ADELAIDE coach Don Pyke will ask for an official please explain from AFL headquarters over the 28-12 free gap that cruelled his men against Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium. 

Josh Jenkins almost stole the points with an amazing eight-goal effort but his one-man show couldn’t override the Bulldogs or cover their run with the umpires. 

Skipper Taylor Walker spoke to umpires at three-quarter time with an out of bounds call on Eddie Betts heading a raft of dodgy decision that sabotaged Adelaide in a 15-point loss. 

At the final change the Dogs led the free kick count 20-5. 

Round 18

It continues an astounding run with the umpires this season, with the Bulldogs averaging 23.9 frees a game (most in the AFL) and 14.3 frees against (fewest in the AFL). 

The run sparked a string of angry, and hilarious, social media posts with the hashtag #freekickbulldogs trending during the game — an update on the #freekickhawthorn line that took social media by storm a week ago. 

Coaches are loathe to blame officiating for results but normally reserved nice guy Pyke won’t be pulling any punches in the game review. 

“You guys know your footy.  It was pretty frustrating for our fans and players.  We will address that with the umpiring department during the week.  We will seek some understanding,” he said. 

Taylor Walker speaks to umpire Troy Pannell at three-quarter time.  Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: News Corp Australia

I think the umpires must have seen this Hawks fan in the crowd and got confused. # FreeKickBulldogs? # AFLDogsCrows pic.twitter.com/r9t14uhq4i — JΛY BUCKS (@TheMasterBucks) May 7, 2016

Josh Jenkins no issues with umps, saying Dogs simply first to ball. " You can see there was Crows players with arms around Bulldog throats". —  Sam Landsberger (@SamLandsberger) May 7, 2016

Did one umpire have a 17-1 count towards the Bulldogs tonight?  Surely not true — Mark Robinson (@Robbo_heraldsun) May 7, 2016

Having endured a barren effort last week against Fremantle, Crows captain Walker managed one major on Saturday night.  Pyke continued to back his skipper despite persistent concern over his return from a foot injury. 

“Tex was a nearly game, he got his hands on half a dozen (marks) and is on the way back up,” said Pyke of Walker with 12 goals this campaign. 

Adelaide will also rue an error prone performance and flat midfield contribution as much as any umpiring malaise. 

Adelaide has made a habit of overcoming limited inside 50 entries with clinical scoring this season.  However the Crows couldn’t hope to overcome a 68-37 inside 50 deficit in addition to losing clearances 41-24. 

“It was a lack of supply, didn’t create enough opportunity for our forwards,” said Pyke. 

“Eight is a great game and Josh got on the end of a few. 

“Our efficiency clearly kept us in the game for a long time and that has been a strength all year but we need to generate more opportunities for our forwards.” 

Adelaide now faces/faced a slip from the 4-2 draw defying start to the season to 4-4 with a home loss in Patrick Dangerfield’s return with second-ranked Geelong.