A fine singer, Izak Rankine plays his football like he’s taking requests. Adelaide were nearly five goals down halfway through the second quarter against Melbourne. If they had lost, they would have coughed up third spot and been in the ruck of teams on 40 points including ninth-placed Fremantle. Rankine stepped up on stage, showcased his full suite of talents and tilted the game the Crows’ way.
Rankine got his five goals when Adelaide needed them most and he got them in so many different ways. He got them by floating through the middle, by ducking into space in the pocket, by getting front and square, by banana bending them from set shots and by sharking ruck contests. He nearly had a career-high sixth after a wonderful lunging spoil and a bit of jujitsu hustling forced a free kick.
He has a remarkable ability to get down low and still move at high speed. But he’s not just a lurker who kicks freak goals. He applies pressure and works hard at both ends of the ground. His field kicking and his ability to push up the ground and pinpoint a fellow forward are standouts. If he gets a clear run at it, he’s capable of being one of the best players in the country. He is already one of the best to watch, one of the hardest to match up on and one of the most important to his team. He’s a footballer born to play to full houses, and to ignite what was a pretty plain team prior to 2025.
Rankine missed about two months of footy last year and the Crows missed him desperately. It was such a frustrating year for the club. They were beaten by a wretched Richmond and allowed Joel Amartey to put nine goals on them. This year they have their swagger back. Their backline and midfield are honest but it’s the forward line that packs out Adelaide Oval. Six of them have kicked more than 20 goals this year. It’s a mix of the gargantuan, the canny, the flashy, the freakish, the unobtrusive and the selfless. When one is quiet, another will step up. Against the Demons, it was Rankine’s turn.
Earlier in the day, Sydney kept their slim finals hopes alive by hanging on against Fremantle. The Dockers have excelled in close finishes recently, an area that cost them a finals spot last year. And with Shai Bolton springing to life, they looked as though they might run over the top of the Swans. But the home side had a bit too much class, and their stars were everywhere in the dying minutes. With a fairly soft draw and the faintest sniff of finals, they’re exactly the sort of team you’d be keen to avoid in the next two months. GWS Giants, Brisbane and Geelong (at the SCG) wouldn’t want to put a foot wrong against them on the run home.
Sam Powell-Pepper and his wife Brya welcomed their third daughter earlier this week. The Port Adelaide forward was like a man possessed in the first half against Brisbane, powering out the front of stoppages and kicking two goals. Port were more than holding their own in a high standard affair. In the third term, he led and marked on the wing, played on immediately and his left buckled. It’s the opposite knee to the one he injured just over 12 months ago. He was as angry and as devastated as you see a footballer in that circumstance.
Powell-Pepper is one of those aggressive, high adrenalin, low possession, maximum impact footballers who gets the Power motoring and who coach Ken Hinkley adores. “It gets a bit sadder for me because it’s my last game of coaching Sam, and he’s been such a great player for me,” Hinkley said.
Earlier, Geelong had a walk in the park against a bunch of kids from Richmond, one of whom, No 1 pick Sam Lalor, tore his hamstring in the opening few minutes. Apart from Nick Vlastuin ironing out Patrick Dangerfield, it felt as far removed from the years of their great rivalry as you could get. Just to drum home the genius of the AFL fixture, the two teams meet again next month. But for all the hype over the Tigers’ draftees – and the ones still in the shed might be the best of the bunch – the Cats rolled out yet another bargain pick who slotted in seamlessly.
George Stevens is a lantern-jawed ball magnet who was overlooked by every other club in the 2023 national draft. Maybe they were put off by the torn ACL, the lack of speed, and the fact he didn’t go to one of the private school football factories. He did his year in the VFL, regularly amassing 25 or more touches. Like Tom Mitchell, he plays an uncomplicated game and gets a heap of the ball. He played his junior footy at South Warrnambool, home of Jonathan Brown, Hugh McCluggage and Wayne Schwass. These players are out there – in local leagues and on the fringes of the draft – and more often than not they’re snapped up by Geelong.
