Keep wayward Kurt: Jacobs
Sam Jacobs has refuted claims the Crows should trade exciting but erratic forward Kurt Tippett
ADELAIDE ruckman Sam Jacobs has labeled claims from Garry Lyon that the Crows should trade Kurt Tippett as "ridiculous", after the forward missed easy opportunities in front of goal against the Hawks.
On Footy Classified on Monday night, Lyon said it would be too hard to curb Tippett's inaccurate goalkicking and the Crows should look to offload him come season's end.
Tippett sprayed several straightforward shots in Sunday's 56-point loss, but Jacobs said that while Tippett had struggled with his goalkicking "since he got drafted", the man-mountain was an essential member of the Crows' squad.
"It's a ridiculous comment," he said.
"'Tippo's' very important to us and what he does to get those shots on goal, his contested marking and stuff like that, was outstanding."
Tippett kicked 3.3 against the Hawks, but Jacobs said he was more than just a goal kicker.
"The way he assists me as well, he's pretty adaptable to play ruck and forward," he said.
"He's obviously been working really hard on (his goal kicking) ... he's come a long way now and hopefully he keeps progressing."
Crows coach Brenton Sanderson lamented his side's erratic goalkicking in Sunday's loss, claiming Hawthorn simply kicked straighter.
"Too many times, we'd kick a behind - they would kick a goal," Sanderson said.
"We'd miss; they'd score and that would become an 11-point shift on the scoreboard."
Jacobs described the heavy loss - Adelaide's first under Sanderson - as a "reality check" and said the Crows now knew how far off the pace they truly were.
"Rather than us getting ahead of ourselves it's more about us seeing the standard of where we need to get to," he said.
"Hawthorn are an elite kicking team and if you let them do what they want to do they're going to carve you up.
"They've set the bar and that's where we need to get to."
The Crows will be favoured to bounce back into form against GWS at AAMI Stadium on Saturday but given the Giants' plucky second half against West Coast at the weekend, Jacobs said they deserved respect.
"They've got some very exciting players and some proven players like Chad Cornes and (Dean) Brogan," he said.
"We know what they're capable of if they put it all together.
"When you come off a loss like (we did) we need to get back to what we've been doing and that's playing that competitive, hard-tackling stuff."
Sam Jacobs is a $450,000 ruckman in Toyota AFL Dream Team. Register your team here
Harry Thring covers Adelaide news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Harry.