Adelaide's use of the medical sub has been called into question after Tom Lynch appeared to not be ready when needed late in the third quarter.
Will Hamill went off injured but Lynch still needed time to get ready, with the forward seen heading to the rooms to get his ankles strapped just prior to three-quarter time.
When Lynch eventually got on the ground he looked off the pace and unable to have an impact, let alone the energy you would expect from someone coming on fresh after three quarters of football.
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Lynch reportedly carried a toe injury into the game, with the Crows hoping they wouldn't be forced to use him throughout the game.
Crows Head of Football Adam Kelly explained the odd decision to include a seemingly injured player as the medical sub.
“We sent Tom Lynch down into the rooms to get ready to take the field,” he said.
Tom Lynch headed down into the rooms after young defender Will Hamill was assisted from the field by trainers.#weflyasone
— Adelaide Crows (@Adelaide_FC) April 25, 2021
“With Tom, as has been the case for three or four weeks now, he requires some treatment prior to being able to go out onto the field.
“What we did say was ‘take the time you need to be right to play’, knowing we wanted him available to go onto the field for the first rotation in that last quarter.
“We anticipated that was going to be around the five-minute mark of that last quarter.
“He was available to go onto the field about two-and-a-half minutes into that last quarter where he was up on the interchange.”
The move appeared detrimental as the Crows ran out of steam in the last quarter as the Hawks steamed over the top to pick up the win after trailing by 32-points.
