CROWS coach Neil Craig has praised his team’s effort for the first three-quarters against North Melbourne, but says the last quarter fadeout shows Adelaide’s still a long way from matching it with the best teams in the competition.

The Crows piled on eight unanswered goals in the second and third quarters to lead by as much as 66 points at AAMI Stadium, but then relaxed in the final term, conceding more goals in the final half hour than they had for the entire game.

Craig lamented his team’s lack of competitiveness around the ball in the last term.

“I thought our first three quarters were fantastic against a really quality side,” Craig said.

“I think North Melbourne is one of the stronger sides in the competition in terms of the way they play and with the maturity of their squad. There needs to be recognition of our performance in the first three quarters, but as good as we were for the first three, I thought we were as poor in the last.

“What that really is is an indication of where we’re at and how much more work we’ve got to do.”

Craig said the Crows, who cemented fourth spot on the AFL ladder after Saturday night’s 33-point win, needed to develop the ruthless streak, which is a feature of the way ladder leaders Hawthorn and Geelong play.

“If you look at the two quality sides in the competition at the moment, Geelong and Hawthorn, have a look at their last quarters,” Craig said,

“I think you need that streak. I don’t know exactly what Hawthorn did in the last quarter against Collingwood today, but it was a big score I think - a ten-goal quarter - and without knowing the exact details of Geelong’s game, I’d say it was the same sort of thing.

“That’s what we need to aim for, so we can play the full four quarters. So, it’s a great win for us and an important win, but there’s still some work to do.”

Adelaide picked up one new injury out of the game with midfielder Richard Douglas straining a medial ligament in his right knee after having it pinned awkwardly in a tackle.

New recruit Brad Moran sustained a hamstring strain playing in the SANFL on Saturday and scans revealed Brad Symes will need to wear a boot on his injured ankle, which is likely to keep him out for three weeks.

Craig praised the resilience of his young group, which recovered from 1.8 at quarter time, to finish the game at a more respectable 15.17.

“When you kick 1.8 there can be a tendency to become disheartened or disappointed, but we kept at it and for three quarters our playing group was fantastic. There are a lot of good things to come out of the game for us,” he said.

“For the number of young guys we had in the team, to play against the Kangaroos, it’s not all gloom and doom. It was a great win for us, make no mistake about that, but we just didn’t like the way we finished.”