ADELAIDE 6.3 9.6 13.9 16.13 (109) WESTERN BULLDOGS 4.6 7.10 10.16 14.18 (102)
Goals: Adelaide: E Betts 5, T Walker 3, C Cameron 2, R Knight 2, R Henderson, R Sloane, S Thompson, T Lynch. Western Bulldogs: T Dickson 5, J Redpath 2, J Stringer 2, S Crameri 2, J Grant, L Dahlhaus, L Jong.
BEST: Adelaide: Betts, Walker, Sloane, Dangerfield, Laird, Henderson, Thompson. Western Bulldogs: Dickson, Hunter, Dahlhaus, Minson, Bontempelli, Wallis.
Umpires: Justin Schmitt, Mathew Nicholls, Brendan Hosking.
Official Crowd: 60,782 at MCG.

Has there been a better game this year? Probably not. How about with a season on the line? Surely not. Just know that if there is better to come over the next few weeks, we will have witnessed something beyond description.

Because this was an epic. It started at a cracking pace and didn't let up for a moment. It flowed, but was always tough. It was always close, neither side able to steal a game-winning break.

And to be frank, it didn't deserve a loser. But in the end that was the Western Bulldogs, Adelaide surviving to play Hawthorn on Friday.

It came down to one passage of play, a Bulldog handball that looped just a little too far. A turnover, and a contest, Adelaide skipper Taylor Walker pushing off Fletcher Roberts on the wing and bolting towards goal, still cool enough to slip the game-winning pass to Charlie Cameron. His conversion made it seven points to the Crows with 81 seconds left to play. That was enough. But only just.

Adelaide were amazing when it counted. They'd slipped eight points behind after three successive Bulldog goals midway through the final term. But not for the only time in this classic game, they rallied. It was Walker who'd revived hope with a goal of his own before setting up the winner. It was Patrick Dangerfield, relatively quiet early, who had a huge nine-possession last term. Leadership has been a necessity for a club struck by such tragedy this year, and the Crows, on field as well as off it, have it in spades.

How could you sum up the first quarter? Breathtaking, exhilarating, flowing. Just a joy to watch. Particularly so for Bulldogs fans for the first eight or so minutes, then even more so for the sizeable contingent of travelling Adelaide supporters. The action started moments after the first bounce, Stewart Crameri posting the first goal from a free kick. Then  Tory Dickson expertly roving a pack and snapping truly on his right.

Barely a minute later, Luke Dahlhaus similarly crumbed a pack and bounced on through, and the Doggies were flying, three goals to the good in under five minutes.

Big Will Minson, back in harness, had hit the ground if not quite running, tapping with effect, the Dogs dominating the clearance battles. Dahlhaus and Lachie Hunter were everywhere.

Like so many of his teammates this year, Lin Jong, used rarely in the second half of the season, had returned to the senior 22 and had an immediate impact. His bustling energy was infectious. It also created the Dogs' fourth goal when he burst open a pack, dished off a handball, got it back, then gave another off to Crameri. It was high-octane stuff from the Doggies. But in what would be a telling indicator of what was to follow, Adelaide's first inside 50 produced their first goal, to Eddie Betts. And within 15 minutes, he had three, and, incredibly, the Crows an eight-point lead.

It was like Adelaide had burst into a chorus of "Anything You Can Do ... etc.", such was the power of their run off half-back, so omnipresent was Rory Sloane, who had a hand in every one of the Crows' first three goals before kicking the fourth himself.

Skipper Taylor Walker worked his butt off,  and Betts ... well, he was just Eddie, popping up every time the ball went inside 50, coolly converting practically every chance that came his way.

The Bulldogs looked in a good deal of trouble once Adelaide posted two of the first three in the second term, too, Betts' fourth major forcing Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge to remove Dale Morris from his side. But the Dogs weren't going anywhere just yet. Jake Stringer had been inconspicuous early, but his sixth disposal of the evening, a clean pick-up and beautiful snap, was important. Jack Redpath, equally quiet early, dobbed one from a lead and the Bulldogs went into half-time just a kick-and-a-bit in arrears.

Which was still the case at three-quarter time. How, though, was anyone's guess. It was the Bulldogs' dominating once again, everywhere but the scoreboard.

And seemingly everytime Adelaide went forward, they nailed their opportunities, both set shots and snaps. When Riley Knight converted to put the Crows 10 points to the good again, his side had kicked eight straight from set shots. The Dogs had gone at 4.5 from theirs. A soaring mark from Jong had the Dogs within three points again. But Betts struck again. Another beautiful snap, with just 11 seconds left, had the Crows 11 points up with a quarter left.

Was it any surprise then that final 30 minutes of this game were every bit as thrilling as what had preceded them? Sometimes, you just know you're witnessing something special. This game, one of the great finals of all time, let alone the modern era, was all that and more.