The stunned looks on the largely navy, red and gold crowd at quarter-time spoke volumes. Hawthorn had dealt the early blow in Friday night's season-defining clash, blistering away to lead the Crows by 26 points, 33-7.
An immediate response from Adelaide was required if they were to keep their dreams of a top two finish alive.
Many pundits have lauded 'The Spray' in recent weeks, citing it as the obvious tool for coaches to spark life into their players. GWS senior coach Adam Kingsley famously launched a verbal assault directed at his Giants' leaders at half-time in the latest Sydney Derby, an impassioned speech that, to some, turned the game on its head.
However, the Crows' leaders don't operate that way.
"The staff trust our playing group completely because it has been years of work. In that moment there's no need for yelling and screaming," Adelaide senior coach Matthew Nicks told media post-game.
"You go back three or four years and you'll probably find me yelling and screaming at a quarter-time break. I look back on that, I think that's me not necessarily trusting that we're all on the same page, and maybe then we weren't. It took us time to get to that and show that maturity.
"But tonight, it was calm. [It] was 'take a breath, come together', led by our captain [Jordan Dawson], which is incredible. His first quarter he wasn't happy with, but his ability to look me in the eye and say 'we're okay' is so pleasing."
The trust in their system and confidence in what they're capable of was the catalyst to the Crows' immediate retaliation in the second-quarter, which saw them prevent the Hawks from scoring for the entire term.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was a quarter dominated by Crows captain Jordan Dawson, who torched the Hawks across the ground with two goals and two clearances from seven disposals, in addition to three marks and three tackles.
But there was another factor in Adelaide's 54-point swing; the raucous crowd, which Nicks said has turned the Adelaide Oval into "a cauldron".
"I'm not sure we're winning this one if it wasn't at home," Nicks said.
"50 thousand fans, there were some Hawks supporters here but not many compared to the South Australians in the house. It was pumping.
"That brings energy and has done all year. Our supporters have been huge this year for us. To have finals-like atmosphere and finals-like footy, that's the greatest part about the lesson we just received.
"We played a team that is fighting to do that with us and showed us if we're a little bit off what finals footy looks like. We come away from this one with a fantastic lesson - and we still won.
"Adelaide Oval is a cauldron. Teams love coming to play here, the atmosphere is incredible."
Adelaide will now travel west to play the Eagles next Sunday, before returning to Adelaide Oval for what could be a top-of-the-table clash against Collingwood in Round 23.
