PHIL Walsh concedes Adelaide was handed a reality check in its first loss of the season to the Western Bulldogs, but the surprisingly upbeat Crows coach is already looking forward to his side's response in next week's highly-anticipated Showdown.
Adelaide was humbled by the young Dogs by 57 points at Etihad Stadium, and Walsh believed the defeat was a timely reminder for everyone at the Crows not to get ahead of themselves.
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"It's a long season. There's going to be some ups and downs this year," he said post-match.
"Maybe as a footy club – 3-0 and everything's going beautifully – we all read the paper, myself included, and we probably bathed in those victories and it's a good reality check.
"Failure's feedback and it's what we do about it this week now."
Across the opening three rounds the Crows' manic pressure and League's best defence saw Walsh's side lauded from all angles.
But they were dominated from the outset by a fiercer Bulldogs outfit, whose intent was shown as they convincingly won the tackle count 69-51 despite having more possessions (+37).
The teams broke even for contested ball (142 each), but the Crows lost most other key statistics – including the crucial 'ground ball gets' Walsh spoke about in the build-up to the match.
The coach said he would make his players "jump off a jetty" if they were beaten in the statistic – a combination of contested and loose-ball gets – for the third-straight game against the Dogs.
"As soon as I get home I'll probably jump off the jetty myself. But lets give them (the Bulldogs) credit," Walsh said.
"They really out-pressured us and then we panicked with the ball. I really thought they took the game to us.
"They ran at us and we couldn't stick tackles. To get out-tackled when you get beaten by that much – you can't have that."
Click here to watch Phil Walsh's full post-match media conference
Walsh admitted he didn't see the Dogs' six-goal-to-one blitzkrieg in the first quarter coming, saying his side looked slow in comparison to Luke Beveridge's youthful outfit.
Adelaide never threatened after trailing by 35 points at the main break and had few winners across the ground, although veteran midfielder Scott Thompson (38 disposals) was a rare four-quarter performer.
With seven days until his first Showdown against his former club Port Adelaide, Walsh said he'll be looking for a response from his players in round five.
"That's the great thing about footy, you get a chance to regroup," he said.
"We're up against formidable opponents – they beat the premiers. It's our home game, our fans will be desperate to see us respond.
"If the guys need any more incentive than that I don't know what it would be."
