Nick Dal Santo slams Adelaide Crows’ inability to shut down Tom Stewart, loss to Geelong Cats, Matthew Nicks, Chris Scott, reaction, response, latest news

St Kilda Hall of Famer Nick Dal Santo has called out Adelaide’s “diabolical” inability to shut down Cats star Tom Stewart on Friday night.

Stewart starred in his milestone 150th game in Geelong’s 19-point win over the Crows. A human wall in defence Matthew Nicks’ side could rarely get past, Stewart equalled an AFL record with 10 intercepts and tallied a team-high 28 disposals.

Adelaide youngster Luke Pedlar played on Stewart as a defensive forward in the first quarter but struggled to contain the five-time All-Australian defender, who consistently rolled off to take a game-high 11 marks on the night — most of them in the Crows’ forward half.

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Speaking on Fox Footy Live post-match, Dal Santo lamented the Crows’ planning and execution to curtail Stewart in a decisive factor on the result.

“There’s an old saying in football and it still rings true — do not get beaten by what you know. What we know is Tom Stewart is a very, very good defender, who continues to go on his merry way. You cannot allow this man to be freed up in any way,” Dal Santo began on Fox Footy.

“You can’t do the preparation throughout the course of the week, have plans, be a full-time footballer, take on the information throughout the course of the coach’s preparation and then roll out this.

“It was diabolical, it was poor forward structure when they had opportunities at stoppages … you can’t allow that for four quarters. He dominated.”

Dal Santo then threw up three suggestions for how the Crows could’ve better attempted to limit Stewart’s influence, arguing Nicks’ side simply had to come up with a better plan.

“(Firstly) You could literally stand next to him — you’ve got to hold six forwards — one of them has to stand next to Tom Stewart. You have to play on him. You can’t cut him out completely, but you need to minimalise his influence,” the three-time All-Australian began.

“(Second) Kick it on angles when you are under pressure. He positions himself in line with the goal, the quickest way Adelaide could possibly get there … put it on a 45 (degrees angle) to make it a foot race or a ground ball at least.

“The last one, use his opponent. When he drops off, Adelaide has a player free somewhere. If it’s at stoppage, you need to use him. If it’s a forward, put him in a position where they are still relevant so Stewart cannot continuously to drop off.

“You can’t allow that for four quarters.”

Geelong legend Cameron Mooney asserted the Crows players further up the ground didn’t do Stewart’s direct opponent any favours by consistently “bombing” the ball inside 50 instead of executing shorter kicks.

“I’m a big believer in, if you’re going to use his man, put it out in front of him,” Mooney added on Fox Footy Live.

“Pedlar has played less than 30 games — I think he’s going to be a really good player, but that’s a really tough gig for a kid when you’re putting it on his head.

“Surely they would’ve said: ‘Let’s put it out in front him, let Pedlar go to work’. And they just kept bombing it and Tommy just (took intercepts).

“You’ve just got to give your forwards a chance.”

Speaking after the loss, Nicks rued his side’s missed opportunities and poor decision making as the Crows fell to 0-2 on the season.

The Adelaide coach suggested his team was simply unable to execute its tactics against Stewart.

“We came in with a number of plans (for Stewart),” Nicks said.

“The first one didn’t work up until quarter-time, there’s a reason that he’s a highly regarded player and rated as one of the best in the competition.

“I thought our Plan A for Stewart and their back line was a solid one, but we just didn’t execute it at all, so we went to Plan B, but he’s a fantastic player.

“Most will look at the game and say ‘Well, why don’t you just put someone on him?’, but some players have a level of footy that, even with that attention, are able to impact the game.”

Geelong coach Chris Scott meanwhile empathised for opposition coaches in trying to contain Stewart after his side improved to 2-0.

“I’ve been in that situation plenty of times where you are acutely aware of how good an opposition player is and know exactly what he does. You plan for him and he’s just too good,” Scott told reporters.

“It’s hard to believe with what he’s given out footy club he’s only played 150 games. It might be up there with the best 150 games ever played, I’m biased obviously.

“The position he plays, he is just special. I wouldn’t be too hard anyone who gets the planning a little bit off against him, because he is hard to stop.

“But I’m not going to give any clues (how to shut him down).”