Lance Franklin and Daniel Talia battle it out at AAMI Stadium. Picture: Sarah Reed. Source: The Advertiser
The man who last year became Adelaide's first AFL Rising Star winner put a so-so start to the season behind him to heroically keep Hawthorn superstar Lance "Buddy" Franklin goalless at AAMI Stadium on Saturday.
While the Crows' forward line - suddenly minus its star Taylor Walker (knee) - remains a work in progress, Talia marshalled a defence which produced its best performance of the year.
"The back six ... make sure you write about them," coach Brenton Sanderson said.
"They gave everything for 'Truck' (Ben Rutten), I know they idolise Benny, and Daniel Talia, the way he performed his role was fantastic.
"He had some help at times but I'm so pleased with him. At times he led Franklin to the ball.
"He was really up for this game. He's been mentored by Rutten early in his career and he really wanted to play his role for the team and he'll get maximum votes in our best and fairest award because he just did his role. He was fantastic."
Ace key forward Franklin had torched Adelaide for 36 goals in his previous 11 games against it but Talia wore him like a glove and forced him up the ground to win most of his 17 disposals.
It was the second consecutive week Franklin had failed to kick a goal. The last time he went two weeks in a row without goaling was in his first AFL season in 2005.
Talia conceded only two behinds and two marks to the four-times All-Australian.
Sanderson surprised by starting Talia on Franklin rather than 200-gamer Rutten.
"When Franklin was deep it was going to be Rutten and when Franklin was up the ground a bit more it was going to be Talia," Sanderson said.
"But once we saw Talia was going okay we stayed with the match-up as we had it."
Talia, who has taken time to find his best form this season as he slowly recovered from having his forearm shattered in last year's qualifying final loss to Sydney, was the defensive standout against the Hawks.
Most encouragingly for Sanderson, however, was the way the back six performed as a group.
While Adelaide lost for the fourth time in six matches, the rock-solid defensive performance was a major positive.
Last year the Crows conceded 83 points a game. That figure had risen to 91 after the first five rounds.
Adelaide coughed up 89 points against the Hawks. But that was a meritorious effort after last year's beaten grand finalist averaged 119 points a game against last year's finalists Geelong, West Coast, Collingwood, Fremantle and North Melbourne to start the season.
"I was really pleased with the defence," Sanderson said.
"Talia was fantastic, I liked Brent Reilly's game, Andy Otten has had a fantastic season, Luke Brown in his ninth game, those guys fought their hearts out for the big fella.
"They'll be disappointed, they'll be hurting, those boys, because they gave everything they had for Truck and unfortunately came up short."
Like Talia, All-Australian nominee Reilly had started the season slowly. He was outstanding against Hawthorn, winning 23 disposals and taking eight marks, including several key intercept grabs - his hallmark last year.
Otten took another step forward in his comeback from persistent knee problems, Rutten kept Jarryd Roughead to one goal and youngsters Luke Brown and Brodie Smith defended stoutly as well as combining for seven rebound-50s.
"This was a step in the right direction and we know we are going to have to play like that for the rest of the year," Smith noted.
Hawthorn star Lance Franklin is struggling to maintain his early season form, failing to kick a goal in two weeks and unable to contain his frustration on the field.
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