DESPITE its swift exit from the NAB Cup, Adelaide coach Neil Craig was pleased with the lessons his youthful squad can take from the display put on by Geelong.
The Cats dominated Saturday night's clash at Telstra Dome and showed glimpses of their imposing best en route to a 35-point win.
"It was the perfect game for us to play in and we got a lot out of it," Craig said.
"There's some good and some bad in it. We had nine players who had played an average of four games and five of those hadn't played any.
"I was really pleased with what I saw from Jarrhan Jacky and Jared Petrenko showed some good signs. I liked Myke Cook, he made some errors, but he stayed at it and I really liked his persistence.
"For nine of those players to play in that sort of game and to be exposed to that speed of execution and running power … I've said it before and I'll say it again, 'They wouldn't have even known it existed'."
Craig is now free to tinker with the game plan in the relative obscurity of the NAB Challenge series after his side was exposed by the polished Cats in some key areas.
"There was some really poor execution … some really bad turnovers that we need to work on," he said.
"The first three or four of their goals [came from turnovers] by our younger guys, but I can live with that to a certain extent because that's Aaron Kite and Myke Cook getting the speed of the game.
"I thought the hard ball in close, particularly in the first half, was poor but to the credit of our guys we tidied up on that which gave us a bit more of an ascendancy.
"We're a bit slow at the moment. Not leg speed, but just our willingness to play on a bit so we need to add to that."
Craig pledged to continue to provide opportunities for his younger players and warned fans there would be some tough times as the squad evolved.
"We're going to have to put up with some pain for a while and that's going to put some pressure on the coaches, but that's okay. That's what we're there for," he said.
"The senior players are going to have to be patient with the young guys as well.
"That's where we've gone and that's our list, so we've got to have the courage to keep doing that. But there won't be any lessening of expectation in terms of what we expect from our younger players."
Despite the negatives, Craig was pleased with his players' persistence and the return of Trent Hentschel two years after a horrific knee injury.
"I saw enough tonight to think that he's going to be okay," Craig said.
"It's been a long journey for Trent and the next step is whether he can get selection when we're playing for four points. Everyone's buoyed by it and I mean the whole club because hopefully if he plays again for four points it will be a great story.
"He's worked really hard and he's a talented player and I saw a few things tonight, mainly with his movement, and his speed will be good enough."
