Watson’s comments backfire, how Crows ‘distracted’ Bailey Smith | First Up with Kane Cornes

And welcome to First Up with Cain Corns.Thanks to Sportsbet, I'm Riley Beveridge.I am joined down the line by Cain Corns.And Cain, we have just watched an unbelievable game of footy.The Western Bulldogs storming back to defeat Hawthorne with an eight goal to one second half.

Oh, what a diabolical loss for the Hawks.But let's give credit to the Western Bulldogs.They hung in there, Riley.29 points down early in the third quarter.And then their last quarter, some of their key players just stood up.The Hawks were so wasteful.

But for the Western Bulldogs, they came with elite pressure.They got their stoppage game going.They kicked eight goals from stoppage for the game.And I just thought they were able to roll numbers back, which meant that Hawthorne was so wasteful going inside forward 50 and couldn't find a winner forward of the ball.Here are some of those last quarter moments.English was enormous.

Went off early with some friendly fire.Bontempelli had nine in the last quarter and that big goal.And there was some physicality.There was some nastiness about the Western Bulldogs, which I love tonight.

You mentioned that nastiness, it went right the way through the game.There was niggles, there was pot shots being fired from both sides.Michael Seldon, Nick Watson got involved, which we'll mention just shortly as well.One goal, 11 Hawthorn.They lacked some composure second half as well, didn't they?

Yeah, no doubt about that.So, they ended up with plus 17 entries.That mark there to Mitch Lewis should have been paid.They had their opportunity.So, these are, yep, one goal 11.These are the ones that didn't score.

Some of these, Lloyd Meek had two easy shots that went out in the full.Marby Ochoa there kicks that out on the full and that's the dying stages.The relief there of Bontempele, who's been the captain of the year this year with another player we'll get to from the Adelaide Football Club in a moment.But that's just a gutsy win.They've been the king of the close finish.games by under 10 points this year, and just their ability to hang in there to get the game back on their terms after

it was all Hawthorne rolling.Like Newcombe had 24 in the first half.Everything was on their terms.Watson had kicked three goals in the first half as well.They didn't have a matchup for him.It just looked as though Hawthorne were going to run away with this at halftime with an easy victory and on their merry way.

But nah, this Western Bulldogs group who is stacked with talent, don't get me wrong, they have a lot of good players, a lot of experience, many All Australians, multiple All Australians, able to stand up tonight.And clearly with no Gunston and no Barris, that hurt the Hawks tonight.Well, speaking of some of that beef cane, that's where we find your Volcano.So I just thought the Hawks were distracted, Riley, and it's a real learning curve for them tonight.There was Lewis and Cicely, clearly they came with a plan to get under the skin of the Hawthorne co -captain James Cicely.This is at halftime, you can say quarter time I should say.

The Watson was in everything, he was in everything.Selwood, he came with an attitude to get under the skin of the Hawks.Watson and the Hawthorne players.How many times tonight did we see players from both teams on the ground wrestling jumpers over their heads?And it was Hawthorne and I think Sicily and Watson who completely lost their composure in this.So there's got to be more of it.

This is a real test for Hawthorne because other teams are going to notice this.They're going to come with similar tactics.Whilst I thought the Western Bulldogs were very composed and calm and measured, I thought it was the Hawks that completely lost their cool after having this game on their terms like you wouldn't believe, as we said, at halftime.And this halftime interview from Nick Watson was also interesting.So it's just a great learning curve for this man who, like, we were in awe of.Our group chat was going crazy with what this guy was doing.

And, like,I was ready to say he's the face of the league.We kind of like that about him.We like the fact that he's in the opposition's face.We love hearing what he's got to say, and he's 21 years of age.There are some footy gods, and you can get taught a lesson.

So after saying that and saying what Sel had got in the second half, it was Watson who had two touches in the second half and didn't touch the footy in the last quarter.So I'm not going to be critical of this guy, because I just love the way that he goes about it and everything he does.But as a 21 -year -old, you learn some harsh lessons as a player.And I reckon he'd be putting his head on the pillow tonight and reflecting on it, hopefully, and going, yep, I and we got ahead of ourselves of where we should be and we've coughed up the unlosable game tonight where we had 26 scoring shots to 17.We had plus 17 in entries and that one could come back to bite us and bite us badly.

A huge win for the Western Bulldogs was a huge win for Adelaide on Thursday night as well.You mentioned how good Marcus Bontempali is as a leader.Jordan Dawson is extraordinary in that regard for the Crows.Now, I want to take you back midweek.Cats coach Chris Scott speaks to the media about just where Jordan Dawson might play on Thursday night.

Kind of like, Dawson might be one of the best defenders, the best forwards and the best midfielders in the competition but you've got to choose to play him somewhere.So they knew how good he was, didn't they?They knew what was coming.I was interested, like I thought they played some real tricks at the start of the game.The cats, and one of those was not really a trick, but Mullen starting on the bench.So Chris Scott could forecast this.

He knew what was coming.He knew Dawson would be mid.He knew he'd be back, like he's taking that intercept mark.And he probably knew at stages that he'd bob up.forward and it was under physical adversity as well.This contested mark there, look at the time on the clock, the stage of the game and to go back and flush that.

I just thought Mullen, like he did to Bontemps,who's a bigger mid earlier on in the year, was the obvious matchup.But this is the story, the emotion, everything him and his family have been through this year.And for him to still be out there leading his game in crunch time and standing up as one of the more inspirational captains that we've got in the game, that's the story of the night.And it just makes you sit back, admire our players and love what our game can do and unite and bring people together.What a performance from Jordan Dawson.

disposals for Jordan Dawson.Well, Chris Scott didn't know where Jordan Dawson was going to play leading into this one, but are you a bit confused about where Jeremy Cameron is going to play week on week at the moment, Kane?A little bit.

We know that he gets up the ground, so we know that's going to happen, but usually it's starting from a forward -blind position.So he'll start as a forward, He'll see the matchup that he gets.If he feels like his matchup is more vulnerable deep, he'll take him deep.If he feels like he's not as comfortable up the ground, he'll take him up the ground.But this just went on for too long.So we're highlighting him starting as a genuine wingman.

Yep, it's with the idea to go forward, get a mismatch.But I just think Geelong are a bit confused with which forward line setup is their go -to at the moment.Both Henry's forward.Neil's form has completely dropped off in the last three weeks.Some of their smalls have dropped off.Close is out of the side.

So, I just think if you're Adelaide and Matthew Nix and you're sitting in the coach's box, you're going, happy days.Like, there's Cameron on the wing again.Like, he can't really hurt us from the wing.Yep, he's a good field kick, but we'd much rather him there than deep inside forward 50 with a matchup like Michael Ainey, who's going to be outsized and outmatched.So, yeah, it was the worst game I've seen him play for a long time.He's hit 34 goals for the year.

One of the best forwards in the game.You can't be too critical, but I just think the Cats coaching staff didn't help him make the most of what he could do.can bring and that's to make the opposition nervous as a deep forward.Yeah, I can't believe it doesn't.I can't believe it doesn't.So he largely is allowed to run around and do as he pleases.

Now he's competitive and we saw this off the ball, 100 meters.I don't like that free kick.I don't think that's a free kick, but he's always going to be at risk of doing that off the ball if you go after him and target him.Now he still had a bit of the footy, 34, kicked it at 58%, just the five score involvements.That's the number.We can see the verbal, we can see the physical into him.

Yeah, like the Hawks tonight, I just thought he was somewhat distracted.He had the torn gurns, he had to fix that up at three -quarter time.I'm just surprised that as a collective industry and opposition teams, that we don't target each other more, a little bit like it was 20 years ago.Like nothing untoward, but the physicality, coming with a plan, get after the opposition's best players, like Adelaide did with Stewart.Archie to Stewart, works.Pete Ling to Smith, works.

You can't let Holmes, Smith, Stewart, do as they please.Otherwise, Geelong will win 85 % of their games.I thought it was a really good plan from Matthew Nixon, well executed.

Adelaide's already got some star quality on the sidelines through injury.They're about to lose another though.Tex Walker offered a one -match suspension from the match review for this incident, where he pushed Conor O'Sullivan there, or pushed Conor O'Sullivan, as we should say, into Mark O 'Connor there.So, it was an interesting one, but it's going to leave them short ahead of next Thursday night's game against the Western Bulldogs.

Yeah, what do you think?You're all over the Tribune.Are you happy with that as a one -week ban?

I thought it was interesting just given there was no massive damage to either player and both players played on.I mean, there was an incident earlier in the year with Mitch Georgiades, but the match review said in that case Georgiades kept his eyes on the ball.the entire way through, whereas Taylor Walker took his eyes off the ball to push a player into an oncoming contest.The AFL was red hot on this at the start of 2025.So the fact that they've retained that and gone with it, we don't see it much.I think that's a reason why we still don't see it as much.

But I don't think players can be surprised that they're getting suspended for that now.

No, I wasn't surprised.It's just probably a shift, usually red hot if there's an incident that results in a concussion.That didn't, usually the AFL doesn't really worry about internal damage or ribs or kidneys and things like that.They only really care about the head.So that's a change.Dawson was sore.

O'Sullivan was sore.O 'Connor, the risk there was to him as well.But without a concussion, it's unusual to see a player get suspended and miss weeks more so than a fine.So I'm happy with it.I think it's a good deterrent for other players because it was pretty dangerous from Taylor Walker.So it's a blow because I did think he was important in tricky conditions on Thursday night.

Thursday night's game against the Western Bulldogs.This injury list is starting to stack up, Kane, considering they got a pretty charmed run, the Crows, on their way to a minor premiership in 2025.

They did.They had a lot going for them.Easier draw, clearly.Finish minor premiers and you're going to get a tougher draw.So there's more on the injury list, but it's the quality that's on that injury list.So look at that.

They're all first choice players other than Welsh, really, aren't they?And Draper perhaps would be fighting for his spot, but I'd back him in if he was fit to get a spot in that Adelaide 23.So no Darren Burgess, we know that.He's a renowned fitness guru.He's been to Port Adelaide.He's been at Melbourne, took them to a premiership, was doing great things with Adelaide.

He's now taken up a job overseas with a big soccer franchise, as you would know.I see he's in Italy at the moment.Yeah, I just think he may have been somewhat of their secret weapon last year, and it's going to be a challenge from here with that quality missing.

He is one of the best in the business, Kane.All right, it's going to be a massive weekend.It continues all the way through to King's birthday with that huge clash between Melbourne and Collingwood.That's where we find Kane's crystal ball.Thanks to Sportsbet.

So I got my eyes on Cozzy.I thought he was outstanding to start the year and a top 5, 10 at a stretch player in the league, but just his numbers have started to drop off now.Not disastrous, still impacting.I don't think he's been as strong defensively.He's certainly not impacting the scoreboard as much and his run and carry game has gone a little bit.You can compare the numbers there, but he's taking on Collingwood.

What do we know about Collingwood?They don't really care about the opposition's best players.I've seen it once this year and that was Perry to Nassau, that was way back in opening round, I think it was, and did a good job.Other than that... side bottom every now and then, but he can't go with Cozzy.So I am looking for Cozzy to be the best player on the ground on Monday.He is the best player on that ground on Monday.

And I suspect with the lack of attention that he will get, he's in for a huge afternoon on what is one of the most special home and away fixtures that we have on our calendar.

I'll need him as well the days to respond from back to back defeats across the last couple of weeks.All right.Big thanks to you, Cain.Big thanks to all those watching at home.Thank you to Sportsbet as well.See you next week.

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