Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Adelaide’s players aren’t subscribing to the theory they tossed the proverbial monkey off their back with their elimination final victory.
Key forward Darcy Fogarty says the win over the Western Bulldogs merely reinforced a belief that the Crows belong in the finals.
The 22-point triumph over the Dogs was Adelaide’s first finals win since 2017 and followed a straight-sets exit from last year’s playoffs.
“We have always had the belief going in for the last 12 months,” Fogarty told reporters on Monday.
“We had the belief last year but things didn’t quite pan out.
“But in terms of a monkey off the back, I don’t think so.
“We’ve had really strong belief that we’re able to play this time of year and play some good football so it’s pleasing that we won a final, but it wasn’t really a scare for us.”
Adelaide’s players revelled in a win that eased pressure on coach Matthew Nicks, whose tenure reportedly hinged on downing the Bulldogs.
Nicks, with victory assured in the last minutes of the elimination final, was given a standing ovation from a raucous Adelaide Oval crowd.
“It was pretty special. I think the support that everyone showed for Nicksy was really warranted,” Fogarty said.
“And he’d had a stressful week leading into it and the way the boys played shows that we’re all behind him, we’re all on his side, and he’s doing an unreal job.
“That’s what is so impressive about Nicksy, he’s very calm and cool-headed and he doesn’t let those things get in the way.
“He’s got one job at focus and that’s playing good football.”
Fogarty said the Crows collectively had rapidly switched focus to playing the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba in a Saturday night semi-final.
The reigning premiers were thrashed by 53 points by Sydney in a qualifying final.
“We’ll obviously review them in the coming days and I’m sure there’s going to be some big takeaways from the Sydney game,” Fogarty said.
“But we match up against them a lot differently than Sydney do.
“We can read into a little bit of recent form, but at the end of the day it’s probably more important about how, one, we want to play our brand football and, two, how we match up against them.”
