Coach Don Pyke gives Adelaide Crows a licence to thrill

AT three-quarter time Adelaide coach Don Pyke gave his players licence to take the game on. The Crows responded with what he described as the side’s best quarter of the year.

Don Pyke thanks the fans after the Crows’ victory against West Coast. Picture: Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images

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DON Pyke says the instruction before the Crows’ matchwinning final quarter against West Coast on Saturday afternoon was as simple as this: he gave the players licence.

Licence to take risks, to take the game on, to try the difficult, to play at breakneck speed and see if it could come off.

And what followed was what the Adelaide coach described as one of the Adelaide’s best quarters for the year as the Crows turned a 20-point deficit into a 10-point win after enormous final-quarter performances from captain Taylor Walker, Rory Sloane and reigning best and fairest Matt Crouch.

Matt Crouch hugs coach Don Pyke after the stunning win Picture: Sarah Reed

Taylor Walker has a laugh with the crowd after the win. Picture Sarah Reed

“At three-quarter time we sort of said, ‘You’ve got licence here, let’s go,’’’ Pyke said. “And they found another gear.

“The last quarter was probably one of our better quarters for the year, to be honest.

“In the first three quarters we were working really hard but we weren’t getting return for that effort.

“In the last quarter we did.

“The main message was that the game was there to be won but it wasn’t going to be won if we just sat back and tried to work our way through.

“We had to take the game on so they were complete licence to play with the attacking flair we know we’re capable of.”

The win snapped a four-game losing streak from the Crows, who have also had to deal with the fallout from quitting its partnership with controversial mental trainer Collective Mind and a season marred by injuries.

Crows vice-captain Rory Sloane after his successful return from injury with Josh Jenkins. Picture: Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images

It has led the Adelaide daring to win again as it levelled its record at 7-7 and are now likely to need at least five wins from the last eight matches to make the finals.

“Hopefully that’s a stimulus for us for the rest of the season,” Pyke said. “That’s the sort of footy we know we’re capable of playing.

“So it’s a great reminder to all of us — players and coaches — of what we can do.

“Hopefully that adds to our belief.

“It’s a big win for us.

“We can now focus on what we can control, which is the rest of the year.”

West Coast coach Adam Simpson said he had expected something to happen in the last quarter after Walker closed out the third with a soccer goal.

It did, but the Eagles just could not stop it.

“Adelaide’s effort in the last quarter — we just couldn’t match it,” Simpson said. “We got smashed around the contest.

“Probably the will to win was the evident part in the last quarter and we couldn’t match it.

“The momentum was so strong it was hard to stop.”

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