Adelaide Crows running out of chances to make September’s AFL finals but Bryce Gibbs remains hopeful

ADELAIDE recruit Bryce Gibbs is grateful to still be in the AFL finals race in July after dark seasons at Carlton - and his enthusiasm will be vital to keep Adelaide focused on the race to September’s top-eight major round

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CROWS recruit Bryce Gibbs is not one to give up any fight to play in September’s AFL top-eight finals after being repeatedly denied at Carlton the chance to still be in contention in early July.

And the 246-game midfielder’s attitude of appreciating the opportunity – and accepting the tough challenge – is just what Adelaide coach Don Pyke needs in his player base if the Crows are to scramble into their fourth consecutive finals series.

“Mathematically, we’re still in the mix – so we’re not going to die wondering,” Gibbs told The Sunday Mail after the 47-point loss to the league-leading Tigers at the MCG on Friday night. “We’ll keep the vibe up.”

Gibbs, 29, in his first year as a Crow – is clear on how the team must respond to stay in the finals race by beating top-eight side Geelong at Adelaide Oval on Thursday night.

Bryce Gibbs of the Crows reacts after the Round 16 loss to Richmond. Picture: Getty Images

“Our one wood is our contested ball. We were shown up in that area (losing 165-151 to the Tigers),” he said. “We have a six-day break (to the Cats game), so there isn’t a lot of time.

“It gets back to our hunt around the footy. When we are winning our fair share in that space we usually go pretty well. It is a pretty simple game. And that is not just at ground level, but in the air as well.”

Adelaide rewrote the record books – in a dubious way – with its 8.8 (56) replacing the 9.4 (58) in 1995 as the Crows’ lowest score against Richmond.

“Our centre-to-forward connection has been a bit of an issue,” Gibbs said.

“We’ve certainly addressed it. We have to get back to being a bit braver going for some kicks that we might have done in the past and getting some confidence on the back of that.

“Maybe our forwards are getting too high at times and not resetting. Sometimes us as midfielders aren’t using the ball very well. It could be a combination of things.”

Gibbs left the MCG – where Richmond extended its winning streak at the G to 17 games – adding his vote to the Tigers as the competition’s benchmark.