Adelaide has emerged from an arduous fixture test at 6-4, having navigated through one of the more difficult draws to sit at the foot of the eight. Coming off consecutive wins against expansion sides Gold Coast Suns and Greater Western Sydney, the Crows have shaped themselves as the best offensive team in the competition.

After ten rounds, Don Pyke’s side is ranked No. 1 for points for, averaging 112.4 points on the back of their dominant forward setup of Eddie Betts (27 goals), Josh Jenkins (27 goals), Taylor Walker (24 goals), Tom Lynch (19 goals) and Mitch McGovern (14 goals).

While the Crows aren’t in the top bracket for inside 50s, they convert better than everyone else, turning 53.1 per cent of inside 50s into scores and 30.7 per cent of entries into goals.

After being held scoreless against Gold Coast a week earlier, Betts responded in emphatic fashion, kicking goals from everywhere to leave Adelaide Oval stunned last Saturday night. He finished with 5.2, adding to his bag of five against Port Adelaide and his two fours against Sydney and Fremantle. The last time Betts faced the Saints he put 6.2 on the board, with Sean Dempster unable to quell his influence that day.

It seemed only a fortnight ago sections of the media were questioning the form of Walker and whether or not the Adelaide skipper was carrying an injury. Now, on the back of bags of five against the Suns and Giants, Walker is back in form. The star forward managed 14 goals in the first eight weeks of the year; he is now up to 24 and inside the top-ten in the game, as well as averaging 6.6 marks per game.

Despite being yet to re-commit his future to the Crows, out-of-contract powerhouse forward Jenkins has become one of the more damaging key forwards in the game. He sits in sixth place in the Coleman medal race, on the back of his big bag of 8.0 against Western Bulldogs and the former NBL player is averaging 4.8 marks a game.

Ageless warrior Scott Thompson continues to play a pivotal role and is in the kind of form that could see his career extend to a 17th season next year. The ball-magnet is averaging the most disposals at West Lakes with 25.7 per game, to go with 6.1 tackles and 5.9 clearances.

Since the departure of Patrick Dangerfield, Rory Sloane has helped shoulder some of the workload in the engine room, although the Crows have relied on an even spread of contribution rather than one or two running the show.

Brodie Smith and Paul Seedsman have provided Adelaide with plenty of drive and polish on the outside, with 2014 All Australian Smith averaging the third most mileage in the competition at 576.6 metres per game.

Another All Australian from that year, Daniel Talia, has rediscovered that form across the opening half of 2016 to put his name in the ring for team of the year honours once again. Talia held the white-hot Jeremy Cameron to just one goal last weekend, a week after restricting Tom Lynch to a single and two weeks since holding Tom Hawkins goalless.

Second-year key defender Jake Lever, a player Adelaide’s recruiting staff put plenty of faith in given he missed all of his draft year, has continued to develop at a rate of knots. Along with Talia and Kyle Hartigan, Lever forms a strong key defensive clique.

Rory Laird, the Crows architect in defence, returns after missing the last month due to a toe injury. Considered one of the most unlucky not to receive an All Australian guernsey last year, Laird started the season in blistering form, averaging 25.7 possessions (2nd most at Adelaide) and 4.3 rebound 50s, providing plenty of quality use out of the back half.

Star:

Since crossing from Carlton at the end of 2013, Eddie Betts has established himself as the premier small forward in the game. After earning a maiden All Australian gong last year, Betts has continued his form, booting 27.14 across ten games to sit inside the top-five goal kickers in the league. Betts has two bags of five to his name this year, along with two fours and two threes. Last weekend against GWS, he torched Heath Shaw once or twice, and got the better of a host of quality Giants defenders. And at Adelaide Oval, Betts has kicked 20 of his goals this year at that ground, an ominous warning for whoever goes near him this weekend. After all, he does have a pocket named in his honour there.

Fresh Face:

Paul Seedsman arrived at West Lakes during the off-season after falling out of favour at Collingwood. The run and carry player managed only 12 appearances in his final season at the Magpies, but already he has become a permanent fixture at Adelaide, playing all ten games thus far. Under Don Pyke, the dashing wingman has performed a role in the Crows midfield, averaging 16.7 possessions, 4.1 tackles and 2.7 rebound 50s.

B: K.Cheney, K.Hartigan, R.Henderson

HB: L.Brown, D.Talia, B.Smith

C: W.Milera, R.Sloane, P.Seedsman

HF: S.Thompson, J.Jenkins, R.Atkins

F: E.Betts, T.Walker, T.Lynch

R: S.Jacobs, J.Lyons, R.Douglas

I/C FROM: J.Lever, N.Van Berlo, D.Mackay, C.Cameron, R.Laird, M.McGovern, M.Crouch

IN: D.Mackay, R.Laird, M.Crouch

OUT: N/A