Crows cause upset of the season so far with victory against Bulldogs

In the end it was a point to James Rourke that won the game for the Crows as they prevailed 9.10 (64) to 9.9 (63) in a thrilling encounter.

The Crows hung tough all afternoon against a strong Bulldogs outfit and coach Tom Groves was delighted with the effort from his side to produce one of the upsets of the season.

"Yeah I'm very proud of the boys," Groves said.

"It was fantastic, obviously it's always a tough road trip especially the last couple of years and credit to the boys as they just kept staying in the fight.

"They just worked their butts off all day and they got the reward in the end which is fantastic.

"We primed ourselves ready for it obviously as we do every week and it's great to get some reward for the boys.

"It gives them that bit of belief I suppose that if they bring that effort and belief every week what they can do."

The Bulldogs had the edge in the opening half as they went into the sheds at halftime with a 13-point lead.

However five goals to three in the third term from the Crows narrowed that margin to just a single point heading into the last quarter at Maher Oval.

Groves confirmed there were some very nervous times for the majority of that final 30 minutes of the contest.

"Yeah definitely," he said.

"They come out and kicked the first goal and a point after that too I think, so it put us on the back foot straightaway.

"But we just stuck in there and we just gave ourselves opportunities all day which we just had to take, in the second half we really did take them.

"There were a couple of crucial goals late with (Matt) Rainbird kicking one from nearly 50 metres which you don't see very often, in the last quarter especially.

"Then James Rourke kicked the winning point, it looked like it was a goal but anyway it was a point and we held on."

Seventeen-year-old Lewis Henley starred for the Crows in the ruck and was among their top performers in the win.

Groves credited the efforts of the teenager who has continued to improve each week in what can be a difficult position to play.

"He really took his game to the next level," he said.

"He's a very quiet fella and he's been given the task to play ruck as a 17-year-old which can be a bit daunting.

"But he stepped up to the challenge today and he was really strong in there for us, he really got our mids going which is a real credit to him and his character for a young fella."

Jade Hodge also continued his dominant start to the season with another three important goals in the Crows victory.

Groves revealed Hodge wasn't exactly accurate in the early stages of the game, but said he kicked some goals at crucial stages of the contest.

"He wasn't real straight-shooting to start off with," he said.

"I think he was 1.5 in the first half, but he kicked a couple of crucial ones in the second half which was fantastic.

"He provides that bit of leadership and we had Nathan Finnen come in as well which gave us a different look going forward."

The Crows only recorded two victories across the 2022-23 seasons and they were on the receiving end of some pretty hefty defeats during those couple of tough seasons.

Groves believed the win against the Bulldogs was massive for the club and hoped it would provide a spark they could carry into the coming weeks.

"It's a whole club win really," he said.

"It's fantastic and builds that belief for everyone, it's obviously been pretty tough going for the last couple of years.

"But to see another step forward and take a big scalp like Turvey it's fantastic for the club, we can really build off that which is great.

"We had a couple of handy in's which have us a bit of a different scope going forward which was good.

"I'm very proud of the boys and they really deserve the win for all their efforts they put in."