Adelaide coach Brenton Sanderson says the Crows will focus on boosting their tackling numbers after a disappointing display in Sunday’s 32-point loss to North Melbourne.
North’s 17.19 (121) to 13.11 (89) win at Etihad Stadium dropped Adelaide from second to fifth on the AFL ladder and left Sanderson scratching his head at the stats sheet.
“We had 42 tackles. It’s not enough in a game of footy,” he said.
“We had four tackles in the second quarter. That’s not how Adelaide play.
“It’s something we’ve still got to get better at.
“You’ll see a better side next week.”
Sanderson promised fans the Crows (9-3) would come back fighting for Saturday’s home game against 10th-placed Richmond.
“Hopefully you guys will stop talking about us for finals for a while and we’ll focus on beating Richmond,” Sanderson told his post-match media conference.
“We certainly need a better effort if we’re going to beat Richmond.
“It was a chance today to go top. We didn’t grab that opportunity but by no means is the season over.”
Sanderson said captain Nathan van Berlo, who held North’s ex-skipper Brent Harvey to six first-half possessions, deserved better from his teammates.
“When your skipper plays 150 games and a milestone, you need to perform better than that,” Sanderson said.
“We saw a better effort in the second half.”
The Crows conceded 10 goals in the first half and trailed by 41 points at halftime but kicked nine goals to North’s seven in the second half.
Taylor Walker kicked three goals while his fellow key forward Kurt Tippett was subbed off at halftime with concussion and Shaun McKernan scored one goal.
“We went with three tall forwards early. It might have been a mistake,” Sanderson said.
The coach said Jared Petrenko was lively as a small forward in the second half, replacing Tippett.
Adelaide’s Scott Thompson said the Crows had let themselves down in midfield, particularly in the first half.
“We’ve played some outstanding footy throughout this year so far and to come over here and to put that performance out in the first half was really disappointing,” said the midfielder who had a team-high 28 disposals.
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Nobody knew what to think!
A massive stage from Taylor Walker!
Not sure there was much of an argument to be made!
