The buck clearly stops with coach Neil Craig at the stuttering Adelaide Crows.

He certainly did not shirk responsibility after his side was "pushed around" in the Brisbane Lions' come from behind 13-point AFL win.

After cruising with a 6-2 record, the Crows have dented their top-four hopes by stalling at 8-5 with two straight losses following the disappointing Gabba defeat.

Craig wondered aloud how he would get his "slow" Crows flying again.

"We're a slow footy club at the moment, moving the ball," he said.

"I think we need to look at the training we do.

"Our quicker movement of the ball, getting off the mark, and want to play on a bit more, rather than just go back and chip.

"That's my responsibility to address that. I think it's the way we've trained and we need to change some of our training.

"There were too many times where we could have got around and played on and not been too perfect going into the forward line, just dropped it in there and put some pressure back on the Brisbane Lions.

"But we wouldn't do it."

In a major concern for Craig, Adelaide had 67 more possessions than the Lions, but generated eight less scoring shots in the 11.17 (83) to 10.10 (70) loss.

After the Crows had emerged as an early yardstick, Craig said the resurgent Lions showed just how much Adelaide had to improve to be a 2008 force.

"First half we were okay, we had a lot of the play, poor going forward. Second half we just got pushed around," Craig said.

"I thought their (Lions) pressure in the second half was as good as we've faced this year, just their hardness at the ball, which is a bit of a signature play for Brisbane.

"I thought we matched them well in the first half, but a group of players in our club would have found out there's probably another little jump that we need to get to for the whole game."

There's no relief in sight for Adelaide.

Their next clash is against Geelong on July 4 as part of a tough four week run that also includes Collingwood at the MCG, a derby clash with Port, and Sydney at the SCG.

"It's well-documented our draw, we are coming up against some class sides," Craig said.

"It was not disastrous at all (last night's loss) but it's where we are and there is a pretty clear picture of where we've got to go.

"We are not far off it but it is going to require a pretty big effort to get there as it does when you have to jump to another level.

"Geelong will be another good test for us."

Asked how Adelaide were placed after two straight losses, Craig said: "We are starting to come back to the bunch - we've got a fight on our hands."

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP