Dawson performance full of courage, coach says

His teammates immediately rushed to their captain, who had taken last week off after the sudden death of his older brother Jaryd.

Coach Matthew Nicks said the Crows would have taken whatever inspiration they could get at the time, with the Lions dominating territory.

But the reigning champions blew last year's minor premiers away after that, kicking 10 of the next 11 goals to finish the contest.

"The good sides do that to you, just put you away really fast," Nicks said.

But Dawson never gave in, finishing as comfortably his side's best player with 28 possessions and a second goal in the last quarter in a performance full of pride.

Nicks said Dawson was emotional after the game. The 29-year-old was seen in tears following the final siren.

"I think it took a lot of courage. It's been a really tough week or so for him, and it's still [ongoing]," Nicks said.

"It's amazing what football can do. For 120 minutes to actually just go - and he did - he just dug in and went to work.

"We threw him around in a lot of different spots, trying to find ourselves."

But the Lions were much too good, and as hard as Dawson tried, he couldn't win the game by himself.

Nicks said Dawson had support from his family "and his extended family, which is our footy club".

"We're really proud of the way he went about it tonight. He had a crack for us and did whatever he possibly could," the coach said.

Sunday's loss leaves Adelaide 13th on the ladder ahead of next week's showdown against the always feisty Port Adelaide.