Matthew Nicks believes Adelaide's first win of the season was a reward for two weeks of gallant effort, and one that could be the spark that sees the Crows rise back into finals contention.
Three late fourth-quarter goals saw the Crows storm home to win by two points to claim their first win of the season against an undefeated Carlton unit away from home.
With a Friday night home clash with Essendon before a meeting with North Melbourne, the chance to jump to 3-4 on the season presents a real opportunity for Adelaide to climb back into the finals race after a winless start from four weeks.
“It's amazing what one kick can do to a change room,” Nicks said post-match.
"It shows how quickly it can change from where we were a couple of weeks ago,” he added.
Nicks commended his players for their unwavering team effort, but singled out standout performances from Izak Rankine and Taylor Walker, whose return to form was instrumental in the victory.
The Crows' chances of a form spike rest critically on the performance of players like Walker and Rankine, with the latter to see more midfield minutes alongside fellow young gun Josh Rachele as the season progresses.
“Izak we're slowly getting a little bit more on ball time. Not a lot more than he's been doing but as we get our game going a little more and our system starts to click, he will find himself involved in the game more,” Nicks shared.
“Similar to Josh Rachele and if you talk about our most experienced player in Taylor Walker, we gave him that chance to be dominant. That comes off our ball use and also how we compete."
The coach also lauded his hampered defensive unit for standing strong in the face of Carlton's attacking onslaught, holding firm under the pressure of arguably the best key-forward duo in the competition.
“It was always going to be a tough night for our key defenders but I thought Jordan Butts – who ended up pushing through some soreness – stuck it out for us," he said.
“For those guys to hang in there for us, we know how important it was. For their teammates to come over and help as well, I thought Josh Worrell started that tonight and was really strong in our team defence.”
Adelaide return to their home fortress next Friday night to face Essendon fresh off a dominant fourth quarter charge and win over the Bulldogs.
