Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks may have provided the perfect blueprint to tackle flag fancies GWS after a stirring performance on Saturday.
The Crows ran out eventual winners by 18 points, but looked in control from start to finish, leading the entire afternoon.
The low-scoring affair can be attributed to the tough, wet conditions at Adelaide Oval, but the defence of Adelaide was on point, denying any meaningful thrust from the Giants.
"Very disciplined, the win, but mature is a good word for it," Nicks said in his post-match press conference.
"We have a plan most weeks, but we had a really deliberate one this week off the back of a few areas we needed to work on, but more so our opposition and the weapons they had and have shown over the year.
"We came in with a plan and executed it really well. So from a coaching group point of view, we're very pleased with what our players we're able to do in the short period of time."
In wet-weather football, and especially against the Giants, key markers of a strong performance are winning the inside 50 count (56-43), contested possession (138-122) and clearance stat (37-24).
The Crows also won groundball gets (94-91) and post-clearance contested possession (97-83), which is a compelling indicator of their intent and engagement in the contest, which is something Nicks and his coaching group worked on during the week.
"The contest is always going to be huge every week," Nicks said.
"Any loose ball, it was really who was going to get their hands on it. We watched their game last week, and they were just stronger than their oppo(sition) in that space.
"And we knew if we didn't get that done tonight, it would be a different result. I don't know what the contested possession number was... but we looked hungrier, we looked like we had fast feet.
"When the rain came in, we adjusted quickly (to the conditions)."
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Despite the impressive victory, the Crows do leave Adelaide Oval on a sour note, with key forward Darcy Fogarty under an injury cloud.
Fogarty came off second best after a bump with Harry Himmelberg in the third quarter. He managed to soldier on during the contest, but was never the same.
"He'll need to be assessed," Nicks said.
"It's a shoulder. We're not exactly sure yet."
Adelaide will head west to take on Fremantle in Round 7 at Optus Stadium on Anzac Day, following the traditional clash between Collingwood and Essendon.
