ADELAIDE coach Neil Craig has implored his players to be "bolder" in the aftermath of the 57-point reality check handed out by St Kilda on Sunday.

The Crows went into their shells after an even start and were unable to match the pressure of the red-hot Saints, particularly in the pivotal early part of the second quarter dominated by the home side. 

With the margin getting out of hand, Adelaide was able to stem the flow with a period of possession football. With play almost exclusively mired in their back half, the Crows were hesitant with their ball use – often going backwards - and could only muster four inside 50s for the second term.

"I think the real issue for us is that we've got to learn to be bolder from an offensive point of view and not get stifled like we did tonight," Craig said.

"You don't want to be reckless coming out, but if you try and do it safely and be precise with that, you're not going to come out often enough.

"There was a period there where we just couldn't get out [of our back half], but they were still scoring; the scoreboard was starting to drift.

"We made the decision to try and get the ball in our hands for a period of time … we were in survival mode there. We just didn't want the scoreboard to blow out really badly."

Craig was impressed by the relentless attack on the ball carrier of the ladder-leading Saints, who led the way in most statistical categories.

"It clearly sets a new benchmark for us to aim for offensively and defensively. We were beaten pretty much through the whole game," he said.

"Sometimes it's good to know how much more you've got to improve. We've got a very coachable group of players who want to be good and are on a mission.

"They put themselves out there, and I commended them for that. When you put yourself out there to want to be the best, you're going to take some knocks, but our capacity to rebound quickly with the Showdown coming up is going to be important for us."

Despite his side crashing back to earth with an unceremonious thud after seven wins on the trot, Craig was confident his players were capable of making up at least some ground on the Saints before September.

"The St Kilda players are not super-human, so that means we'll be capable of aiming to get to that level," he said.

"There's a gap, but it doesn't mean that gap can't be closed in the next six or seven weeks.

"I'm sure they'll be aiming to keep that sort of form and we'll be aiming, as will some other sides, to try and close that gap. We'll need to, (and) there's not much time to do it."

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