Adelaide fell to Brisbane by 52 points at The Gabba on Sunday, going down 19.13 (127) to 11.9 (75).

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

Crows to search for answers on uncharacteristic performance

Adelaide had lost by margins of just six, eight, and two points in its three defeats this season, before Sunday’s match against Brisbane.

But against the Lions, the game quickly slipped out of reach.

Senior Coach Matthew Nicks said the coaching cohort and players were left disappointed and would be looking into the reasons behind the hefty defeat.

“I think like the players, I’m just really gutted by the performance,” Nicks said.

“It’s not the standard… We pride ourselves on being better than that, and tonight we were beaten up.

“Credit where it’s due, though, they (Brisbane) were very good. They dominated us in the contest.

“More ‘why’ that’s the question. Tough venue, really tough opponent, and we didn’t come ready to go for whatever reason. There will be a number of things we’ll look at; travel, what the last month’s been like, the last fortnight, there's things we’ll look at.”

Nicks opens up on three-quarter time talk

At three-quarter time, Adelaide found itself 56 points down, with the Lions setting up their eventual victory strongly.

Nicks said the direction he gave was to continue to fight it out and learn from the lessons.

“We were probably a bit lucky to hold in there for the first half, and then the flood gates opened out of centre bounce in the third,” Nicks said.

“It’s hard to be happy at the moment, but there will be parts that we’ll look back on - you get to three-quarter time, and we’re talking about ‘what can we get out of this game?’

“What can we get from this trip to Brisbane that we are going to take back on a short break now into the next game, so that’s where it went at three-quarter time.”

Crows Captain’s return

Skipper Jordan Dawson returned to the Crows’ team for its clash against the Lions after the sudden loss of his brother, Jaryd.

Dawson finished with 28 disposals, eight marks, 585 metres gained and two goals.

Post-game, Brisbane players and coach Chris Fagan gathered around Dawson in a heartfelt show of support.

“I think it did take a lot of courage (for Dawson to play), it’s been a really tough week or so for him, and it’s still there,” Nicks said.

“Even post-game he was quite emotional, it’s amazing what football can do, that 120 minutes, and he dug in and went to work.

“It’s a really tough place to be at the moment. He’s got incredible support around him from his family and his extended family, which is our footy Club.

“I am really proud of the way he went about it tonight, he had a crack for us, did whatever he possibly could.”

Clarity on where improvement is needed

The reigning premiers controlled most aspects of the game, particularly the clearances, with the visitors losing the key statistic 45-30.

Brisbane was afforded plenty of room to move the ball with precision and Nicks said tightening up would be a key work on ahead of Showdown 59 on Friday night.

“I think our guys are pretty clear, we know how good they are if given space, and we gave them far too much,” Nicks said.

“They were just too good for us. If we were first onto the ball, we fumbled it, when they were first onto it, they were clean, and that’s why they are where they are.

“We were looking for whatever we could. It happened pretty quickly in that third when the game just turned.

“The good sides do that to you, just put you away really fast.”

Quick turnaround calls for swift focus shift

The Crows will return home on Monday ahead of Showdown 59 against crosstown rival Port Adelaide on Friday night.

And with just a five-day break before another big game, Nicks said the team would need to quickly review Sunday’s loss and move on to the next task.

“I would say we’ll move on reasonably quickly, as fast as we can and find our belief and confidence again,” Nicks said.

“Respectfully, do we bin it (the loss against the Lions) really quickly? Maybe.

“You want to move on really quickly, but you also want to improve and keep getting better, so you need to know what you need to improve on.”