Adelaide coach Don Pyke has emerged from his hellish AFL coaching baptism with some confidence.
Pyke's Crows lost to Geelong by 26 points on Friday night, leaving him with four wins and four losses to begin his tenure as a head coach.
The defeats have been to unbeaten North Melbourne (10 points), Hawthorn (three points), Bulldogs (15 points) and the Cats.
"The four sides we have lost to are quality sides, and it probably highlights our need to continually improve, continually work on our game, individually and collectively," Pyke said after Geelong's 13.20 (98) to 11.6 (72) win at Adelaide Oval.
"There is another level, and that level at the moment is (set) by those teams that are up there - and we strive to be one of those teams.
"We've had some really solid performances against those teams. We have just got to keep getting better."
The Crows were off-key against Geelong, with sloppy foot skills stunting their ball movement - only the Cats' wayward goal shooting kept Pyke's outfit alive.
"The kicking for goal on their behalf kept us in the game," Pyke said.
"At the end of the day, it flattered us."
The Crows engineered a late rally and recruit Paul Seedsman had a 20m set shot some 10 minutes into the last quarter to take the lead - he missed, and Geelong booted the last four goals of the game.
"The last quarter was pretty much the story of the game: we didn't hold sway when we needed to and Geelong proved they were the better team," Pyke said.
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