Adelaide's first four goals which set up a dominant victory over Western Bulldogs last Friday night came via marks inside 50.
The three-pronged tall forward line of Riley Thilthorpe, Taylor Walker and Darcy Fogarty has been a central part of Adelaide's rise in the past 18 months.
Four wins in the last five games, including a victory over top four-bound Geelong, has cued optimism that Adelaide is ready for a strong back end of the season.
A match against Melbourne on Saturday proves critical to the season of both clubs, with both likely jostling for fifth and sixth position, which has increased emphasis with the introduction of Wildcard Round.
But the key question remains whether the Crows have the personnel and the game-style to challenge the best teams in the competition.
Last season, the Crows went 18-5 through the home and away season, before their midfield was comfortably shown up in a pair of home finals, bundled out in straight sets.
The Crows backed in the same midfield mix, with Jordan Dawson, Sam Berry, James Peatling, Izak Rankine and Jake Soligo the main players to have run through the midfield.
The most significant change has been Lachie McAndrew playing as the primary ruck over Reilly O'Brien.
McAndrew's addition, admittedly, has given Adelaide more zing, with his leap suiting the new ruck rules and allowing Adelaide to outscore opponents 123-38 from clearance in the last five games when he attends ruck contests.
The ruck has also helped lift Adelaide to second in contested possessions, but the club remains 11th for clearances and below average in scoring from centre ball-ups so are not getting bang for buck.
Owing not only to the demands of September, but the style of footy they're playing, that's an area of the game that needs to lift if they are to take the next step later this year.
Handball metres gained is the buzz phrase in AFL circles at the moment, with the best teams chaining possession by hand and using speed and drive to catch out opposition defences.
Adelaide ranks 18th in that area – significantly. The Crows average just 113 metres gained per game via handball, well short of 17th-placed North Melbourne on 166.
For reference, Sydney's sits at 695.
It is clearly an objective to instead get in on the boot and go long and direct off the back of a Josh Worrell-led defence which leads the competition in intercepting.
They back in their talls to compete and take marks.
Matthew Nicks' men are the best in the league for kick metres gained, giving them plenty of looks with equal numbers ahead of the footy and are first for offensive one-on-one wins.
Each of the key forwards have been slightly down in 2026, but all are still averaging more than a goal per game, with livewire Josh Rachele the leading goal kicker with 22 goals.
Much has been made of Thilthorpe's dip in form, in particular, with the Crows' reliance on the key position stock putting great responsibility on the forwards.
The high kick-to-handball ratio breaks down if the forwards are unable to capitalise and risks them being exposed on slingshot.
Dawson has maintained his stardom and is arguably in Brownlow Medal contention, and the raw numbers of Berry, in particular, and Peatling are up. Clearly Rankine, too, can be a difference maker.
That needs to convert into a better overall midfield performance and, after interrupted campaigns so far for different reasons for all three, the key forwards need to rediscover the 2025 form where they combined for 140 goals.
Last Friday night was an important step forward, but as Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge referenced on Thursday, the Dogs are a long way short of challenging the top sides.
The next step, as has been the case for more than 12 months, is doing it consistently against the very best.
