There is no celebrating for the Adelaide Crows as coach Brenton Sanderson demands they end their maddening inconsistency.
The Crows impressed as they crushed fellow AFL finals contenders North Melbourne, by 36 points in their AFL clash at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night, squaring their win-loss ledger for the season at 6-6 and moving closer to a spot in the top eight.
But the fact they have still not strung consecutive wins together this season is a big concern for Sanderson who is supplying tough love in search of a remedy.
"I am really hard on this group so there were no celebrations in our rooms," he said.
"They enjoy the win for five minutes and then we come back to work on Monday and we look forward to trying to beat the Bombers next week.
"Like our fans, we cannot accept this up and down, good week, bad week, it has to stop soon, it has to end.
"You can't manufacture extra reasons to get yourself up.
"It has to be driven by individuals, it has to be driven by our young leadership group that our behaviours and our standards are maintained every week."
North Melbourne coach Brad Scott had a similar demand for his players after witnessing a performance against the Crows he described as 'uneven'.
Scott suggested his team must learn to stop relying on senior stars such as the ageless Brent Harvey, who collected 31 touches and kicked two goals, to drag them over the line.
"It comes back to inconsistent performances of some of the players," said Scott.
"Boomer (Harvey) can't do it all by himself and we only had a couple of others giving that sort of effort as well.
"We looked a little bit shell-shocked at times, the ball was there to go and get, and guys just stood there looking at each other.
"We had the 22 that could and should have got the job done and they didn't.
"Adelaide were desperate, they needed to win and played accordingly, whereas we just rolled out there and waited to see what they had and tried to counter punch.
"That's no way to beat good sides."
Saturday's defeat has left the Kangaroos clinging to seventh position and at risk of dropping out of the eight with Essendon and the Crows nipping at their heels.
They have a chance to bounce back and cement their position in the top eight next Sunday when they take on Melbourne at the MCG.
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