Adelaide Crows are third on the AFL ladder – and that should frighten their fans | Graham Cornes

It’s a fantastic time to be a Crows fan but history suggests that’s a bad omen, writes Graham Cornes.

All of a sudden it’s fun again. Gone are the days when it was tough being a Crows supporter.

It is true that you have to go through the hard times to appreciate the good. And these last few years have been tough.

However, for most of the Adelaide Football Club’s brief history, the supporters have been spoiled. The team has always been competitive – well, almost always.

Yes, the last five years have tested the loyalty, the passion and the patience. But the fans have kept coming. I doubt there is a more loyal group of supporters.

Season 2020 was the worst season the Crows have had. Not only could they not win a game, the attendance figures were impacted by the Covid-19 restrictions.

They actually won three games that year but it didn’t seem like it. As that miserable season ground to its finale on Adelaide Oval, a mere 17,700 fans sat through another loss.

Richmond belted Adelaide by 44 points but by then most of the Crows fans, even the rusted-on ones, had had enough.

The ignominy of the wooden spoon was almost too much to bear. So they slunk off into summer.

Daniel Curtin of the Crows in action during the 2025 AFL Round 16 match between the Richmond Tigers and the Adelaide Crows at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

However, a new season brought new expectations and even though the spectre of Covid-19 still hovered and they constantly endured the snide wooden spoon ridicule, the Crows crowds were healthy in 2022.

Steadily they returned. An average of 39, 376 at Adelaide Oval in 2023; 41,421 in 2024. Thus far in the seven home games this season, the Crows have averaged 43,983.

This afternoon they will attend in maximum numbers with high expectations. The Crows are in third position on the ladder! Who would have thought? And that’s what is concerning.

In recent years the Crows have been most vulnerable and unpredictable when they are favoured to win.

This afternoon, the Crows play Melbourne on their home turf at Adelaide Oval. They are the overwhelming favourites to win. Not one of the Advertiser’s “expert” tipsters have tipped Melbourne. Why not? We’ve all gone on form.

The Crows have won four out of their last five matches. Melbourne have lost their last four. But beware. One of those losses was to Collingwood – by one point.

They are not a complete basket-case. And they have a couple of good players returning from injury, including Jake Lever. He will be a vital cog in the Demon’s defence as they face the competition’s most intimidating attack.

Plus, they have Max Gawn. He’s still the best big man in the competition. And the midfield, disappointing as it has been recently, if it brings its best, game is still elite.

Petracca, Pickett, Viney and even the controversial Oliver, can all do damage if underestimated.

But this afternoon should be all about the Crows. The patience they have shown with some players is being rewarded.

Dan Curtin is the man of the moment. He’s played 22 games now. It’s not a great number considering young players don’t really start to fulfil their potential until they’ve played 50 to 60 games but they’ve finally worked out where best to play him.

He starts on the wing but goes forward when he has the chance, as well as working back into defence. However, it’s his forward craft that is proving to be most effective. At 197cm, he’s a big young man.

It’s incomprehensible to us old footballers that a midfielder can be so big.

Tom Lynch of the Tigers and Jordon Butts of the Crow. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

That’s almost 6-foot six in the old imperial measurement that so many identify with. The ruckmen who are legends in the Australian Football Hall of Fame were nowhere near that tall. For instance, the great John Nicholls was only 189 cms tall.

The other two archetypal contemporary AFL “big-bodied” midfielders, Marcus Bontempelli and Patrick Cripps, are 194cm and 195cm respectively. It’s mind-boggling, really.

It’s not just the “star” players who have lifted the Crows this year. We expect elite performances from Jordan Dawson, Izak Rankine, Max Michalanney and RileyThilthorpe.

The unexpected development of Curtin has been matched several other Crows players who had previously been regarded as “fringe” players.

Sam Berry is a classic example. It’s his fifth season and this afternoon will be his 67th game but his position has never been assured.

He got his chance this year in round eight after Matt Crouch was injured. Even then he started as the sub. But he has seized that chance.

Maybe it was desperation. Was this his last chance?

Or was it frustration that he was so often the one moving back and forward between the AFL and the SANFL team?

Whatever the motivation, it has worked. He looks strong, quick and accomplished. He has become that line-breaker with a penetrating kick that Adelaide needed. Maybe it’s been the haircut.

Then there is Jordon Butts.

He has previously seemed hesitant to trust himself. He played within his limitations, not wanting to attack the ball confidently in the air or test his boundaries.

And definitely he wouldn’t take a risk and attack confidently from defence. He would rather have stopped, looked around then passed backwards than take the game on and attack.

Fair enough, the game still needs stoic defenders. They will spoil rather than attempt to mark. They hesitate to play on even when it’s obvious to the fans in the stands that ball has to be moved quickly. But Butts has had an infusion of confidence.

Is it because the coach has given him more responsibility? Like standing Eric Hipwood when the Crows defeated Brisbane in round 13. Or last week when he completely shut Tom Lynch out of the game and drove the Tigers’ premiership forward to violent frustration?

He looks a different player and will pose a pleasant conundrum of choice for Matthew Nicks when Nick Murray becomes available again.

There are others. Wayne Milera, now fit and confident, is special. Jake Soligo now 22 with 75 games under his belt is unobtrusively starring every week – even though he started the season as the sub.

Josh Worrell continues to do amazing things. Reilly O’Brien is playing with an energy that indicates he is playing for his football future – which he is.

Yes, it has been a total team effort to get to here in round 17. The strategy of not getting carried away and looking no further than the next contest is working.

Now for Melbourne this afternoon. Everything points to a Crows victory. But only if they have silenced that little voice of over-confidence that has seduced them previously. They owe to those fans who have been so loyal.