GIVEN the week the Adelaide Football Club has endured, the team's polished, determined display in Saturday night's NAB Cup Grand Final appears all the more impressive to the football world.
However from the inside, it was simply business as usual.
"It's been a bit of a difficult week for the club but to finish it off that way was really good," Crows midfielder David Mackay said of their 34-point win over the Eagles at AAMI Stadium.
Grand Final week started in Adelaide with an email, purported to be from Crows members, containing allegations star midfielder Bernie Vince was drunk, abusive and partying in boxer shorts at a hotel in his hometown of Stansbury on South Australia's Yorke Peninsular.
Vince was celebrating a cricket premiership and, while he denied being drunk and abusive, he admitted to stripping down to his underwear and was sanctioned by the club with a deferred suspension.
Vince responded perfectly against West Coast, winning 29 possessions and kicking a goal in a performance that saw him awarded the Michael Tuck Medal for best player.
He said after the match he felt he "owed it to the group to play well".
"[Vince has] a few little issues and we all know that, but he's just got to work through those and we're going to help him," Mackay said.
"We know the sort of talent he's got and the way he can play footy and if we can harbour that and make sure all the off-field stuff is in check, then we're certainly going to be a better club for it."
But by far the AFL's biggest bombshell hit on Friday evening, with the forced resignation of recruiter Matt Rendell after comments published in The Age suggested the long-term recruiter would only draft Aboriginal players if they had one white parent.
"As a playing group we didn't really talk about that issue too much, it happened pretty late in the week and when it happens so late we're just worried about playing a game," Mackay said.
"It's not something that as players we've actually sat down and spoken about and I'm not sure when we will.
"I guess that's just something that will play out."
Adelaide players were told by coach Brenton Sanderson to take a few days off to rest and let the NAB Cup victory sink in on Sunday, but Mackay said it was important to enjoy the win in a controlled manner - a theme he said would be continued throughout the regular season.
"Whether we win, lose, play well or play poorly, we want to move on with it pretty quickly and get onto the next week," he said.
"That's going to be one of our focuses this year, to make sure we don't get ahead of ourselves when we play well and we don't dwell when we don't play well."
Harry Thring covers Adelaide news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Harry.
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