Adelaide co-captain Rory Sloane is putting some heat on his fellow midfielders as the Crows enter a defining stretch of their AFL season.

Sloane says Adelaide’s onball brigade has been too reactive in recent weeks as the club slipped from third to seventh on the ladder.

“The last couple of weeks we have been beaten around the ball and we’ll certainly own that as a midfield group,” Sloane told reporters on Tuesday.

“We have had some really solid games this year as well, but we certainly want to get back to being proactive around stoppages and set the scene for the rest of the group.

“It might sound cliched, but when you’re a bit reactive and you stand off a bit, that is when you’re susceptible to getting beaten.

“So we want to certainly make sure we’re asking questions and attacking.”

The Crows are in the midst of a challenging mid-season schedule which will go a long way to determining their finals aspirations.

Adelaide host reigning premiers West Coast this Saturday before games against Melbourne (away), GWS (home), Richmond (home), Geelong (away) and Port Adelaide.

But Sloane said it was futile looking at the demanding stretch of fixtures.

“It probably is irrelevant who we have got the next six weeks really,” he said.

“Again, it might sound cliched, but you look at the whole comp this year … we are one loss off sitting about 14th.

“I reckon it’s going to be a year that comes down to the wire.

“You look at it and there’s two teams that are probably standing out, Collingwood and Geelong.

“They just keep winning every week. In this industry that is what you have got to do.”