THE CROWS have had no fear of entering the Lions' den in recent years, with two wins from their past two starts at the Gabba.

Milestone man Nathan Bassett described the Lions faithful as a 'friendly' lot during the week, but with a chance to stay in touch with the top four on the line the pleasantries might be at a minimum on Saturday night.

Adelaide's recent form: lost to Hawthorn by four, beat Richmond by 50, beat Essendon by five, lost to West Coast by 50 and beat Melbourne by 76.

Recent results against the Brisbane Lions:
2007, round 21, Adelaide 12.14 (86) d Brisbane Lions 8.12 (60), AAMI
2007, round seven, Adelaide 14.16 (100) d Brisbane Lions 9.15 (69) Gabba
2006, round 11, Adelaide 10.15 (75) d Brisbane Lions 8.12 (60), Gabba
2005, round eight, Brisbane Lions 11.6 (72) d Adelaide 8.15 (63), AAMI
2004, round 17, Brisbane Lions 29.15 (189) d Adelaide 6.12 (48), Gabba

Strengths:

The Crows won everywhere but on the scoreboard last week. Adelaide, which led for all bar 13 minutes of the game, shaded the league-leading Hawks in the contested ball and clearances and the back six was phenomenal in restricting Hawthorn to its lowest score of the season.

The Lions, on the other hand, were taught a lesson by the classy Western Bulldogs and without the second option of Daniel Bradshaw in attack were held to just 10 goals. If Adelaide can replicate last week's effort and Ben Rutten and Nathan Bock can harness the might of Jonathan Brown, another win at the Gabba could be on the cards for the Crows.

Potential weakness:

A visibly disappointed Neil Craig bemoaned the one that got away last Saturday night after his side was unable to execute efficiently at crucial stages in the loss to Hawthorn.

Making the most of your opportunities, as the Crows learned last week, is important against any good side in the competition and Adelaide will be desperate to right last week's wrongs with a strong showing at the Gabba on Saturday.

They're sweating on:

Last week Adelaide's defence combined to restrict Lance 'Buddy' Franklin to a solitary goal and on Saturday night they will need to reunite to thwart the influence of Lions co-skipper Brown.

In the last five weeks, Brown, who suffered an early season knee injury, has booted 24 of his 39 goals and has also motored further up the ground, averaging 21 touches a game.

Last season, star Crows full back Ben Rutten held Brown to a meagre 2.2 and 1.1 in the two meetings between the sides and with Brown's sidekick Bradshaw likely to be missing again this week, Rutten might have a tough time deflecting all the ball that comes Brown's way.

Dangermen:

Brett Burton: Adelaide's leading goalkicker returns to the side this week after serving a two-week suspension and will be revved up to continue his career-best season.

Luke Jericho performed admirably in Burton's absence, but there is no substitute for the high-flying veteran's freakish athleticism and unpredictability, and the Crows midfielders will be thrilled to see another lead-up target across half forward.

Rob Shirley: Adelaide's number-one stopper held Sam Mitchell to nine first-half touches last week before the Hawks playmaker exploded with 16 possessions in the second half. Craig is likely to hand Shirley another big assignment this week with the job on Lions ball magnet Simon Black. Brown has already declared Black, who leads the club in disposals and clearances, to be in better for than his Brownlow Medal winning year of 2002 and the Crows will need to put the stops on him to claim victory on Saturday night.

Tyson Edwards: The ever-reliable Edwards racked up 32 and 33 possessions respectively when these two sides clashed last season. The cool-headed veteran kicked two goals in the loss to Hawthorn, including a steadier in the final quarter. Edwards was instrumental in the round seven win over the Lions last year and will again be a vital cog in the midfield up against the likes of Black, Luke Power and Jed Adcock.

It's not generally known …

On Saturday night, Nathan Bassett will become just the fourth player who started his AFL career on a rookie list to play 200 games. The other three are Mal Michael (Coll/Lions/Ess), Russell Robertson (Melb) and James McDonald (Melb).

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