ADELAIDE coach Brenton Sanderson has suggested it would be a blight on the game if forward Taylor Walker was suspended for his sling tackle on Richmond's Steven Morris.

Walker was awarded a free kick for the tackle, despite replays showing the former West Adelaide player was dumped on his head.

Morris escaped injury and jumped straight up to remonstrate with Walker; the ground softened by weeks of rain.

"I think we will wait and see what happens but just live, I thought [it was a] fantastic tackle," Sanderson said.

"The Richmond player bounced up and kept playing.

"I know we have to be aware of any head contact with the ground and I think if you asked Taylor, he says he has learnt his lesson on that one.

"I will have to wait and see a replay but I hope for the good of the game that he's okay."

If the tackle is deemed against the law, it would be the second time since round seven that Walker found himself in trouble for his tackling, after he was sanctioned for two games for a sling tackle on Geelong's Harry Taylor.

Walker's suspension would certainly be a downer for the Crows on what was a remarkable 52-point fightback, and one Sanderson labeled "player driven".

He praised the attitude of his younger players and singled out Patrick Dangerfield and Rory Sloane amongst others.

"We have got a lot of young kids with a tremendous spirit and will to win inside them and we certainly saw that today," he said.

"Slone, Dangerfield, loved D-Mac's (David Mackay) game across half-back today - he gave us a bit of a spark back there.

"I can keep naming them, I mean [Taylor] Walker's game was fantastic, [Kurt] Tippett … it was a really important game for us."

Sanderson said he was thankful to come away with the win after such a slow start, praising Richmond's early pressure around the ground.
 
But he said that after quarter-time they were able to get the most out of their match-ups, singling Daniel Talia out for keeping Jack Riewoldt goalless after the first break.

"[I'm] very relieved after what we saw in the first quarter to get the four points against a really good side and a side that was hungry today…their pressure was incredible at the start of the game," he said.

"Richmond certainly jumped us, we turned the ball over in bad spots of the ground today and they hurt us.

"Riewoldt had three goals at quarter-time, we swung Talia onto him, he finishes with three goals and 10 possessions."
  
Having based his 2012 game plan on hard-fought, tough football, it came as no surprise that Sanderson was most pleased with Adelaide's plus-19 contested possession count after half-time.

"The thing that turned the game for us was our ability to get back in contested ball - we were minus-18 at half-time and that is certainly not the style we are trying to play," he said.

"In the end we won by one [and were a] bit harder around the contest."

Harry Thring covers Adelaide news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Harry.