THE LESSONS that Adelaide took out of last year's finals exit are lessons that vice-captain Alex Neal-Bullen has been accumulating as a footballer for years as he learnt to deal with pressure and expectation as a Melbourne premiership player. 

Eliminated from finals in straight sets with the Demons in 2022 and 2023, Neal-Bullen suffered the same fate with the Crows last year in a September campaign that saw the 2025 minor premiers lose back-to-back games at Adelaide Oval.   

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Learning to deal with expectation and the different challenges that finals football presents is part of the journey for successful teams, with Neal-Bullen's Demons living through the pain of an 11-goal preliminary final loss in 2018 before eventually saluting. 

The tough half-forward is confident the Crows have learnt their lessons and grown with new personnel this season, putting them in a position to perform when they return to the finals stage against the Western Bulldogs on Saturday night.  

"The learnings we take from 12 months ago, I've probably been learning them for the last six or seven years, and it gives you a great opportunity to implement them now and make sure our group is ready for the occasion," Neal-Bullen told AFL.com.au. 

"Over the years, you learn how to deal with expectation as a team and also how there can be moments where momentum is against you, but it's how you deal with that.

"Coming across to Adelaide and experiencing some success in the home and away season last year and then falling short … you learn what really matters in finals.

"So we obviously took some learnings from 12 months ago, but we've also evolved as a team. We just want to make sure we put out a performance that aligns with who we are and one that we can be proud of walking off the ground."

While September delivers the most valuable lessons in football, Neal-Bullen believes the Crows' early-season challenges this year have also shaped the team and helped steel it for finals. 

After a stirring 14-point win against Collingwood at the MCG to open the season, the Crows lost three tight games in a row against eventual finalists in a run of form that could have derailed their campaign. 

"To see how the group handled that gives me so much confidence that whatever happens over the next four weeks we've got the tools and the personnel," Neal-Bullen said. 

"Every finals game has momentum swings, and that was something that last year we weren't able to wrestle with well enough.

"But the learnings that we've taken from last year and then early this year gives me a lot of belief. I also understand that now there's an expectation for us to go out and perform in finals.

"As a player, you've just got to embrace that and look forward to that opportunity."

Neal-Bullen highlighted the growth of ruckman Lachie McAndrew, defenders James Borlase and Luke Nankervis, and wingman Brayden Cook – who were all watching from the sidelines last September – to illustrate the personnel changes Adelaide had made this season. 

Then there is mid-season addition Hugo Hall-Kahan, Brisbane recruit Callum Ah Chee, and in-form star Izak Rankine, who was crucially suspended for both of the Crows' finals last season. 

The difference for Neal-Bullen has been in the players who have elevated themselves from the fringes last year to now play crucial roles, taking pressure off the Crows stars. 

"Some of them at the start of this season weren't in the AFL team, but they've gone to work on their games," Neal-Bullen said.

"They've identified what their fundamentals are, what's required, and they've just gone about that in a really consistent manner.

"I feel like you're seeing four players who are playing their best footy of their career and they've allowed us to improve our game and give ourselves an opportunity to be excited for this next week or four weeks, however long it is.

"But understanding that it hasn't necessarily been our superstars who have had to improve their game, it's been the people who have come into our team over the last 12 months."

Neal-Bullen is the type of leader who likes to celebrate and empower his teammates, and he enters September proud of what the team has achieved so far before starting "a new season" against the Bulldogs. 

He also enters finals with plenty of perspective after welcoming his second daughter Maya with wife Georgie, with Neal-Bullen missing the round 23 clash against Fremantle to be present for the birth. 

It is a busy and chaotic period of life, the 30-year-old said, but it is also helping to balance out the hyper-competitive elements of being a footballer. 

"Whatever does go on in your day, once you get home, you've got to be the best parent you can be and be supportive to your wife and your kids, so that gives me great purpose," Neal-Bullen said.

"It also gives you that balance to then flip into the gear when you're at the footy club and enjoy being around the group that we've got here who are all striving to be great in their areas.

"I'm very grateful that we're here in Adelaide, and to have our eldest daughter Zara be involved in the footy club over the last 12-and-a-bit months has been unreal.

"That feeling of when she gets to run out on the ground after a game, whether we win, lose or draw, just puts the biggest smile on your face.

"It doesn't take the pressure off, but it just probably comes back to being so grateful that I'm allowed to play AFL footy at the highest level, and to now have my own little family who can enjoy the ride."