Ruckman Sam Jacobs says the Crows were determined to win for their “mates” after losing Tom Lynch and Andy Otten to injury at the Gabba on Sunday.

Lynch was taken off on a stretcher and sent to hospital for precautionary scans following a sickening head-on collision in the second quarter against the Brisbane Lions. Scans cleared the forward of serious damage and he returned to the change rooms to a rapturous applause after the match.

Otten also requires scans after seriously injuring his right knee in a seemingly innocuous incident. The versatile tall was stretchered off after collapsing to the ground clutching his knee only 10 minutes after Lynch had been taken down into the rooms.

Adelaide led by 44 points at half time and Jacobs said the team vowed to keep fighting despite being two rotations down in the warm Brisbane weather.

“Sando came in at half time and let us know exactly what was happening with ‘Lynchy’ and ‘Otto’, so none of the boys were wondering what was going on,” Jacobs said after the game.

“We mentioned doing it for our two mates, who put it on the line for us every week. We wanted to step up in their absence and fortunately we did that.”

Led by spearhead Taylor Walker, who kicked six goals, the Crows kicked away to a 105-point win and resigned the Lions to their biggest-ever loss at the Gabba.

The result gave Adelaide a potentially important percentage boost and confidence heading into another crucial match, this time against an in-form Richmond at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night.

“That win is definitely right up there. I didn’t see a 100-point win coming,” Jacobs said.

“We just wanted to worry about the process, making sure we won every contest and doing all the little things right.

“Fortunately, in the last quarter we had a bit of confidence and were able to kick on.”

Walker’s bag of six was his best return since coming back from a knee injury earlier this season.

He was one of 13 Adelaide goalkickers on Sunday.

“Tex is just a big brute out there. He gets everyone organised and is such a key pillar for us,” Jacobs said.

“He’s got a really good understanding of the game and we all know what he can do with the footy. I think he owes Lynchy a goal because he went back and missed that one after Lynchy was stretchered off. Tex reckons he didn’t kick the goal because he didn’t earn it.

“We lost ‘Pods’ (James Podsiadly), but gained Charlie Cameron this week. Charlie doesn’t kick as many goals as some of the other forwards, but he creates so many. He’s so important to our team and you can see why Sando brought him back into the team after only one game in the SANFL.

“Our midfield was also able to apply pressure and get the ball inside 50m quickly.”

Jacobs was instrumental in setting up Adelaide’s big win.

Jacobs enjoyed a good battle with another in-form ruckman of the competition, Stefan Martin. The key Crow finished with 39 hit-outs, 19 disposals, six marks, four clearances and two goals in an influential display.

“I played against Stef Martin in the VFL six or seven years ago, but that’s it,” he said.

“I watched stacks of tape of him last week just to see what he does because he gets so much of the ball. Even today, he had another 26 touches. Ideally, your opponent doesn’t get the touches but I wanted to make sure I beat him in the ruck and got forward on him to try to get the ball myself.

“I feel I did that today.”

Jacobs will now prepare for a contest against former Crows teammate and friend, Ivan Maric.

“I’ll study Ivan and see what he’s been doing. It’s always a good battle with Ivan. I’ll speak to him during the week and see if he gives me anything!”

Richmond has won six straight games to be only one win outside of the top eight.

After clawing into the eight for the first time a fortnight ago, the Crows suffered a disappointing loss to West Coast. Jacobs said his team would need to guard against a similar letdown this week.

“The Tigers are confident and we’ve seen what they can do at their best. We owe our fans one after the West Coast loss,” he said.

“I thought we’d finally broken the up-and-down trend, but last week was a poor effort. We knew we had to rectify it and that we were ultimately playing for our season today.

“It’s a short break, so we have to do everything right in our recovery and get ready for the Tigers, who are red hot at the moment. I think the top eight is going to go right down to Round 23 regardless of what happens week to week. You can throw a blanket over five or six teams that are still a chance. We saw last week that you can be on such a high and then brought back down very quickly.

“We just need to worry about Richmond and make sure we put our best foot forward again.”