Crows seek consistency via defence

Adelaide forward Josh Jenkins says the Crows must use Thursday's impressive win over Collingwood to gather some momentum in the coming weeks.

David Mackay says Adelaide will be focusing on defence to improve its consistency this season. Source: News Limited

DAVID Mackay believes a defensive mindset can help Adelaide find the consistency which has plagued it this season.

Adamant the Crows have a potent attack, wingman Mackay says denying the opposition easy goals is the key to the club moving ahead in the win-loss ledger for the first time this year and playing finals.

NO MCG INJURY DEMONS FOR TEX

CROWS WAIT ON CROUCH

"We think we can score, we haven't had too many issues scoring and we think we've got a lot of options going forward,'' Mackay said as his team prepared to play Carlton at the MCG on Sunday afternoon.

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"We've just got to make sure we keep teams to low scores. When we've lost it's because we've lost momentum in games and allowed teams to score pretty easily against us.

"That's been the area which has let us down all year. We think if we can rectify the effort we had defensively against Collingwood then we'll be in pretty good shape with our attack.''

Adelaide bounced back from an embarrassing defeat to Melbourne, stunning Collingwood with a 21-point win at Adelaide Oval on Thursday night.

Adelaide conceded just 55 points to the Magpies — a far cry from the 93 points it had been averaging after round seven.

Mackay is not putting the heat just on the club's defenders to silence rivals.

He said the all-round pressure which the Crows applied on Collingwood is the key to his 4-4 team winning regularly.

LOVE NOT MONEY FOR DANGERFIELD

"We've still got a lot of things to work on but the positive from last week was that we played the four quarters of intense footy that we've been trying to play all year,'' Mackay said.

"We saw the fruits of what we've been working on, which was the most pleasing thing.

"But we have to build on that. It won't mean much unless we continue on with that form.

"We certainly believe that when we bring our best form we can match anyone but the trick for us is to have that consistency.

"And that starts with the pressure and making sure we do our job defensively.''

Adelaide coach Brenton Sanderson fronts the media following the Crows' 21-point win over Collingwood on Thursday night.

Adelaide set a season benchmark for defensive pressure against the Pies, laying 93 tackles — the second best performance in club history.

Mackay said the Crows are "under no illusions'' of where the team is at and that "we still have plenty of work to do''.

He said Adelaide is aware of the importance of backing up the win against Collingwood by beating the Blues.

"Every game now is really big for us,'' Mackay said.

"We don't have the luxury of putting in a poor performance because at 4-4 we're pretty delicately balanced.

"We've got to make sure we get ahead of the (win-loss) ledger and all the boys and coaching staff are well aware of that.''

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Bombers ban racist fan for Goodes slur

Last updated: May 20, 2014

ESSENDON has revoked the membership of a supporter accused of making racist comments towards Australian of the Year Adam Goodes during Friday night's loss to Sydney at Etihad Stadium.

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Hurting Hawks suits Carlile

Matthew Pavlich on the run with Alipate Carlile in hot pursuit at Adelaide Oval. Picture: Sarah Reed Source: News Corp Australia

Port Adelaide skipper Travis Boak has denied there's an alcohol ban at the Power, saying the players are professional enough to know when it's the right time to do it.

ALIPATE Carlile couldn't help but smile when he was reminded neither Jarryd Roughead or Lance Franklin would be in Hawthorn's line-up for Port Adelaide's top-of-the-table clash at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night.

Carlile has played the Hawks 10 times in his career — for a 4-6 record — and stood either Roughead or Franklin each time.

Franklin, who kicked 20 goals in six games where Carlile was his primary opponent, is of course at Sydney these days.

And Roughead — who Carlile has had better success against, holding him to six goals in four games — has been sidelined by suspension for his high bump on Swan Ben McGlynn.

Carlile joked "hopefully there's a match up for me" but he's likely to start on David Hale and shift to ruckman Ben McEvoy when he rests forward.

"We'll just mix and match like we've been doing all season," he said.

"We respect Hawthorn for what they've done over the last few years and it's a massive challenge for us.

"They could bring in anyone. Their list is that deep they can bring in some superstars."

Saturday will be Port's first night game at Adelaide Oval and Carlile noted how greasy conditions were during Adelaide's win against Collingwood last Thursday.

But he's confident Port can make the necessary adjustments and has not lost the momentum of a five-game winning streak through the bye.

"We've come back to training like it's a normal week," Carlile said. "Kenny still gave us a hiding on Sunday."

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