ADELAIDE's disappointing showing against Geelong at Simonds Stadium exposed a number of glaring issues for the ladder-leaders, with coach Don Pyke saying the style of football that his side produced was "unlike us".

Pyke said the ease with which the Cats scored in the first half – they had 19 scoring shots from 25 inside-50s at half-time – was the most sobering factor in the 22-point loss.

WATCH: Don Pyke's full post-match press conference 

At the end of the night, the Cats had 33 scoring shots from 52 inside-50s as they coasted to a comprehensive victory.

"It was a disappointing night for us," Pyke said. 

"The damage was done in the first half and the efficiency with which they scored was very unlike us, a few breakdowns there which was disappointing." 

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The Crows were smashed in both contested possessions (130-164) and uncontested possessions (175-265), Pyke conceding that the "numbers didn't lie". 

Adelaide plays Geelong again in round 18 at Adelaide Oval and Pyke said his side needed to be better prepared the second time around.

The Cats have now beaten the Crows on the past five occasions the teams have played. 

"This is not the first time this has happened against Geelong so we've got some learning to take out of it," Pyke said.

"We play them again in six weeks so there'll be some things we do in that period to prepare for next time we play them."

Geelong put plenty of work into Rory Sloane, with Scott Selwood performing an excellent run-with-role on the star Crow in limiting him to 22 disposals and little influence on the contest. 

The Cats were physical with Sloane and did not allow him to get to his desired starting points around stoppages as Selwood and, at times, Mark Blicavs definitively quelled his impact. 

"Scott Selwood went to him (Sloane) and did a good job," Pyke said. 

"We tried a couple of things with Rory to get him into the game but credit to Scott, he had a good night." 

Shutting down Sloane has been a formula used successfully by teams that have beaten the Crows this season, but Pyke said the lack of spread across the board was more of a contributing factor in his side's loss.

"When we're playing our best we're getting that even contribution and tonight we didn't and the result reflects that," Pyke said.

"The weight of numbers eventually tells and tonight we just didn't have enough players who played to their level consistently over the four quarters." 

Defender Jake Lever will be assessed over the coming days after appearing to injure his right ankle late in the fourth quarter. 

Pyke did not have an update on the emerging backmen's status, although the Crows' medical staff attempted to re-strap the ankle and there was the thought that Lever could have gone back on had the game not been out of reach.