Adelaide forward Lachlan Murphy said he was left “almost speechless” by fans’ support after the Crows’ stunning 12-point win over Geelong. 

The Crows were widely dismissed as the underdog heading into the game after last year’s disappointing season. 

But Murphy said the side’s faith in securing a win never wavered. 

“There’s no point rocking up if you don’t think you’re gonna win,” he said on Tuesday. 

“We had three or four key performance indicators that we knew, if we ticked them off, that we were gonna win - and we ticked them off.”

Adelaide dominated early with relentless pressure, something Murphy said was an indicator of the largely-inexperienced team’s youth. 

“That’s what you get with a young group - Ned (McHenry) is running around like a headless chook and it drives older players to do it,” he said. 

“That pressure, that’s something we want to be known for as a footy team.”

The 22-year-old booted a remarkable goal in the final seconds of the first term which led into a standing ovation from the crowd as the siren sounded. 

“When the crowd is going berserk like they were, you lose yourself in the emotion of it,” he said. 

Murphy said he’d relished the opportunity to push up higher against the Cats. 

“I’ve built my fitness to a point where I’ve been trying to push for that high-up forward role, going through stoppage,” he said. 

“Obviously with Matt Crouch out Schoey (Harry Schoenberg) went onto the ball so it gave me an opportunity to be able to do that a bit more.

“It’s good to be trusted by Nicksy (Matthew Nicks) and VB (midfield coach Nathan van Berlo) to get me in there… it’s something I’m still trying to work on but it would be nice to be able to keep that role for a bit longer.”

Murphy also landed a goal-saving chase-down tackle in the final quarter which has been lauded as crucial to the Crows holding on to the win. 

“I think the chase-down tackle, that’s the sort of stuff I want to be known for and that’s why I get selected for the side,” he said. 

“To be able to do that in a crucial time, I felt, uplifted the team and set the tone a little bit.

“For us to hold on was a fantastic team effort and to be able to contribute with a couple of little things was nice.”

But, for Murphy, it was restoring the fans’ faith in the team which meant the most. 

“The emotion when that siren went… we were almost speechless,” he said. 

“That feeling in the rooms after when you look around and feel that sense of pride - it was a really special moment.”