When you watch Adelaide play, whether it’s on television or live in person, your gaze is almost inevitably drawn to the behemoths.
Riley Thilthorpe is an utter colossus, especially against an opposition like the Western Bulldogs with neither the key backman to go mano e mano with him, nor the defensive structure to clog up space around him. Whether on the lead, in a pack or even at ground level, his six-goal haul ruthlessly exposed the Bulldogs’ biggest weakness.
In the ruck, Reilly O’Brien surely has the greatest ratio of quality to supporter disdain of any player in the competition – I still cannot work out for the life of me the problem many Crows supporters have with him. Not for the first time against Tim English, he ruled the skies both at ruck contests and around the ground, with several clutch marks in the final quarter playing his role to perfection and then some.
Of smaller stature but equal influence, Jordan Dawson around the ball is yet another of the Crows’ monsters who dominates through sheer size: the textbook big-bodied midfielder, the captain’s best asset might be his phenomenal left foot, which after periods of waywardness this year looked back to its devastating best against the Bulldogs, but a close second is his ability to push forward and create mismatches against just about any opponent, especially given the opposition’s talls are busy minding the proper key forwards.
He doesn’t get anywhere near the same amount of adulation, but Mark Keane is surely the most improved player in the AFL this season. Transforming from a limited stopper into a borderline A-grade key defender and certified monster-hunter, he blanketed the considerably bigger Sam Darcy in the air (with plenty of help from a Crows backline that did their homework and executed perfectly on the Dogs’ plans to target their brightest star) – and I can honestly only respect the backman dark arts he employed to continually prevent Darcy from getting his hands to full extension when flying for the ball and getting away with it nearly every time.
It’s around these lynchpins, one up forward, two in midfield and one down back, that the spine of a good team is cultivated: but what brings them all together, the glue that gels Matthew Nicks’ entire game plan, the key that turns these Crows into a legitimate premiership contender with just about every base covered, is a 20-year old with one of football’s more remarkable athletic profiles.
And frankly, it’s time we started talking about Daniel Curtin more.
The Western Australian has come a long way since he was seen as a talent serious enough for West Coast to consider trading their rights to Harley Reid to try and nab him back in the 2023 draft.
Taken as a versatile utility who could settle at either end, he played seven games in his debut season last year, and it’s no disgrace to him at all to say he looked a shade out of his depth, as most key position teenagers do.
It’s to the infinite credit of Nicks and his coaching staff that in his second year, they have found a role for Curtin that not only allows them to squeeze such a quality player into their best 22 despite already being overstuffed for key forwards, but that has given them a genuine secret weapon that no other team in the AFL has around the ground.
Curtin has been tasked with making the wing position his role – perhaps the toughest, most thankless task in modern footy, his goal is to push back hard to add his height and reach to marking contests defensively and chop out the Crows’ defence, while also given licence to head forward and create mismatches against opposition wingmen unlikely to cope with his 197cm frame, no matter how raw.
That’s a hell of a lot to ask of anyone, never mind a young player still building their game: and for the first two months of the year, Curtin’s impact was mainly structural. His disposal counts were low, he rarely hit the scoreboard, but he was a reliable target to kick to up the line and help bring the ball to ground if the opposition had a spare tall further afield.
Statistically, though, you can track his improvement the longer the season has gone: he has had two-thirds of his inside 50s since Round 9, his marks have skyrocketed from 3.1 per game up to Round 10 to nearly 7 since, and after posting 250 metres gained just once in the first nine rounds, has done it in five of his last eight (with a 249 thrown in too).
Saturday against the Bulldogs was a career-best in many aspects: 26 disposals is the equal-best he has ever achieved, matching his tally a fortnight ago against a considerably less intimidating opponent in Richmond, while eight intercepts, eight score involvements, seven ground ball gets and 11 contested possessions are all either career-highs or pushing the previous marks damn close.
Those eight intercepts were all the more crucial given the early-game injury of key back Jordon Butts: that might have been a lethal blow for Adelaide 12 months ago against Sam Darcy and a running hot Aaron Naughton, but Curtin from there played a more defensive set-up than he had been – and it worked a treat.
Whether flying for high balls to help bring them to ground, double-teaming Darcy along with Keane and Josh Worrell, or otherwise getting back as the man on the last line of defence, two-thirds of Curtin’s 26 disposals came in defensive half – the perfect profile for an unsung hero.
The Bulldogs kick a goal here after an excellent Rhylee West rove, but this was just about the first time I can recall Curtin being in the area of a long kick inside the Dogs’ 50 and not influencing: he’d instead set up as the loose man in the goalsquare for the quick snap forward that the Crows weren’t sharp enough to force.
But so much more of his impact on the Crows is in the intangibles: in the value of having a big guy with an incredible tank make and influence so many aerial contests from one end of the ground to the other. Mark Blicavs, after all, has been doing it for Geelong for nearly 300 games.
As it transpired, this match’s most critical contest came in the final minute of the second half. The Crows held a well-deserved 13-point lead, yet had faced significant heat from the Bulldogs in the previous half-quarter, wresting back their advantage to a point where the home side could probably go in satisfied with their work at the main break.
Mark Keane, as is the Crows’ wont, kicks long to a contest on the boundary at half-back with 45 seconds to go. Under the ball, Tim English and Reilly O’Brien jostle at the drop zone, with the big Bulldog managing to take front position and looking set to either take a mark or force the ball back the Dogs’ way…
… and flying in from the side, at full reach, knocking the footy clear and turning a likely losing situation into a Crows win, is that man Curtin.
He’s not done yet, either: hitting the ground nimbly, he’s part of the yellow, blue and orange wave that surges through the Bulldogs’ high defensive press down the Marvel Stadium wing, getting on the end of a handball, weaving past a James O’Donnell attempted tackle, and passing beautifully off his non-preferred left foot to Brayden Cook at half-forward.
In two plays, Curtin has opened the door for the Crows to take full advantage of the Bulldogs’ biggest weakness. They attack so single-mindedly in every aspect of their style and structure that if you can break it up the ground, you’re left with exactly the situation Cook has kicking inside 50: a gun key forward with an entire 50’s worth of space to run into, goalside of an opponent wanting to take the aggressive position out in front.
Thilthorpe marks in the pocket, snaps through his fourth goal of the quarter, and in a stroke the Crows lead by 19. It’s a back-breaker.
It’s impossible to say definitively whether the Crows’ eagerness to kick to contests wherever possible, both down the line and inside 50, is in recognition of Curtin’s aerial influence, or if his aerial influence has come as a result of that eagerness and is just one of those good twists of fortune that can change a premiership push.
Daniel Curtin celebrates a goal. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Either way, he’s the perfect link man to connect every element of Adelaide’s system: they’ve had stars up forward for years, their defence has come along in leaps and bounds this season, and their midfield has never been stronger. Thanks to Curtin, there’s seldom a disconnect, and certainly not to the extent that the Bulldogs so frequently suffer amid the monster scores against flag contenders they now ship almost on a weekly basis.
If Marcus Bontempelli doesn’t get the three Brownlow Medal votes for his one-man attempt to drag the Bulldogs home, they will probably go to Thilthorpe for his six goals. Dawson, with 27 disposals and two majors, is the likeliest candidate to round out the 3-2-1.
But I’d be shocked if Curtin’s coaches votes weren’t at the very high end of the scale when they come out during the week. And I hope the Rising Star winners are taking note.
So, as a matter of fact, should every other team in the finals race. Adelaide have a secret weapon – and if you can’t stop Dan Curtin, the Crows become significantly harder to keep in check.
