‘Got no doubt’: AFL superstar’s ugly ‘defining moment’ that induced epic finals flop

Premiership Crow Mark Ricciuto admits the absence of star Izak Rankine “didn’t help” Adelaide’s title push, as the club made history as the AFL’s first minor premiers bounced out of finals in straight sets.

Not since North Melbourne back in 1983 has a minor premier made such a devastating finals exit.

Off the back of their 34-point loss to Hawthorn, the Crows are the first minor premiers in V/AFL history to lose to the eighth placed team in a final in a dismal end to what had been an incredible 2025 season.

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But it’s the loss of Rankine, who copped a four-match suspension for a homophobic slur, for the finals series that had Fox Footy experts questioning if that was what derailed the Crows charge.

“Losing that bloke hasn’t helped,” three-time premiership Lion Jonathan Brown said as vision rolled of Rankine in the rooms post-match.

“It was a defining moment probably in the season, wasn’t it?” Ricciuto added.

“Did it throw the club out of whack what happened there?” Brown asked.

“It’s a huge loss. He’s arguably your best player – certainly your most impactful player.”

Ricciuto said the Rankine ordeal was a “tough week” for the Crows who submitted “compelling medical submissions” to the AFL ahead of the ban verdict.

“There was lots of different thoughts going through everyone’s minds at the time. And they didn’t play good footy afterwards – so whether that was the key part of not, I don’t know,” Ricciuto said.

“I think it might be coincidence because they were playing a little bit average before that – it certainly didn’t help (losing Rankine for finals) that’s for sure.”

Nathan Buckley believes the absence of Rankine, who ended up leaving the country before returning and making a statement only days out from the Crows first final, had an impact on the “ecosystem” of the locker room.

“The ecosystem of a locker room, let alone a football club, is finely tuned so I’ve got no doubt that something like that, it doesn’t just impact Izak Rankine … it does impact on the connection with your teammates. And some of them would have been disappointed with him – with Izak, and some of them would have been disappointed for him,” Buckley said.

“And then, all of that together, it just wasn’t long enough to be able to reconcile it, to be able to regather and go back and be able to present as your authentic best self as a team – and that was evident in the last two matches in particular.”

Had the Crows won through to the grand final after the loss to Collingwood in finals week one, Rankine would be eligible to play.

Now he’ll miss the first match of season 2026.

When asked if the absence of Rankine proved costly, Crows coach Matthew Nicks admits the “dynamic” of the group changed.

“What it did do, is it did change the dynamic of our group,” he said in his press conference.

“This is my opinion — he’s one of the best players in the game. So, I think if any team lose their best player, it becomes quite a challenge to replace that.

“Some of our younger guys stepped up and showed that they can play at the level. But the challenge we had was filling that void that Isak’s had there for us there all year. That’s purely on-field, I don’t feel like it affected us away from footy.”

Nicks conceded the straight sets finals exit would leave “a pretty big scar” on his players, with the club failing to win in a single quarter in those two matches.

“Two home finals and they didn’t win a single quarter – it has a bitter aftertaste to it,” Fox Footy’s Gerard Whateley said.

“It’s been a bad ending and it’s been a pretty average month really for Adelaide,” Ricciuto added.