AFTER escaping from the MCG with a memorable draw, Adelaide coach Don Pyke admitted Collingwood deserved to win the game.
He said his view at the end of the game was that the Crows stole the two points on offer for a draw, with all the statistical indicators showing Collingwood were the better team.
Pyke praised his players' resilience to reset themselves at half time and never give up.
The result leaves the Crows a game clear of Geelong on top of the ladder with an 18 per cent buffer heading into a huge Showdown clash with fifth-placed Port Adelaide next Sunday.
Pyke said the team would need to examine what had led to the team's poor start that saw them fall 50 points behind two minutes into the third quarter.
Five talking points: Collingwood v Adelaide
He anticipated some soul searching on Monday to determine the reasons for the team's lack of early intensity.
"Are we talking about a mentality? Are we talking a let down from the previous game?" Pyke said.
"The best teams and the best sportsmen just continue to compete to a really high level and we were off today in that area.
"That will be a good discussion with our group on Monday about what created that because we need to understand that because it wasn't just one or two players, it was across the group."
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Pyke said it wasn't just the two points that led to his mixed emotions, it was the way the Crows played in the first half compared to the second that led to the feeling.
He conceded that reeling in such a huge deficit showed the players they were capable but it didn't make the first half any easier to swallow.
WATCH Don Pyke's full post-match press conference
"Some of the things we did in the early part of the game just weren't to the level and how we want to play and what we want to stand for as a group," Pyke said.
"It's a real bittersweet time when you have had a draw but the way that draw panned out was quite unique as well."
McGovern's post-siren goal earned the Crows the two points, with his pack mark reminding keen observers of Ross 'Twiggy' Dunne's mark in the 1977 Grand Final draw when he hung on amidst a pack of players at the opposite end of the ground to where McGovern marked.
Pyke praised McGovern's effort to respond from a quiet first half to kick four second half goals.
"In those situations, it is so unique. He never would have experienced it before so to go back and then finish the goal, [he] got that moment of excitement followed by that moment of 'oh it's a draw'," Pyke said.
"It was good for him to stand up to do that."
The Crows face Port Adelaide next week with Pyke hopeful Eddie Betts, Brad Crouch and Jake Lever would be available for selection after missing the game through injury.
He was unclear about what had happened to defender Kyle Hartigan, who left the ground with a suspected hamstring injury playing in the SANFL.
