Adelaide have one man to thank for their crucial nine-point win over Richmond.
And his name is Izak Rankine.
In at times torrential rain at the Adelaide Oval, the Crows were pushed to the brink by both the conditions and a desperate performance from the unfancied Tigers.
Round 22
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A late set shot from young gun Zac Taylor secured a precious four points on a night where the margin never exceeded 14 points.
But with the vast majority of players from either side struggling to keep their feet, never mind handle the constantly waterlogged Sherrin, Rankine was a class above.
The Crows star’s 13-disposal third quarter all but single-handedly held a Tigers comeback at bay, kicking a brilliant goal and setting up another with a perfectly weighted pass inside 50 to teammate Callum Ah Chee.
With 11 more touches in the last quarter, he’d finish with 36 for the game to go with 11 clearances and 18 contested possessions – the first two career highs.
Incredibly, he also went at 83.3 per cent disposal efficiency on a night where virtually everyone else merely focused on taking as much territory as possible – especially when conditions became even more hostile after half time.
“Thank goodness he played!” a relieved Matthew Nicks told Fox Footy in the Crows’ rooms.
“That’ll be an ugly review for us. Not Izak – he was the difference in the end.”
Rankine’s performance was good enough to obliterate a swathe of Champion Data ranking points records – including a 26-year old club record set by Crows legend Mark Ricciuto in Round 7 of 2000 against Port Adelaide.
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It was more than 108 clear of the next-best player on the ground – Tiger Nick Vlastuin (115) – while his 92-point third quarter is the second-highest for the season, behind only St Kilda defender Callum Wilkie in the last quarter of the Saints’ win over Port Adelaide in July.
“Get him off!” Ricciuto joked on Fox Footy midway through the last quarter, after being made aware by commentator Mark Howard was in serious threat.
Richmond great Jack Riewoldt, who certainly wouldn’t have minded the Crows honouring Ricciuto’s request, added: “He might retire on 2018!”
Just seconds later, Rankine would earn himself more points after a desperate tackle inside defensive 50 earned him a holding the ball free kick.
He’d earn 159 points in the second half alone: superstar captain Jordan Dawson, by comparison, managed 108 for the entire match to be the second-highest rated Crow.
The ranking sits among the highest in Champion Data history, and best since Patrick Dangerfield’s 229-point effort for a 48-disposal, two-goal night against North Melbourne in 2016, his first year at Geelong after crossing from the Crows.
To put the score into perspective, Lance Franklin’s famous 13-goal effort against the Kangaroos in 2012 was worth 232 ranking points.
Speaking to Fox Footy’s Shaun Burgoyne after the match, the Crows jet, whose transition into a full-time midfield role from the forward line in 2026 has yielded career-high numbers, was delighted to discover the extent of his record-breaking night.
“No way!” he laughed.
“Sorry, Roo! Jesus.
“That’s great. Nah, it’s good.”
Not wanting to get caught up too much in his own individual brilliance, he added: “Great effort by the team”.
However, Dawson was only too happy to contribute enough praise for both of them.
“Mate, he’s unbelievable,” the Crows captain told Burgoyne.
“Nothing beats that third-quarter goal he kicked, and then to set up Cal (Ah Chee) after that as well with a beautiful kick.
“All class in these conditions – everyone was struggling, but the big fella just cleaner than everyone.
“Absolute star.”
When told of his teammate’s Ricciuto-eclipsing effort, Dawson joked that the Crows great “would be pretty dirty”!
“Jeez, Roo wouldn’t be happy with that!” he laughed.
“I knew he had a great game, but I didn’t realise it was that big.
“When I was sitting back there for the last quarter and a bit just watching him go to work, it was pretty special.”
Speaking to Fox Footy in the Crows’ rooms, veteran Taylor Walker gushed over Rankine’s move into a permanent on-ball role in 2026, having alternated time between the midfield and forward lines for much of his time since crossing from Gold Coast at the end of 2022.
“He’s been unbelievable for us, Ranks,” he said.
“To be able to go through the midfield, we know he’s got some tricks. He makes our team so much better.
“We’re so lucky to have such a talented kid play through our midfield.
“It’s nice being a forward when you’ve got Izak Rankine playing through the mids.”
Walker had a similar reaction to discovering just where Rankine’s stat line sits in Crows history.
“Don’t tell Roo that, he’ll get really upset,” he said.
Ricciuto, for his part, praised the No. 23’s matchwinning performance – though he was sceptical about the Crows’ chances of making a run for the top four given the efforts of the rest of the team.
“They were nowhere near it without them,” he said of Rankine and Dawson, who finished with 35 disposals of his own and moved into defence in the last quarter to hold the Tigers at bay.
“Sometimes you’ve just got to scrape through and get your wins, but it just raises a few question marks.”
As for his record being snatched, Ricciuto had a blunt response, pointing out that his game at the start of the millennium wasn’t half bad either.
“I had 41 and kicked four,” he said.
The win leaves the Crows fifth on the ladder with a 14-7 record, behind fourth-placed Brisbane on percentage ahead of a daunting assignment against Fremantle at Optus Stadium next Friday night.
FULL IZAK RANKINE STATS BREAKDOWN
36 disposals
83.3 per cent disposal efficiency
795 metres gained
18 contested possessions
11 clearances
14 ground ball gets
13 handball receives
7 inside 50s
1 goal
1 goal assist
223 Champion Data ranking points
28.4 AFL Player Ratings points
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