Adelaide coach Neil Craig has apologised to Ivan Maric for "embarrassing" the ruckman during the Crows' loss to Geelong last week.

Craig berated Maric at three-quarter time during the Cats' 48-point victory, away from the usual enclosure of the team huddle, meaning his fierce words and body language were picked up all too clearly by the TV cameras.

Having struggled for much of the night, Maric's confidence fell further in the final quarter when he gave away a 50m penalty and a vital goal.

The exchange sparked memories of Malcolm Blight's infamous "pathetic" jibe at ruckman David Pittman following a defeat in his second match as Crows coach in 1997.

Until now, Craig had made it a trademark not to open his players to public ridicule.

"I spoke to Ivan on Tuesday about that situation ... I felt I owed Ivan an apology, I owed the rest of our playing group an apology, and probably our supporters as well," Craig said on Thursday.

"When I actually got to see that incident on TV, I was embarrassed by it as a coach, because that's not the way I want to go about my business.

"It's not part of my trademark as a coach, so therefore I've made a significant error with the way I want to conduct my business.

"The content of the message and the sincerity of the message I don't apologise for, but the way visually it came across could've been done a lot better and so that's what I do regret."

Craig said Maric, 23, had no problems with the content of the dressing down, but would have been embarrassed by the manner of its delivery.

"If I was Ivan I would've been embarrassed as a player and I don't want to be a coach who embarrasses players publicly, so I take full responsibility for that," Craig said.

"He's not in denial about some areas we want him to improve in and so that wasn't an issue, but certainly visually when I saw it I cringed."

Craig noted some of the response he had received for the incident had been a positive reinforcement of the passion he had shown, but the man himself was not comfortable with it.

"It's like me walking out into the middle of the oval and saying to Ivan `come over here and we'll do this in front of 40,000 people'," Craig said.

"That's my issue, that could've been done better on closer quarters, in with the midfielders, as it has been in the past and will be in the future.

"If I had my time again I wouldn't do it - it was nearly a one-on-one out in front of 40,000 people.

"It's interesting you have feedback that says its passionate, that's what people want to see and all that sort of thing, shows some emotion, but I don't go down that path at all."

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