Former coach Terry Wallace believes Adelaide’s chances of jumping a place on football’s podium hinge on its ability to overcome mental demons and refine a penchant for all-out attack.
After falling well short in the Grand Final despite finishing the year as minor premier, all eyes will be on the Crows given the acquisition of Bryce Gibbs and Sam Gibson to offset losses of Jake Lever and Charlie Cameron.
But Wallace says a lot of work is to be done if the side is to win its first premiership since 1998.
“Do they have any mental demons?,” Wallace said on SEN’s The Run Home.
“They got belted on the big stage and they were embarrassed.
“On top of that the worry for me is that they are a team that’s almost all-out attack, and the best sides have been able to take something off oppositions.
“The times they got caught out this year was when the opposition took something off them and they were unable to react the other way.”
Part of the issue for the Crows is winning tight games not played entirely on their terms.
In 2017 Adelaide was 2-7 in games in which it scored less than 90 points, including the Grand Final in which it scored a season-low 60 points – the club’s lowest score since Round 9, 2015.
While acknowledging the loss of Lever and Cameron will leave a hole, Wallace believes Wayne Milera can step up as fill Cameron’s shoes while the acquisition of former Roo Gibson is a shrewd one.
“Where Gibson plays will be interesting,” he said.
“Does he play across half back? Does he replace [Brodie] Smith in that role, as the kicker off half back? Or do they push him through the middle of the ground, where they probably just lack a bit of depth
“I get a sense that he will probably play a bit of both roles for them over the course of the year, so he will be a big in.
“The Lever thing I don’t think will be as huge. With Daniel Talia, Kyle Hartigan, Jake Kelly and Alex Keath there’s enough to cover him, and while they aren’t as good as Lever, there are options.”
Wallace believes the other positive for last year’s runner-up is the age demographic of the list.
“The list is ready for now,” he said.
“They’re playing for another serious crack at the premiership and the other positive is there should be, and we don’t know this yet, an us-versus-them attitude and approach to the way they go about it, not only after losing the Grand Final, but everything that happened and the criticism they copped.
“You should think that would put a bit of steel in their spine.”
Adelaide commences its 2018 campaign with an away fixture against Essendon at Etihad Stadium on Friday, March 23. The team has not won an away Round 1 match since beating Gold Coast in 2012.