Former Brisbane Lions assistant coach, and current Coaching Director of the Adelaide Crows, Murray Davis, will help the club rebound from a disastrous September collapse, utilising his and recruit Callum Ah Chee's lessons from their shared time in Queensland.
Davis, who was a member of the Lions' coaching panel from 2011-2023, highlighted the similar trajectory Adelaide may be on to the now back-to-back premiers.
"It's almost the same thing. Brisbane finished 15th in 2018 and then in 2019, finished second and went out in straight sets," Davis told media on Thursday.
"The following year, they made a prelim... There's a lot of lessons learned in my time at Brisbane, and they'll be some of the things we'll be working on as a group here as well."
Davis spotlighted the importance of focusing on what worked in Adelaide's minor premiership campaign, rather than spending time on what caused their disappointing demise, something that fresh face Ah Chee knows all too well.
"One of the biggest lessons I can recall from that time [in Brisbane] was doubling down on what we did the previous year," Davis said.
"It wasn't about getting fancy and changing the gameplan. We have to look at what the one or two per cent is, and looking at what you did well and doubling down on it. That's what we're doing here as well.
"Last year we talked a lot about narrowing our focus and taking the lessons from the year, so we'll be doing that again."
Ah Chee had minimal participation with the main Crows training group in the club's first session back since Christmas on Thursday, but Davis clarified it was simply due to load management.
"We have to remember that Cal played right to the last day in September, so his season looked a little bit different to ours," Davis said.
"We're just managing Cal at the moment. He'll be in amongst the full group on Monday."
Ah Chee played 124 games in the maroon, blue and gold and kicked 51 goals in the Lions' pair of premiership seasons, which ranked eighth for Brisbane between 2024 and 2025.
His role in Adelaide's forward line among the three talls of Taylor Walker, Darcy Fogarty and Riley Thilthorpe remains unclear, however, as the Crows take a flexibile stance on their tactics regarding the front six men.
"There's a lot of flexibility within our playing group and especially our forward line as well. That's the beauty of this time of the year, there's a lot of spots up for grabs, and it becomes very competitive," Davis said.
"Guys are fighting for a spot in the team, Cal Ah Chee will come in and add a different dynamic to our forward line, for example.
"But history tells us we won't get the answer [on how many tall forwards will be played] until we get into the games."
The Crows will take on cross-town rivals Port Adelaide next month as part of their 2026 preparations before an organised pre-season clash against Fremantle on February 28.
