No quick fix for struggling Adelaide, just hard work, says David Mackay

Coach Don Pyke locked the Crows behind closed doors for 20 minutes after their third loss of the season to North Melbourne. And veteran speedster David Mackay says there is no simple solution to their early season struggles.

Taylor Walker and the Crows leave Marvel Stadium after the disappointing loss. Picture: Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

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Veteran speedster David Mackay has declared there is no easy fix for reeling Adelaide and that the players simply must “roll the sleeves up and get to work’’ to dig the club out of an early season hole.

The Crows — one of the pre-season premiership favourites — are 1-3 and staring at a second consecutive lost season after a disastrous second half against North Melbourne on Saturday night saw them plummet to 14th on the ladder.

Adelaide co-captain Taylor Walker (middle) shows his frustration as the team leaves Marvel Stadium following the two-goal loss to North Melbourne on Saturday night. Picture: SCOTT BARBOUR (Getty Images).

Adelaide lost a 20-point lead early in the third quarter to slump to a 12-point defeat at Marvel Stadium and was badly beaten in a host of key areas, including inside 50s (57-36), contested possessions (137-120) and clearances (31-19).

Coach Don Pyke locked his players behind closed doors for 20 minutes after the game as the team dissected a third loss in what has been a shocking opening month of the season.

Mackay said the Crows — minor premier and beaten grand finalist in 2017 — were “really disappointing” in many facets of their game and that the players were “frustrated’’ by their early season struggles in a year which had promised so much.

But he said there would be no finger pointing and that the only way out of the mess was to stick together and work hard as a unit.

“We’re not playing the type of footy we aspire to play and we’re all frustrated by that,’’ the 30-year-old veteran of 206 games said.

“After the game we had a discussion to try to home in on what everyone was feeling and there are a number of areas we are down in at the moment.

“We are not playing as well individually or collectively as we would like to, nowhere near what we are capable of, and all the players understand that.

“The players are not shying away from taking responsibility for that.

“But there is no simple solution. The only way to deal with that is to just roll the sleeves up, get to work and try to get better in these areas.

“We need to use this period of time, which is definitely tough, to actually help strengthen us.’’

Crow David Mackay gets wrapped up by Paul Ahern of the Kangaroos on Saturday night. Picture: Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

Mackay said the Crows’ biggest issue against the Kangaroos was their failure to win contested ball, which meant they lost field position and spent much of the night defending, leading to the lopsided inside 50 count.

“We didn’t win enough of the ball in the middle of the ground and so large chunks of the game were played in North Melbourne’s half of the ground,’’ he said.

“When that happens it makes it very difficult to move the ball and score because you are starting from so deep in your back 50 and opposition teams can set up so well defensively from there.

“We’ve still got great belief in our talent, that doesn’t waver, but we need results because we are a results driven footy club.

“We just have to do whatever it takes to work hard to get better.’’