ADELAIDE coach Matthew Nicks said his team may as well have been "still on the bus" after another slow start proved costly in the eight-point loss to Geelong.

The Crows failed to register a single inside-50 in the opening 10 minutes of the clash as the home side got off to a flyer at GMHBA Stadium.

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They kept in touch with the Cats throughout – even hitting the lead a few minutes into the fourth term – but the professional and more experienced home side found a way to win, overwhelming the previously stern Adelaide defence.

"[We] didn't throw in the towel, but we were still on the bus. We were 0-10 inside 50s, lost ground ball by 11 or 12 – that'll be the one we have to look at, and go through the 'why'. It's all good to plan for something, but then you have to be able to execute," Nicks said.

"It was really disappointing for the group to come in at quarter-time and look each other in the eyes – yeah, we were disappointed. But we can show that we can fight back. Unfortunately, if you [start slowly] against the best teams, we're going to walk in after a game and be disappointed in a close loss. 

"It's a tough one to swallow when you start like that and then you fight back and get in front. Especially at a hostile ground like this, against a really high-quality team. Maybe you run out of tickets towards the end, you just run out of puff. But we will have a pretty close look at the first 10 (minutes)."

A seemingly incorrect free kick for last disposal was paid on the wing in the fourth term, which saw Tom Atkins switch the ball the long way around the field.

While Adelaide had several opportunities to intercept as it eventually entered Geelong's 50, Jack Martin capitalised, kicking what turned out to be a crucial goal. 

Nicks didn't believe the decision had an impact on the final result.

"No, there’s nothing that stood out that changed the game from that point of view," he said. 

"Couple of things towards the end that we’ll go and work on when it comes to those really close arm-wrestles, but it was quite an experienced side we came up against, particularly in that last quarter."

Geelong recorded 22 more inside 50s than Adelaide, and laid 25 tackles inside its forward 50 to just four the other way, as the ball lived in the Cats' front half, particularly in the first and fourth quarters.

"It wasn't a game full of highlights, it was a grind for both teams. And potentially, it was going to be a really frustrating night for us, because even though we weren't executing very well, it felt like we had control the game for large periods – at least statistically, it felt like the game was sort of going OK," Geelong coach Chris Scott said.

"But it's amazing how often against really good teams, when you have the momentum, you know at some point it's going to turn because of an individual. I'm sort of thinking about (Izak) Rankine's front and square, and (Josh) Rachele's goal. When you play the Crows, you almost need to accept that those guys are going to do some pretty special things every now and again.

"But it becomes frustrating when you haven't been taking your chances. They looked dangerous when they went into an open forward half, and we were grinding away into a more congested forward half. But in the end, I think it was probably a game where the weight of numbers was enough, but it certainly wasn't the spectacle that it could have been."

Geelong now has 10 days until its next match on Easter Monday against Hawthorn, and is hoping skipper Patrick Dangerfield (calf) and Brad Close will be recalled. The latter was listed as omitted, but Scott said he had been battling an unspecified niggle.

"If you look at our history with [Dangerfield], he will be absolutely cherry ripe to play his absolute best and not compromise anything for later in the year, or we won't play him," Scott said.

"[Close] was very similar to Patrick in that he just had some interruptions in the pre-season … and there's a couple of guys in this boat as well.

"We've had a couple of guys that just had a few niggles late in the pre-season, that we thought it's rare in the season that you get a chance to really improve those things through your training and only miss one game. Closey will get some VFL time, but this was more a 'let's get him back to his best physically', rather than a form thing."