Adelaide Vice Captain Reilly O’Brien revealed the intercept marks conceded to Collingwood’s defenders was the key theme of the Crows’ post-game review, following their qualifying final loss.
The Crows were unable to break through the Magpies’ defensive set up, as they conceded 28 intercept marks and only managed to kick eight goals on the night.
As admitted by Senior Coach Matthew Nicks after the match, a lack of composure with ball in hand proved costly, as Adelaide won the inside 50 count but was unable to make it count on the scoreboard.
Speaking to the media on Friday, O’Brien lifted the lid on what the group discussed in the immediate aftermath of the match.
“The key thing we spoke about after the game was the intercept marks against, it was pretty obvious that was a problem for us all night,” O’Brien said.
“They took 28 I believe, you aren’t going to win too many games of footy with that stat against, and that largely came down to our composure with the ball.
“The way they set up behind the ball probably got us done in the end, we weren't able to mitigate their spare number and played into their hands a bit.
“We banged it on the boot a little bit too much and kicked it straight to their numbers behind the ball - so that is a major work on for us moving forward into next week and beyond.”
Players were disappointed as they walked off the Adelaide Oval on Thursday night, according to O’Brien, with a week off and a home preliminary final now gone.
But O’Brien said hope certainly was not lost, as the group was eager to move on quickly and rectify its shortcomings in a do-or-die semi-final next week.
“It’s obviously pretty frustrating and we’re pretty disappointed with the result,” O’Brien said.
“We went in with high hopes to book ourselves a home prelim, but we weren’t able to do that, so right now we are probably in that upset and angry mode.
“But we know we will be able to move on very quickly, the focus will be on preparing for next week and putting in a better performance.
“We’ve got an opportunity to do it the hard way now, and last night is something we’ll learn from and be better for having had the experience.”
Adelaide had 16 finals debutants in its line-up on Thursday night, fuelling the rhetoric that a lack of finals experience was a main cause of its struggles.
“It’s hard to say how much the lack of finals experience plays into the final result,” O’Brien said.
“At the end of the day it’s just another game, obviously it’s high stakes and there is a lot of pressure with some big moments out there on the field.
“But in saying that, it just felt like another game, we’ve played some high pressure games this year and performed really well and won those - and last night felt similar to those games.
“So I wouldn’t say the lack of finals experience had a big impact on us, in saying that though everyone has a final under the belt now and we’ll be better for it.”
For all the up-to-date details on Adelaide’s semi-final, which will be released at a later date, head to the Club’s finals hub here
