Richard Douglas says why this year’s Crows are better than teams that have fallen short before

CROWS midfielder Richard Douglas notes there is one quality no AFL statistic can highlight to reinforce he is part of the best-ever Adelaide team since the 1997-98 premiership double: maturity.

On the run ... Richard Douglas sprints away from Essendon’s Brendon Goddard. Picture: James Elsby (AFL Media/Getty Images)

CROWS midfielder Richard Douglas notes there is one quality no AFL statistic can highlight to reinforce he is part of the best-ever Adelaide team since the 1997-98 premiership double.

“In one word — maturity,” he says.

“The difference this year is we have a group who have played a fair bit of footy together. I’d say 50-100 games.

“Looking at premiership sides in the past, they’ve had that in their core group.

“We’ve been through some ups and downs, some tough times and become a lot closer as a group.

“We have built some great relationships. There is genuine trust on game day and we gel very well. Our connection, you would see, is really good.”

Douglas has been part of three of the four Crows squads that have carried the “best-ever” tag since the 1997-98 flag double.

He made his AFL start in Neil Craig’s high-scoring team in 2006, was a seasoned player in Brenton Sanderson’s 2012 squad that equalled the club record of 17 wins in the home-and-away series and now is now a key part of Don Pyke’s unbeaten group.

“We are tracking well,” said Douglas on Wednesday as Adelaide prepared to rewrite its best-ever start to an AFL season with a fifth consecutive win.

“When I first got to the club in ‘06, we had a really strong list and we started the year so well until we fell away at the end.

“Then 2012, we were within a kick of a grand final (losing the preliminary final to eventual premier Hawthorn).

“We are only four games in this year. We still have a lot of work do to. But we’re certainly on the right track.”

Adelaide is now forecast to achieve its first top-four finish since 2012 and to rewrite the record books with an imposing attack that has met or cracked the watershed 100-point barrier in four consecutive games.

Adelaide is primed to match the club’s 2005 record of 10 consecutive wins, reaching the halfway mark to that sequence on Saturday at Metricon Stadium against Gold Coast (2-2).

Douglas — and veteran midfielder Scott Thompson — are the only survivors from the Craig era in 2005-6 that carried high expectations but tumbled in finals, losing two preliminary finals to West Coast. Pyke was part of Craig’s coaching panel.

Douglas’ memories of how April-August results can fade in the heat of September’s finals will be invaluable as this year’s campaign rolls to the major round.

“We want to peak at the right time,” Douglas said.

“We are playing some good footy at the moment, but finals and grand finals are not won in April. We understand that.

“We know we need to play good footy to put ourselves in a position to contend, but in the last two finals campaigns (2015 and 2016, ending at the semi-final stage) we have fallen short on the biggest stage.

“We learned from that. And we will look to address that if we get there again this year.

“When times get tough, as they do in finals when you get challenged all the time, we will hopefully stand up. Time will tell.

“If we get in that position again, I’m confident we will do a lot better.”

Douglas, 30, arrived at West Lakes as a first-round draftee at the end of 2005 — after the record 17 wins in the home-and-away series did not deliver a grand final berth.

He reaches his 200th AFL game this weekend after living through fast-paced change.

“The game is as fast as ever,” he noted on Wednesday.

“That Showdown (against Port Adelaide a fortnight ago) that was another level, it was ridiculous. The game continues to evolve and get quicker. And you need to be more professional and stay at the cutting edge.”

BEST-EVER CROWS

A young Richard Douglas battles Port Adelaide’s Adam Kingsley and Danyle Pearce during his debut season in 2006. Picture: Matt Turner

ADELAIDE’S best tilts at the AFL flag since the 1997-98 double.

2005

WON club record 17 of 22 home-and-away games.

WON club record 10 in a row.

FAILED to reach grand final, losing first home final as Mark Ricciuto served suspension.

2006

WON 16 of 22 home-and-away games.

HIGHEST-scoring Crows team at the time.

FAILED to reach grand final, losing home preliminary final to West Coast.

2012

WON club record 17 of 22 home-and-away games.

REWROTE club record for highest-scoring season.

FAILED to reach grand final, losing two of three finals.

2017

WON club record first four games.

RECORD percentage to highlight attack and defence.

RATED as certain top-four finisher.

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