Mark Bickley is concerned by what he saw from the Adelaide Crows on Friday night.
The Crows were beaten by Geelong by 19 points at the Adelaide Oval despite having 13 more inside 50s (66-53), more contested possessions (139-136) and more clearances (47-38).
It came on the back of their disappointing defeat to Gold Coast in Round 1.
The two-time Adelaide premiership captain believes Matthew Nicks’ side “lacked system and composure” when going forward which impacted their ability to put scoreboard pressure on the Cats.
Bickley bemoaned the fact that the Crows stuttered their way to a score of 77 having averaged 95.3 points per game in 2023 as the AFL’s highest scoring team.
“Unfortunately for Crows fans they fell well short of the lofty expectations of many,” Bickley said on SEN SA Breakfast.
“The free-flowing, high-scoring Crows of 2023 were nowhere to be seen on Friday night, and unfortunately replaced by a side that at times lacked system and composure.
“The game was high-intensity and high-pressure and Adelaide’s execution just wasn’t able to match it, in particular in the second and fourth quarters when Adelaide dominated the inside 50s. It was 41-19 and they had little result on the scoreboard.
“A lack of composure and cohesion going inside forward 50 saw Tom Stewart take 10 intercept marks with Adelaide seemingly failing to adjust or change the method that was clearly not working.”
Bickley feels that absence of calmness with ball in hand led to attacking players attempting to bite off more than they could chew on numerous occasions.
He now wants to see a more aggressive yet cohesive attacking style when they meet Fremantle in Round 3.
“The lack of composure saw many of the Adelaide forwards miss opportunities and at times trying to do the spectacular rather than the higher percentage play,” he added.
“Geelong were the total opposite in attack. (Gryan) Miers, (Brad) Close and (Tyson) Stengle gave (Tom) Hawkins and (Jeremy) Cameron silver service.
“Adelaide has to handle the opposition pressure so it creates better opportunities entering forward 50. This means around stoppage where they won clearances but not with any effectiveness.
“Geelong were much more effective around stoppage and kicked seven or eight goals from stoppage, which was clearly better than Adelaide.
“Also, Adelaide needs to be more adventurous with their mindset when transitioning the ball from defence.
“The 0-2 start is still manageable but the mindset needs to change to a more aggressive state if Adelaide are to start to turn this around.”
The Crows will be eager to straighten things up and open their 2024 account when they take on the Dockers at Optus Stadium on Friday night.