Adelaide fell to its third loss of the season in a thrilling encounter against Fremantle at Adelaide Oval on Friday night. 

After trailing by 34 points early in the third term, the Crows booted seven straight goals to hit the front midway through the last quarter, but were unable to hold off the Dockers, who steadied to come away 11.12 (78) to 11.10 (76) victors. 

Senior Coach Matthew Nicks spoke to the media post-game, and delivered five takeaways. 

First half déjà vu 

The Crows were outclassed in the first half by an impressive Fremantle outfit, and found themselves in a hole at the main break for the third straight week. 

The Dockers set up their victory with a clinical second-term, booting four goals to one to give themselves a comfortable lead for much of the night. 

As it had done for the past three weeks, Adelaide roared back into the contest, and took the lead in the final term, but were unable to finish the job.

“It was déjà vu wasn’t it, it’s been the same story for three weeks in a row,” Nicks said. 

“We can’t allow the oppo to have the game on their terms like we allowed (Freo) to have it in the first half.

“We’re working our way through the why, and going over the difference between when we’re allowing teams to get on top of us and when we’re not. 

“It’s pretty clear (what the solution is), but the ability to execute it is the most frustrating thing at the moment, and we’re angry we’re not able to get it done for four quarters.” 

Contest woes continue

According to Nicks, an inability to get it done around the contest has been the key catalyst behind Adelaide’s early season struggles. 

The Crows were comprehensively beaten in contested ball (149-134), and were unable to get their clearance game going early, surrendering the first 10 clearances of the match to the Dockers. 

Nicks said giving a side of Fremantle such an advantage around the footy was a key reason behind the loss.

“It all starts with the contest, we were smashed in the contest,” Nicks said. 

“In the first quarter we’re 0-10 from clearance and the week prior the same, there’s an ability to direct our focus and get it done, but we’re not doing it at the moment.

“You give sides like Fremantle that sort of start, well good luck, and unfortunately we’ve found ourselves at the wrong end of it.

“For whatever reason our focus isn’t where it needs to be in those key moments, and credit to our opposition led by Brayshaw, Serong and others, they were too good for us to give that much space - and they were sharp.” 

Peatling ignites second half fire

Midfielder James Peatling was critical to Adelaide’s second half fightback, as he put his head down and fought to give the Crows much-needed on-ball ascendancy. 

Finishing the match with 26 disposals and nine clearances, Peatling was particularly impressive in the third term, recording 11 touches and booting a major. 

Nicks said Peatling was a prime example of how his team shifted their focus, and praised how he led from the front around the contest. 

“I really liked JP’s second half, if you talk about the difference between the first and second half, guys like JP, our mids, Daws, our ability to compete and at least match it with them really helped get us back in the game,” Nicks said. 

“I think we end up plus five or six in clearance in the second half, so for that to change so dramatically, you could see our focus shift and we get the results we were looking for in there.

“James was big for us tonight and our ability to get the game on our terms.” 

Borlase impresses against Treacy

James Borlase returned to the Crows line-up for his first game of the season, and battled hard to quell the influence of star Dockers forward Josh Treacy.

Matched up on the in-form power forward from the first bounce, Borlase showed great defensive effort and intensity to keep Treacy to just two goals and five marks on the night. 

Nicks was full of praise for the 23-year-old and how he handled one of the toughest defensive assignments in football at the moment. 

“That’s continued the form we’ve seen from Boz, SANFL-wise he’s found his way to playing above that level, he’s a great defender,” Nicks said. 

“He’s got great defensive effort, coming into AFL his size  has sometimes been a challenge for him, but his effort makes up for it.

“I thought he was great tonight, he was fantastic with his effort and against a very, very good opponent he stood up and did a great job.”

Crows navigating hectic early schedule

Four games in 20 days to begin the season has offered up a number of challenges for Nicks and his coaching staff. 

Since its season opener on March 14, the Crows have already had two six day breaks, and will face another short turn around into their Gather Round clash against Carlton next Thursday night.

Nicks said while it has been a tough start from a scheduling point of view, the group was happy to be playing in big games and willing to navigate through the challenges. 

“There are more than just us going through it, but we’ve had a pretty challenging month,” Nicks said. 

“And then you include pre-season where we travelled to country Perth to play Freo, it’s been pretty challenging for us. 

“But that’s what we’ve got to do, we want to play Thursday and Friday night games, we’re in it for that, it’s an entertainment industry and we want to play on the biggest stage. 

“Part of that is you cop some of these shorter breaks, three six dayers in a month is tough, but we’ve got to be able to deal with that.”