ADELAIDE captain Simon Goodwin says the development of his younger teammates will help him and a few of the more established Crows earn at least one more shot at AFL glory.

While Goodwin says the side has lost 800 games of senior experience with the departures of players such as Mark Ricciuto, Scott Welsh and Ben Hudson, the exciting progress of others should see the Crows continue their consistency.

“There’s no doubt we want to play finals footy and we’re known as a really competitive footy club,” he said.

“We’ve played five out of the last six finals series and we’re aiming to continue that record.

“That’d be our first aim, to play finals footy.”

Goodwin said his club’s NAB Cup grand final berth should not be put down to a fluke or the fact his side threw all its energy into the pre-season competition.

Rather, the Crows skipper believes the result might point to an upward curve as the next generation of Adelaide stars start to assume control of the club’s future.

“I think over the NAB Cup we certainly gained a lot of confidence in our playing squad to play good footy and that’s where we want to head in 2008,” he said.

“I think our youth really is on the rise.

“I think we saw that throughout the NAB Cup [that] we have got some good juniors coming through.

“We have lost 800 games worth of experience but to see these guys developing – that’s where the improvement is going to come from, from those guys really improving as players and helping our footy club move forward.”

Goodwin, 31, expects to play a “dual role”, switching between the midfield and forward line this season but says his team’s unpredictability in attack might work to its advantage.

“I think we’re probably going to rely on eight or nine guys to kick our goals,” he said.

“You know we’ve probably got six or seven guys who are going to rotate through the forward line on any given day … it gives a forward line a different mix every week and I think that’s what we’ll be relying on, a bit of variation down there.”