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AAP
AAP
Sport
Steve Larkin

Rankine stars as Adelaide hammer North Melbourne in AFL

Izak Rankine soared and kicked five goals in Adelaide's 66-point AFL win over North Melbourne. (Matt Turner/AAP PHOTOS) (AAP)

Boom recruit Izak Rankine has kicked five goals as Adelaide's high-octane attack hit top gear in a 66-point hammering of North Melbourne.

The Crows, with seven players scoring multiple goals in their 21.12 (138) to 11.6 (72) victory on Saturday at Adelaide Oval, reclaim a spot in the top eight.

Rankine also directly created two other goals while Darcy Fogarty slotted four majors and Coleman medal leader Taylor Walker kicked three.

Adelaide's Ben Keays (28 disposals, two goals) was outstanding while Luke Pedlar, ruckman Reilly O'Brien and Riley Thilthorpe kicked two goals apiece.

Captain Jordan Dawson (28 touches) continued his fine season, combining with Rory Sloane (30) and Rory Laird (24) to form a dominant midfield while halfbacks Mitch Hinge (26) and Brodie Smith (24) were prominent.

Adelaide will end the round possibly as high as sixth as they chase a first finals appearance since 2017.

"We're not going to hide from it and not talk about it," Crows coach Matthew Nicks said of the prospect of finals.

"We have got a really tough run, as far as what we need to win from the remaining games.

"But if we get ahead of ourselves and start thinking about that, then we're not concentrating on Essendon (next week) which is where our mindset is right now."

The 17th-placed Roos were just seven points down 23 minutes into the second quarter but conceded nine of the next 10 goals.

The heavy loss came after five consecutive defeats of 35 points or less since interim coach Brett Ratten stepped in for Alastair Clarkson.

"I'm sick of being competitive, I'm sick of being around the mark or getting close ... competitive should be the norm," Ratten said.

"We let ourselves down in the first half, our organisation behind the ball and at some stoppages was really poor and we gave up some cheap goals.

"Really, halftime should have been a bit closer than what it was.

"But the second half was chalk and cheese."

North's Nick Larkey slotted three goals in a 10-minute purple patch in the second term, Taryn Thomas (two goals, 23 disposals) had patches of influence and Harry Sheezel was their chief ball-winner with 31 disposals.

The Crows scored 7.2 to 4.1 in an opening quarter punctuated by an injury to key defender Jordon Butts and a flashpoint for the Kangaroos' Callum Coleman-Jones.

Butts left the field, concussed and clutching his left cheekbone, after an accidental clash of heads while Coleman-Jones' late air-borne crash into Nick Murray after the Crow took a mark will attract match review scrutiny.

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