Adelaide has fallen to a 1-5 record following a nail-biting, and somewhat controversial, home loss to Essendon last Friday night.
While an unfortunate umpiring decision did ultimately deny the Crows the opportunity to take the lead in the final moments, the game was largely dominated by the Bombers.
Had it not been for Essendon’s poor efficiency in front of goal (10 goals, 18 behinds), the game may have been settled well before the final siren.
Despite their subpar start to the season, the Crows believe they are playing some good football, with lapses across portions of the games costing them more than they would like to admit.
Adelaide’s 230-game veteran Rory Laird has been vocal on the disappointment around the club following their slow start to 2024, whilst unable to nail one specific reason for their poor form.
“It’d be nice if I could just pinpoint something and say ‘yep, this is the fix’,” Laird said on SEN SA’s The Run Home.
“A bit of a struggle at the moment, a bit of cohesion (issues), a little bit of execution, it seems to be plaguing us a bit at the moment.
“It was another disappointing result; a bit of frustration continues to persist.”
The Crows fell by just three points to the Bombers at Adelaide Oval, in a clash where the club had plenty of opportunities to put the game away late.
Despite the overall nature of the game, it all came down to a non-call from the on-field umpire, as Sam Draper fell on the footy directly in front of Adelaide’s goal, however, was not pinned for holding the ball.
“I was right there, I was on the outside of the stoppage, trying to hopefully see the ball spill out and have a ping,” Laird explained.
“Obviously it was stuck in the middle of the pack.
“For some reason we seem to be amidst all these controversial calls late in games, at the moment we haven’t had one on our side so it’s frustrating.
“On any given day anyone can win, and banking those wins are super important which is something that we haven’t done so, of course I’d take (the win).
“It would be amazing to be on the other side of the ledger but as I said, we were pretty lucky to be in that position at that point in time.”
Teammate Ben Keays also feels the sour mood amongst the playing group on the back of some near misses.
He feels some fundamentals, particularly with forward connection, just needs to click for the Crows to start winning games.
“It’s definitely frustrating, a bit disappointing to not get it done on Friday,” Keays told SEN SA Breakfast.
“It’s good to be able to come back and be in those games but the start was really disappointing and that’s what let us down in the end.
“It’s been the story of the season so far; we’ve just had little lapses that have cost us games.
“We have been in every game and been in positions to win those games. We just need to tidy up those moments.
“We definitely need to play more front up footy.
“We didn’t give our forwards enough time inside 50, and that gives our backs a rest as well. When you can lock the ball in your front half our defenders get a rest, so they were under the pump quite a lot.”
The Crows will be intent on tidying up there plaguing issues when they meet the winless North Melbourne in Hobart on Saturday afternoon.
