The Crows, who lost five games straight between rounds 12 and 16, have resurrected their season with four wins on the trot, but Craig said the remaining two weeks would be a welcome opportunity for Adelaide to pit itself against two teams with a lot to play for.
“Our form in the last four weeks has been really good, but when you analyse it, we’ve played Sydney, who were in the top four at the time so that was a great result for us, but then we went Carlton, Richmond and Essendon, who are all out of the eight,” Craig said.
“In the next two weeks we get a chance to play St Kilda, who are inside the top eight, and also the Western Bulldogs and we know where they sit, so that’s good for us.
“Both teams have got something to play for, particularly this week with St Kilda. They’re playing for a big prize, just as we are, and it’s nice to play those sides that are going to be in the finals, at this stage.
“Our form has been good, there’s no doubt about that, but now we’ll see it against two sides that are in the finals to get that finals test.”
The Crows, who have enjoyed three days off this week, will face an additional challenge at the Telstra Dome on Sunday: dealing with the emotion of Saints’ champion Robert Harvey’s last home game.
Harvey, who announced his retirement two weeks ago, has averaged 26 possessions in his past three outings against the Crows, and Craig said his team would simply have to deal with the outpouring of support for the St Kilda stalwart, which will include the appearance of past Saints greats.
“We’ve seen games where it’s been billed as whoever’s 300th game or whatever milestone it is and, if that club loses, it’s hardly ever spoken about. If the club wins, well, then it’s because of that player and this game will be no different,” Craig said.
“I can’t do anything about it. I can’t adjust whatever emotion St Kilda is going through and I won’t waste my time on it. What we will do as a club is recognise Robert’s contribution to the game, but we’ll focus on what we need to do and what gets the best results for us.”
Craig also declared Harvey would not be given an easy run in what could be his penultimate game.
“Robert’s been good against us in the past. We’re pretty much aware of that and even last weekend in Perth you saw his capacity to continually bob up, to be able to read the ball and be in space.
“He’s still a very dangerous and outstanding player, so we’ll certainly be giving the respect and the attention he deserves.”
