Crows' confidence hard to shake

ADELAIDE looked like it was in for a torrid evening on Saturday when Carlton jumped out to an early lead, but Ivan Maric never doubted his team's ability to work into the contest.

That they were able to do so in such emphatic fashion says a lot about the Crows of 2009, according to the ruckman.

"We've got a great culture at the club and this group has a lot of resilience," Maric said following the 72-point win that sealed fifth spot and a home final.

"We just kept coming like we did against Hawthorn a couple of weeks back. We've got a lot of confidence in our game plan and we'll always just keep coming.

"Probably in the past we might have dropped off a bit in the last quarter, but it was good that the boys were able to keep going and really finish off. I think that really leaves something for Carlton to think about in case we come up against them in the finals or even next year."

The Crows will now host the Bombers at AAMI Stadium next weekend and Maric says his team is playing with enough confidence to have a good run at the finals series.

"It's great to have a home final, but we pride ourselves on being able to perform anywhere, any time," he said.

"If we're going to progress through the finals we're going to have to perform away from home and we're confident that we can do that."

After an indifferent start to the season Maric's improvement has been one of the keys to Adelaide's success. He finished with 22 hit-outs on Saturday and his presence around the ground is allowing Kurt Tippett to be kept in a key forward role.

"I'm really happy with my attack on the footy at the moment whether it's in the air or on the ground," he said.

"It's really helping me to put in more consistent performances, which is great.

"The boys like it for their ruckman to attack the ball and put his body on the line. Hopefully I can provide that again next week."