A gallant effort was not quite enough for Adelaide as it fell to two-time reigning premier North Melbourne on a wet afternoon at North Hobart Oval.
The Crows led for large parts of the contest, but were unable to build a big enough advantage to shake off the Kangaroos, who kicked two quick goals to start the final term to secure a 5.8 (38) to 4.5 (29) victory.
Senior Coach Ryan Davis spoke to the media after the match, and delivered four key takeaways.
Proud of the effort
Despite not coming away with the desired four points, Davis could not fault the effort of his players, who consistently challenged North Melbourne throughout the four quarters.
He said the players prepared strongly and put in a performance they should have proud of.
“(I’m) extremely proud, the way our players prepared, applied themselves, and stuck to their roles was unreal.
“Our ability to win the contest for big parts of the game was really good, and I thought some of our players really stood up, playing some different roles and different positions with a couple of outs that we had.
“The ability to hang in there was outstanding, so I had a word with the players post game about how proud of the effort I was.
“We've certainly closed the gap, our development from earlier on the year to where we are now is something we’re really pleased with.”
Young Crows stand up
Adelaide entered the match without both its starting wingers, Maddi Newman and Niamh Kelly, due to injury.
That forced the coaching staff to pivot its planning, and turn to young trio Amy Boyle Carr, Keeley Kustermann and India Rasheed to play a critical role on the wings.
Davis said he was proud with how all three players applied themselves with the added responsibility.
“We lost two of our starting wingers in Maddi and Niamh, but were very comfortable to have Keeley Kustermann, Amy Boyle Carr, and India Rasheed step up into that role,” Davis said.
“It’s something we're looking to do, expand the roles of our players and their abilities around the ground and I thought that they played their roles extremely well.
“It's a really next one up mentality, and I thought those the players who came handled themselves really well.”
Reflecting on the final term
Adelaide succumbed to the class of North Melbourne early in the final term, as it ramped up its pressure and booted two quick goals that ultimately decided the match.
Davis said his team would learn a lot from how its opposition handled itself when the game was on the line.
“I think they're a fantastic side, and they were always going to come,” Davis said.
“There's certainly moments in these types of conditions where the ball bounces that way, or they just turn up at the right spot.
“But they're an outstanding football side, and they got their noses in front as the siren went. But like I said earlier, I’m really proud of how we applied ourselves, and we're certainly going to roll that into next week.
Looking ahead to a do-or-die clash against the Dees
The Crows’ finals chances will be on the line at Unley Oval next Sunday, as they face Melbourne in their home and away season finale.
Davis said the group would come into the game against the third-placed Demons with the same mentality it did to their battle against North Melbourne.
“(The preparation) will be exactly the same as every other week, we will keep the preparation consistent.
“We will need to assess our girls off the back of a pretty competitive game today, review it, dive into Melbourne, and then it’s all chips in.
“We're really looking forward to the challenge, we're disappointed about the result today, but in terms of how we applied ourselves, the group's quite proud.
“I think we've been developing week on week, there's been a fair few changes player-wise, role-wise, and all those things.
I think our last three weeks on the track and then playing-wise has been unreal, and then you get a couple of tests like the Suns into North Melbourne, then into Melbourne.
“In terms of asking for a better run to test how you're going, you can't ask for a better run than that.”
