VETERAN forward Taylor Walker has slotted four goals as Adelaide extended its perfect start to the season with a 36-point win over North Melbourne.

The Crows banked a 17.12 (114) to 12.6 (78) victory at Adelaide Oval on Sunday to remain unbeaten after three games.

CROWS v KANGAROOS Full match coverage and stats

But after blowing St Kilda and Essendon away to open their season, the Crows had to dig deep to shake off a plucky Kangaroos outfit now with a 1-2 record.

North were within eight points midway through the third quarter but Adelaide kicked five of the next six goals in a defining burst.

The Roos ultimately couldn't contain Adelaide's attacking threats: Walker snapped two of his goals after snaring the footy at ball-ups and Riley Thilthorpe kicked three majors.

Fellow forwards Darcy Fogarty, Ben Keays, Dan Curtin and substitute Sid Draper scored two goals each as the Crows topped 100 points for the third consecutive game.

Adelaide's triple club champion Rory Laird celebrated his 250th AFL game with 32 disposals and midfielders Izak Rankine (30 touches) and Jake Soligo (28, one goal) were superb.

Ex-GWS utility James Peatling (23 possessions) played his best game for his new club and Josh Worrell was outstanding in defence.

North's horror record at Adelaide Oval extended to a 12th consecutive loss at the stadium despite spearhead Nick Larkey snaring four goals.

Lively duo Jacob Konstanty and Paul Curtis kicked two apiece, former Western Bulldog Caleb Daniel collected a game-high 33 disposals and captain Jy Simpkin was prominent with 31 touches.

North showed great spirit to fight back after the Crows kicked the initial four goals to lead 25-3 despite losing Josh Rachele to injury.

The talented forward suffered a knee to the ribs in a marking contest and didn't return before being substituted at quarter time.

Adelaide's early advantage disappeared as the Kangaroos kicked three goals in a four-minute burst, with Larkey converting twice to leave the visitors four points down at quarter-time.

The Crows ominously skipped 20 points clear in the second term and held an 18-point halftime buffer.

But the Roos again bounced back in the third quarter, sneaking within eight points when Curtis scored his second major.

Adelaide then responded to the danger in style with big guns Walker and Thilthorpe scoring as the hosts recorded five of the next six goals to break the Roos' resistance.

Moment of madness
Players were flopping everywhere during a minute of chaos during the third quarter. North Melbourne's Paul Curtis was pinged for holding the ball, then gave away a 50m penalty for clipping Mitch Hinge high as the defender walked back to the mark. Curtis hit the deck when Mark Connor bumped him in retaliation as players streamed forward, with Keane himself going flying seconds later courtesy of a Nick Larkey bump. This all played out right in front of umpire Leigh Fisher, who recognised the retaliatory nature and told everyone to knock it off but didn't intervene.

Dead-eye Nick is back
Nick Larkey's shot-on-goal accuracy is reliably excellent, and the forward is showing early signs of this trend continuing in 2025. Against the Crows, Larkey had six shots on goal and kicked 4.2. His shot on goal efficiency was 66.7 per cent, while he's averaging four goals from 5.3 shots on goal per game so far in 2025. Before Sunday's game, he had a career average of 74.24 per cent goal-kicking accuracy, the highest of any active player in the league from more than 50 scoring shots, and the third-highest in the V/AFL since 1965. The next best is Adelaide's Darcy Fogarty with 69.92 per cent. Fogarty finished the game with two goals from three scoring shots.

ADELAIDE                       4.1    8.5    13.8    17.12 (114)
NORTH MELBOURNE      3.3    5.5     9.5     12.6 (78)

GOALS
Adelaide: Walker 4, Thilthorpe 3, Fogarty 2, Keays 2, Curtin 2, Draper 2, Neal-Bullen, Soligo
North Melbourne: Larkey 4, Konstanty 2, Curtis 2, Zurhaar, Stephens, Darling, Simpkin

BEST
Adelaide: Laird, Rankine, Soligo, Dawson, Keays
North Melbourne: Simpkin, Daniel, Larkey, Parker, Sheezel

INJURIES
Adelaide: Rachele (ribs)
North Melbourne: Nil

SUBSTITUTES
Adelaide: Sid Draper (replaced Josh Rachele at quarter-time)
North Melbourne: Dylan Stephens (replaced Robert Hansen jnr at three-quarter-time)

Crowd: 41,147 at Adelaide Oval