shoots to the left. (Q1 13:25)
McVee is playing too high in his matchup with Rankine, and watches a long Fogarty ball go over his head from outer wing to the pocket 20m out where Izak marks and goals. (Q1 15:35)
Walker marks a Keays pass to the pocket over Salem, he curls in the goal off the right from 25m. (Q1 18:30)
Gawn rumbles out the front of the next centre bounce, ball up the guts to the hotspot where Melksham marks in front of Butts but misses badly. (Q1 20:05)
Worrell is pinged for deliberate rushing, Jefferson was nearby but it was a justifiable decision. Jefferson misses, nevertheless. (Q1 21:33)
Petracca marks in front of Worrell 45m out in front on the QT siren. Goalkicking accuracy has been Melbourne’s biggest problem this year, and this one flies to the left. (Q1 27:20)
Sparrow takes a link mark on outer wing and feeds Petracca who tries to hit Pickett with a low and long ball but it clears him and skids to the right. (Q2 1:47)
Hinge’s short kick in is spoiled by Langford to let Pickett in for an opportunist goal from 20m! (Q2 1:47)
Rankine is penalised under the protected area rule to bring van Rooyen from members wing to near the hotspot, finally the Demons have found their kicking boots, goal Melbourne! (Q2 4:21)
van Rooyen leads from the goalsquare to the pocket ahead of Keane to mark 25m out, he curls in another excellent set shot! (Q2 7:14)
Melksham leads under the ball but gets a high contact free on Worrell 35m out on a slight angle, Milk steers through another set shot peach for Melbourne! (Q2 9:39)
Pickett flies on the back of O’Brien to mark a long Petracca kick to the pocket 20m out, he curls in the goal off the left, Demons have exorcised their kicking demons! (Q2 11:29)
Curtin sprints away from the pack on members wing and goes long over McVee to Rankine in the pocket 20m out, who converts to repeat the play from Q1. (Q2 14:14)
Bowey misses a pressured handball on outer wing, Peatling mops up leading to that man Rankine snapping his third goal from 45m on the counter. (Q2 19:00)
Soligo gets a rare centre clearance for the Crows, his kick hits Walker well in front of May 40m out on a slight angle but he misses. Did these two sides change jumpers at QT? (Q2 20:26)
Walker roves a Rachele contest 40m out on the flank and shoots off the right off a step to an empty square… bounces straight and through! (Q2 27:15)
Credit to Rachele who deliberately tapped down to Walker instead of going for the mark against May. (Q2 27:30)
Thilthorpe roves and shoots off the left across the body from much the same spot but it’s just narrow to the left. (Q2 28:00)
O’Brien pokes a pass from members wing to Rachele 40m out near the boundary, but the set shot skews narrow to the right. (Q2 30:06)
A lull as Rachele limps off. (Q2 31:45)
Keays roves and tries a dribbler from 40m on the flank, it evades Langdon chasing back but rolls across the face to the left. (Q2 34:00)
Keays receives from Walker, turns and rolls in the go-ahead goal for the Crows past May from 20m after a handball chain through half forward. (Q3 1:15)
Rankine snaps his fourth goal from a throw-in deep in attack, O’Brien tapping corridor side for Izak to speed onto and baulk past Oliver onto his right. (Q3 7:10)
O’Brien marks over Lever on the HFF and feeds Keays streaming forward to 40m, but the snap goes across the face to the left. (Q3 9:45)
Fritsch roves a Jefferson contest to a Pickett inside 50 kick but snaps off his left to the left under pressure from 20m. (Q3 10:25)
Worrell is outpositioned but manages to fist away a Jefferson pass to Tholstrup to prevent what looked a certain score. (Q3 13:59)
Viney scores a Wallaby try over the Adelaide behind line, crowd distraught that the umpire doesn’t pay a deliberate rushed behind. (Q3 15:00)
Rankine beats McVee to mark 30m out in the pocket and lines up for goal number five… curls it in off the right! (Q3 16:57)
Melksham snaps his second off the right boot from the hotspot after Tholstrup contests on the HFF and the crumb pings off several bodies into his hands. (Q3 18:56)
Rankine receives on members wing after the next bounce, spins and finds Taylor in a phonebox between three Demons to mark 35m out on a slight angle and convert. (Q3 20:11)
Just after his man Lever hobbled off with injury, Fogarty marks a Peatling kick in front of a pack 30m out on the flank and boots his second goal. (Q3 23:46)
Neal-Bullen swivels the hips to get rid of Salem on the HFF and centres for O’Brien 40m out, who gives off but that’s a poor decision as there was too much pressure, no score. (Q3 25:29)
Keane waits too long to handball under a Melksham tackle and is whistled for HTB despite eventually giving off, Milk gives some lip then bangs through his third goal from 45m! (Q3 27:46)
Fogarty marks a short Cumming pass in front of Turner after the Crows work the ball from the next centre bounce, he shoots from 45m on a slight angle in red time… goal! (Q3 29:46)
Ah, but a late review shows a spike on Edge, goal reversed. (Q3 30:56)
Langdon passes to Melksham leading towards the boundary 40m out. Tough set shot from the Ben Keays pocket… Milk threads it for goal number four! (Q4 1:56)
Thilthorpe marks a high ball from Smith 45m out on the flank over May but tries a centring ball that misses its target, Melbourne rebounds. (Q4 3:56)
Repeat inside 50 for the Crows as Melbourne can’t get past outer wing, Fogarty snaps through his second goal from 35m in front nowhere near either post! (Q4 4:21)
Neal-Bullen is swamped and coughs up a handball on outer wing, Dees counter by hand through the HFF, Pickett swivels out of a Hinge tackle and feeds Sparrow for the goal from 35m! (Q4 7:06)
Fogarty takes a contested link mark against two Demons at half forward, spins and goes long to the fat side for Walker to mark 35m out on the flank, whose kick is short, no score. (Q4 8:21)
A left-foot screwing set shot from 35m by Walker ended up being the wrong decision, given his thumping drop punt skills. (Q4 8:52)
Curtin comes from the opposite wing and marks untouched in the middle of a pack 20m out, he steers through the goal. (Q4 9:51)
Keays receives from Thithorpe in the square, gets tackled and tries a snap over his head while prone on the ground, did McVee or May touch it in time? Review… (Q4 14:06)
Crowd cheers lustily as the bloke from ARC says with authority that neither Demon got a fingernail to it, that’s almost the sealer for the Crows. (Q4 14:55)
One of the replay angles seems to show that McVee did indeed get a finger to it, but what the umpires take away one day from Keays, they can give back another day. (Q4 16:09)
Viney gets a 50m penalty on outer wing for Berry’s late push after a mark, he gives off to Pickett who blazes wide right from the HFF. (Q4 18:09)
Melbourne finally get punished for kicking across the backline, with Rankine spoiling Salem then winning the HTB free 20m out in the pocket… but he misses. (Q4 21:50)
Salem is involved in the resultant rebound from the kick in that goes all the way, with Fritsch getting a holding free on Butts in the square for his first goal. (Q4 22:51)
Five minutes to go and the Crows have given up some late leads in 2025 already, so they still have some work to do to earn the four points. (Q4 23:07)
Petracca sharks a Keays handball on outer wing and starts a counter, Pickett shoots from 50m on a slight angle, did Worrell touch it in time? ARC says yes very quickly! (Q4 26:37)
Fritsch snaps off a step from the boundary 30m out after the Dees handball past a stoppage at half forward, but again it’s touched through on the line. (Q4 29:39)
That was the last chance for Melbourne, Crows will march on towards a top four berth. (Q4 29:48)