In a press conference after the Crows' narrow loss to Carlton last weekend, Craig said his young team was destined to achieve "great things".
Critics questioned the motive behind Craig's comments, suggesting it was a strategic move to buoy the spirits of a side deflated after three straight losses.
Others went back through the Adelaide honour roll, wondering how a team without the likes of Mark Ricciuto, Andrew McLeod, Simon Goodwin, Shaun Rehn and Tony Modra, and without any silverware to its name, could be considered more exciting than the teams of yesteryear.
On Friday, Craig admitted it was impossible to compare today's team to the premiership-winning sides of 1997 and 1998, but remained convinced of the present-day list's potential.
"They are not the team at the moment that people want them to be, but I have great belief they will be," he said.
"We copped a lot of criticism as a club, as a playing group and as a coach because of our performance [in the second half against Port Adelaide in round four].
"With the group that we have - such a young and inexperienced group - they could quite easily have gone to Melbourne last week and after the first quarter [said] this is going to be a 15-20-goal loss, but they didn't. They hung in there.
"We didn't get the result we wanted, but that's the quality I see with this group and that's why rightly or wrongly I have this really positive perception of where they will go.
"If you want to compare them to 1997 and 1998, of course we can't compare them because their scores are on the board.
"This group's score isn't, but they're a fantastic group to work with and coach."
The common denominator in each of the Crows' losses this season has been their inability to win the contested ball.
Adelaide lost the important statistic by 25 against the Blues last weekend, by 20 against the Power the week before and by nine against Fremantle in round three.
In spite of its midfield struggles, the club has dropped experienced but out-of-form onballer Bernie Vince for the clash with the Saints.
The Crows on-ball brigade will also be without first-choice players Rory Sloane (thumb/jaw) and David Mackay (shoulder).
Craig forecast a dour "arm wrestle" against St Kilda at AAMI Stadium on Saturday night and said it would be a challenge for his young team, which includes nine players with less than 20 games of experience, to compete with their bigger-bodied opponents.
"I'm not trying to protect those [young] guys at all, but they're not your hard-nosed Leigh Montagna or Brendon Goddard-type players yet," he said.
"We've got to make sure that guys like Scott Thompson, Nathan van Berlo and Richard Douglas, who are probably carrying a bit of a load there, keep really strong and fresh in their approach.
"We've got to keep pushing those guys in the midfield. There might be some pain with it, but we'll keep going with it and making sure we assess what they're doing is about improvement.
"Eventually, there will be a tipping point where, hopefully, people say we've got a very good midfield."
