Crows not 'counting their chickens'

MIDFIELDER Chris Knights says the Crows are not getting ahead of themselves despite their 4-2 start to the season and a favourable draw in the coming month.

The fourth-placed Crows have suffered losses to two of the league’s unbeaten teams, Hawthorn and the Western Bulldogs, and play three of their next four games at home.

Adelaide is undefeated at home this season and will tackle North Melbourne at AAMI Stadium on Saturday night and then, after the bye, will face Melbourne, West Coast and Essendon in successive weeks.

“We’re travelling pretty well at the moment and 4-2 is a good position to be in. If we said at the start of the year that we would be 4-2 after six rounds - we would’ve taken it, so hopefully, we can build on that foundation,” Knights said.

“We know that we’ve got a few home games coming up and we’ve been performing well at home this season, so we’d like to keep that up, but you can’t get ahead of yourself.

“Just because those teams [Melbourne, West Coast and Essendon] aren’t performing as well as they’d probably like at the moment, it’s not to say they can’t turn it around and improve.

“It doesn’t give us the right to say that those games are easy ones. AFL is a tough game and as soon as you get ahead of yourself, it’s usually when you have your downfall.”

Knights returned for his first game of the season against Carlton after overcoming a quad strain. The talented ball winner picked up 14 touches in just over half a game and said he would be better for the run.

“It was good to be back in the team and the body has pulled up really well,” he said.

“What takes its toll the most is just your fitness level. You can do as much swimming, running and bike riding as you like while you’re injured, but once you get out there it’s a different kind of fitness in terms of tackling, sprints and repeat efforts.

“I was lagging a little bit towards the end of a couple of quarters, but it was good to get through it and I’ll definitely build on that.”

Ben Rutten (bruised lower back) and Brad Symes (ankle) were the only casualties from Adelaide’s win over Carlton and both are rated as a ‘test’ to play this week.

Recruit Brad Moran made his return from a broken finger with SANFL club West Adelaide, but unfortunately sustained a minor knee strain, which has him in doubt for this week. Luke Jericho (sternum), Kris Massie and Bryce Campbell (ankle) should all be available to play.

Many critics had written Adelaide off this season after the club opted to rejuvenate its list with tough decisions on some experienced players and an injection of youth.

But Knights said Adelaide was benefiting from showing faith in its youngsters and also employing a more attacking game plan.

“I’ve noticed a development from the young guys. They are really starting to make their mark in the midfield and there has also been development in the senior guys, like Goody [Simon Goodwin], who has adapted and changed his game to be able to play up forward,” he said.

“There are always going to be critics and there’s probably a reason why [people wrote us off this season]. We’ve got a young list and we’ve had older players leave the club, but with a young list there’s potential and opportunity for us to grow, develop and prove the critics wrong, which is what we want to do.”

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.