Live: Walker strikes early as Collingwood skipper pays for horror blunder

Wayne Milera takes a huge contested intercept mark right on the siren to deny the Pies.

What a quarter of football! That’s everything finals footy should be like.

There hasn’t been a moment to breathe for either side out there.

Collingwood started brilliantly with the first two goals, before the Crows responded with the next two.

The Pies have recorded a total of 12 intercept marks already, which is the most recorded in a quarter of any AFL match.

Adelaide needs to diversify its forward 50 entries, I’m sure it’ll be a point of emphasis during Matthew Nicks’ quarter-time huddle.

Nick Daicos leads all players with eight disposals, while Adelaide’s Josh Worrell and Collingwood’s Harry Perryman have seven touches apiece.

Crows skipper Jordan Dawson leads all players with three clearances and also has six touches.

Brody Mihocek is cleaned up in a marking contest featuring two Crows and wins a free kick 20m out from goal.

He’s usually so reliable in front of goal, but completely shanks this one.

The Crows faithful, who didn’t believe a free kick should’ve been awarded in the first place, shout their approval at Mihocek’s miss.

Isaac Quaynor is getting absolutely showered by boos out there.

He takes an intercept mark just outside 50 and decides to have a shot on goal.

It’s a terrific effort, but Mark Keane gets a hand on it on the goal line to deny Collingwood its third goal.

The Crows are in front out of nowhere!

Darcy Moore finds himself in two minutes on halfback and fumbles the footy.

His opposite number, Jordan Dawson picks up the loose ball and smartly dribbles one home from 40m out.

The Crows all get in Moore’s face after that blunder. Absolute cinema, as the kids say.

Suddenly all the momentum seems to be with the Crows, how quickly things change!

We spoke about the Crows’ experienced campaigners being up and about, and the most experienced of them all announces himself.

Taylor Walker, playing in his 300th game, takes a huge contested mark and slots the set shot from 25m out on a slight angle.

Tex is pumped up after that and my goodness, that’ll settle the Crows down.

It was a lovely kick inside 50 from Dan Curtin and Walker climbed all over Darcy Moore.

Adelaide isn’t applying a tag to Nick Daicos, and I reckon that might have to change.

Daicos ghosts forward after a stoppage on centre-wing, and finishes brilliantly with a drop punt on the outside of his boot.

Daicos already has three touches and a clearance.

You can tell this is the biggest game a lot of these Crows have played in.

They’ve been a bit fumbly so far. It’s no surprise to see the guys who have been on this stage before, Laird, Neal-Bullen etc getting plenty of it early.

The Pies’ pressure is at a ridiculous 249 at the moment, which is contributing to all of this of course.

We’ve got our first score review of the night!

Alex Neal-Bullen is pumped as he thinks he’s soccered one home on the goal line, but the umpires aren’t quite convinced.

The on field call is a behind, which is crucial when it comes to these calls.

The replays aren’t really conclusive. The ARC deems that ANB hasn’t quite got his toe to the ball.

More resounding boos from the Crows fans as they probably yell “VIC BIAS!!”

It had to be Nick Daicos to break things open out of congestion!

A massive clearance on the wing from the Pies superstar sets up their first forward 50 entry as he finds Lachie Schultz 75m out from goal.

Jamie Elliott takes a contested chest mark 25m out from goal directly in front and drills the set shot.

Perfect start for the Pies.

Both teams have put an extra man behind the ball as the ball finds itself locked in on the wing.

We’ve had about three consecutive stoppages already in the last minute, there’s no time to breathe.

The finals are officially underway folks!

Some pre-first bounce Darude – Sandstorm blares out around the Adelaide Oval, as if people weren’t already fired up enough.

Jordan De Goey in at the first bounce for the Pies, standing shoulder to shoulder with Adelaide skipper Jordan Dawson.

HERE. WE. GO.

The two teams are arm-in-arm eyeing each other off ahead of the national anthem.

The last time the Crows were in this position was in the 2017 grand final.

Unlike that day, there’s no pre-match power stance from the Crows.

There is a serious difference in the two teams’ experience on the finals stage.

Adelaide’s players have played a total of 46 post-season games, while Collingwood’s have played 214.

How much will that count tonight?

This crowd is AMPED folks!

Jordan Dawson leads Adelaide out to an absolutely raucous reception.

Wow.

I’ll tell you what, this is going to be a cauldron tonight. Collingwood’s got to get off to a good start to keep this crowd under wraps.

The two teams are going through their final warm-ups now. We’re just under 13 minutes from the first bounce.

A chorus of boos ring out around the Adelaide Oval as Darcy Moore leads Collingwood out through the banner.

That is about as hostile a reception as you’ll hear a team get in Australia, particularly in the AFL.

Moore’s got a big old smile on his dial, something tells me these guys won’t mind playing the villain tonight.

It goes without saying that Collingwood will need Nick Daicos to be at his highly influential best to pull out a win tonight.

Daicos comes into tonight’s game under a slight injury cloud after coming up a little sore during a midweek training session.

He’s played in five finals matches over his short career, and has averaged 26 disposals in those contests, well below his career mark of 29.35.

Keep an eye on just how well Daicos is able to move in the early minutes.

If you want some more reading ahead of the first bounce, this piece on Adelaide’s back six is perfect for you.

Here’s how the last five meetings between the Crows and Magpies have gone coming into tonight’s clash.

The largest margin of victory has been just 10 points, so expect tonight’s clash to be another tight and tense affair.

Round 23, 2025: Adelaide 9.5 (59) def. Collingwood 8.8 (56) @ Adelaide Oval

Round 10, 2025: Collingwood 11.12 (78) def. Adelaide 10.8 (68) @ MCG

Round 10, 2024: Collingwood 12.6 (76) def. Adelaide 11.8 (74) @ MCG

Round 15, 2023: Collingwood 12.10 (82) def. Adelaide 11.14 (80) @ MCG

Round 7, 2023: Collingwood 8.11 (59) def. Adelaide 7.16 (68) @ Adelaide Oval

If you need any reminder, here’s how the last match between these two finished up.

Here’s Collingwood coach Craig McRae on the somewhat controversial decision to recall Mason Cox in favour of Dan McStay.

“Just little things,” he tells Fox Footy.

“Dan’s been struggling a little bit to mark the ball and to impact the scoreboard over a number of weeks now.

“We just think Mason can give us something different down there in the forward line, particularly if we get a game where you’ve just got to take the contest a bit more.

“Hopefully the umpires might pay a chop the arms (free kick), who knows, huh?”