The Bombers are languishing in 14th place on the AFL ladder, having dropped their past six games, but if the Crows needed any reminder of the damage under-performing and under the pump teams can inflict, they got it last week.

Adelaide is renowned for it’s professionalism and fierce competitiveness and Neil Craig will demand a performance more befitting of his team this week.

Adelaide’s recent form: lost to West Coast by 50, beat Melbourne by 76, beat North Melbourne by 33, beat Carlton by 30 and beat Fremantle by 17.

Recent results against Essendon:

Round 17, 2007, Essendon 18.9 (117) d Adelaide 16.9 (105), TD
Round one, 2007, Essendon 16.9 (105) d Adelaide 10.14 (74), AAMI
Round 10, 2006, Adelaide 30.8 (188) d Essendon 6.14 (50), AAMI
Round 11, 2005, Adelaide 24.7 (151) d Essendon 9.9 (63), AAMI
Round eight, 2004, Essendon 20.15 (135) d Adelaide 12.12 (84), TD

Last week Essendon took Melbourne’s mantle as the worst defensive team in the league after suffering another hefty defeat, this time at the hands of Richmond.

Dustin Fletcher and Adam McPhee aside, the Bombers defence looks fragile as coach Matthew Knights continues down the path of blooding youngsters.

The Crows forward line was shaded by West Coast last week, but with the undeniable talent of Brett Burton, Simon Goodwin and Kurt Tippett floating inside 50m, Adelaide should be able to register a winning score on Friday night.

Potential weakness:

The Crows conceded 100 points or more on just four occasions last season and Essendon accounted for two of those. In round one, Bombers forward Scott Lucas, who is set to return from a knee injury this week, outmuscled both Scott Stevens and Nathan Bassett on his way to a seven-goal-haul.

Just 17 weeks later, Adelaide found a way to counter Lucas, but triple Coleman Medallist Matthew Lloyd took the reins and bobbed up with a lazy five. The Crows back six have been solid this season and will be determined to make amends against a forward line that had their number, big time, in 2007.

They’re sweating on:

On paper, picking a winner in this game is a no-brainer, but as the Crows confirmed last week, the game isn’t played on paper. The performance against West Coast was, as Neil Craig described, ‘unusual’ for his team, but dreadful nonetheless.

West Coast made Adelaide look second-rate and the visitors didn’t help their case with inaccurate goal kicking and rare fumbles further tarnishing their game.

The Crows are a far better team than they showed last week and fingers-crossed the shock 50-point loss was enough to reignite the fire in the belly of some red-faced players.

Dangermen:

Nathan Bock: Bock kicked three goals playing as a forward in round one last season, but by round 17 had found his niche in defence and was responsible for holding Lucas goalless. The 25-year-old signed a new deal with the club during the week and his ability to again do the job on Lucas will go a long way towards winning the game for Adelaide.

Scott Thompson: Thompson has averaged 24 touches and one goal in his past three outings against Essendon and was with Bock best in the round 17, 2007 loss, picking up 30 possessions. The gritty onballer amassed 10 tackles last week and has won 18 more clearances (44) than any other Adelaide player this season. Thompson was the pick of the Crows against West Coast and he’ll be determined to put in another solid effort to help get his team over the line this week.

Richard Douglas: The emerging midfielder/forward was just starting to find his feet at AFL level before a minor knee injury set him back a couple of weeks. Douglas, like most of his teammates, failed to trouble the scorers last week, but his ingenuity around goals and clean hands could be invaluable in dewy conditions on Friday night.

It’s not generally known …

The Crows have won seven of their past 10 Friday night fixtures at AAMI Stadium.

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.