Crows coach laments poor skill in AFL loss

Adelaide coach Don Pyke says sloppy skills cost his side dearly in a 14-point AFL loss to Hawthorn.

Adelaide Crows players walk off the field

Adelaide coach Don Pyke says sloppy skills cost his side dearly in a 14-point AFL loss to Hawthorn. (AAP)

Adelaide coach Don Pyke is blaming sloppy skills, not complacency or the bye.

Pyke says poor skills cruelled the Crows in their shock 14-point AFL loss to Hawthorn on Thursday night.

Adelaide cling to top spot ahead of weekend games but they have lost four of their past seven fixtures.

Pyke rejected any thought of complacency as a factor or the bye - the Crows and Hawthorn were both resuming after a week off.

"I am not going down the path of the bye being the reason," Pyke said.

"But it was a very disappointing night all round ... it was quite off."

Pyke said Adelaide's slack skills were uncharacteristic in a loss which is a setback to the club's bid to consolidate at the top.

"It's not ideal," Pyke said.

"We obviously set ourselves for the second half of the season and this is a poor way to start it.

"We have got to regroup pretty quickly ... and clearly play and perform better than we did."

But Pyke ruled out swinging huge selection changes in response to the defeat.

"We will keep faith with the group. The group has got us to this point now," he said.

"The reality is in this competition, if you don't bring fundamentals in a really strong sense and don't play those for four quarters, you're going to be in trouble."


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Source: AAP


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