Adelaide Crows go back to tackling school Crows midfielder Rory Sloane gets tackled fiercely by Essendon's Courtenay Dempsey. ADELAIDE will spend the lead up to its Round 2 clash against Brisbane renewing its commitment to tackling - and getting remedial lessons from experts - after being manhandled by Essendon on Friday night. Coach Brenton Sanderson had labelled an improvement in tackling as the No. 1 priority over summer but at first look Adelaide has gone backwards. The Crows lost the tackle count 57-39 in the 35-point defeat, including a 40-20 discrepancy after their enterprising first quarter. Sanderson is unlikely to call a no-holds-barred training session at West Lakes this week but there are already plans in place to bring in tackling coaches from a rugby union background in May. "The glaring stat for us, I guess, is the tackles," Sanderson said. We couldn't stick tackles - they brushed us away. We've done a lot of tackling practice over summer but obviously not enough. So that will have to be addressed. Adelaide finished last season with a -163 tackling differential, the second worst in the competition behind Gold Coast (-191). Premier Sydney was an AFL-best +196. Physical performance manager Nick Poulos again took charge of the Crows' tackling drills over summer while former NRL great and inaugural Adelaide Rams coach Rod Reddy was brought in for one session. But it appears to have had little impact as Adelaide's players showed a lack of effort and poor technique against the Bombers. Apart from Brent Reilly's bone-rattling pindown of Michael Hurley, the Crows' tackling attempts were ineffectual. Scott Thompson was brushed off by Jobe Watson on one occasion and Bernie Vince gave away several free kicks with clumsy attempts. In contrast the Bombers constantly harassed and wrapped up their opponents to limit the home side putting the "speed on the game" Sanderson regularly talks about.