No time to savour Showdown win as Adelaide Crows turn attention to next must-win assignment
COACH Don Pyke described the Crows’ thrilling Showdown 45 victory as ‘a fantastic win for the footy club’, but has vowed to quickly bring them back to reality as their dream of returning to the AFL finals remains in the balance.
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ADELAIDE Oval was as its loudest as the Crows kept it season alive with a pulsating three-point win in their home Showdown on Saturday night but Crows coach Don Pyke was quick to point out that the side remains on a knife’s edge.
With three matches to go the foot is still on Adelaide’s throat to keep winning to claim an unlikely finals berth and as much as Pyke and the players were elated in the rooms, he vowed to quickly bring them back to reality.
“It’s a fantastic win for the footy club,” Pyke said. “For us, we knew the importance of tonight.
“Win and we can keep progressing in the season.
“Having done that, we now move on to next week.
“That’s unfortunately this industry: we’re going to enjoy tonight, because you’ve got to enjoy your wins.
“So the guys will enjoy tonight and then we’ll be back into what it looks like next week against GWS.
“We need to keep winning.”
Pyke conceded there was always an element of luck when a match was decided by less than a goal — like both Showdown were this year.
But he could not speak more highly of the players’ resolve as they found a way to win when a loss would have ended the season.
“There was a lot to play for tonight, for both sides,” Pyke said. “For us, we knew that tonight was just a vital win and that sits with the players.
“They’re the ones with five, eight, 10 minutes to go find a way to keep running to the next contest.
“To our guys’ credit, they just hung in there. In those sorts of games it’s nice to be in front at the end but they can often go either way, as we found out earlier in the year.”
The match wasn’t without controversy. Josh Jenkins’ matchwinning goal went to review, and Jenkins told Fox Footy after the match he had feared for the worst.
“My grandma brought me up not to tell fibs; I thought it hit the post,” Jenkins said.
Pyke had been aware of the confusion as play was held up but said he had been too preoccupied to involve himself with the replays on the screens.
“I didn’t even look at it,” Pyke said. “I said, ‘did it or didn’t it (hit the post)?’ and when it came up as a goal I was probably more worried about what does it mean with a minute and a half to go — what structures do we want, how do we want to marshall the troops in that last little bit?
“I haven’t seen it, to be honest.”
Brodie Smith made his return from knee reconstruction but struggled to reach his All-Australian best.
But Pyke said the expectations had been modest on Smith in his first game back.
“It was fantastic for Brodie to get back,” Pyke said. “Clearly it’s his first (AFL) game back for 12 months.
“He’ll be better for the run, I reckon is the best way to describe it.”
Daniel Talia sat out the game on the bench after suffering a right ankle injury and will be assessed during the week.
Mitch McGovern and Richard Douglas should be available for selection in next week’s match against GWS.
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