Adelaide vows to keep it simple as it prepares for a charge towards the finals

Adelaide defender Kyle Hartigan has revealed what the talking points were as the Crows went from a horror 1-3 start to now being a top-four contender ahead of the second half of the year.

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Adelaide defender Kyle Hartigan says it was simplicity that turned the Crows’ season around and has vowed to stick to the same principles as they charge towards the finals.

And he has vowed to stick to his head-over-the-ball approach despite suffering a concussion in a horror collision with fellow backman Alex Keath earlier in the year as the Crows prepare for the second half of the season after enjoying the mid-year bye.

Hartigan, who has found form again after being dropped for the club’s match against Melbourne in Darwin, said the early-season form slump had led to clearer and more basic messages within the group.

It would remain the mantra for the rest of the season.

“We spoke about it with `Pykey’ (senior coach Don Pyke) the other day — how did we go from 1-3 to 8-5?

“I think we just simplified our messaging, simplified … it’s just contest and pressure those are the things that we know that if we bring them it’s going to hold us in good stead.

“They’re probably just the basic focus points that you can always go back to, no matter how the game is going.

“If we can do that longer than the opposition … it might not happen for the first quarter and it might take us until the last 10 minutes of the game.

“We’ve been in some arm wrestles this year but we’ve been able to come out and win those games whereas in previous years we might not have got over the top.

“That’s what we base our game on.”

Hartigan still sports a scar from his Round 9 match collision with Keath in the club’s match against Brisbane and mocked himself by saying his modelling career might not get off the ground.

But for not one minute would he change his approach to the game following his concussion.

“You can probably see the scar on my head; it will probably stay with me forever so the modelling career is probably a little bit over,” Hartigan said. “Head for radio now.

“I’d never really been concussed before so it was a little bit different for me.

“Not at all (would he change his approach). I didn’t see ‘Keathy’ coming.

“I’m not going to change the way I play.

“I was just going for the ball, eyes on it and that’s not going to change.

“Your whole life, your whole footy career I’ve been playing that way and I’m not going to change just because I’ve got a couple of hits to the head.

“I don’t know how many times I’ve done that and haven’t got hit in the head so I’ll take my chances.”