Round 17 SANFL Snapshot – Sunday

Woodville-West Torrens went a long way toward securing a finals double-chance when it eclipsed Adelaide by 65 points at Maughan Thiem Kia Oval.

Now sitting in second place with 22 premiership points, the Eagles boast a two-win and percentage advantage on fourth-placed South and fifth-placed Norwood with just two rounds to play.

Near full strength, Jade Sheedy’s charges made their move in the second stanza when they booted 6.1 while holding the Crows scoreless to celebrate the 150th game of 2020 premiership hero Angus Poole.

It gave the hosts a match-winning lead of 53 points at the main change as they took their foot off the accelerator with just two goals in the third quarter as Adelaide kicked 4.2.

But with their trio of goalsneaks – Daniel Menzel, Troy Menzel and Tyson Stengle – continuing to threaten the goal, the Eagles were always going to be too strong.

Former Cat Daniel Menzel helped set things up in the first half before finishing with four goals while brother Troy kicked two, including a perfectly-timed crumb featured in the clip below.

Stengle kicked three majors but the standout for the afternoon was Eagles utility Jack Hayes, who racked up a massive stat line of 28 disposals, 16 marks, six tackles, five clearances and two goals.

Hayes read the ball beautifully to cut off several of the Crows’ attacking forays while also working hard forward of the ball to hit the scoreboard.

As many as eight Eagles had at least 25 disposals or more, with Kai Pudney leading the way with 34, followed by Kobe Mutch and James Tsitas with 29 each while Riley Knight and Jimmy Toumpas had 27 each.

Former Eagle James Rowe continued to relish his midfield time to rack up 35 disposals, 10 marks and six clearances to head the Crows’ contributors while Adelaide captain Matthew Wright made a welcome return to finish with 31 disposals and 11 marks.

Crows rookie James Borlase played arguably his best game of League football, even spending some time in the ruck, to collect 22 disposals and 10 marks while Lachlan Gollant made it seven goals in two matches with a haul of three for the visitors.