While perfect conditions suggested the ball would be zipping around all over Blundstone Arena on Saturday, both sides suffered through patches of poor disposal during the first half, a trend highlighted by a number of goals from  turnovers during the second term. First it was North forward Drew Petrie who swooped on a lazy cross-field kick from Luke Brown to ram home his second major and minutes later Crows goalsneak Charlie Cameron had his first courtesy of an ineffective Kangaroos handball at half-back. With finals footy looming, both sides will be desperate to iron out this kind of sloppiness, knowing similar mistakes in September can be particularly costly.

In a game that featured seven lead changes, it took the Crows until the 25-minute mark of the second term to hit the front and when they did it seemed almost to be against the run of play. At the main break the Roos had recorded 50 more disposals than Adelaide, but were playing less effective footy. While the Crows forwards weren’t exactly firing, they were receiving more direct service from teammates willing to keep the ball moving and who were running harder in transition. These efforts were illustrated by in an inside-50 count that favoured the visitors by 29-23 despite the extra possession North had enjoyed to that point.