Adelaide is an “elite”  running team, according to High Performance Manager Darren Burgess.

But, last season, Burgess said players lacked the body strength to compete with some of the best footballers in the AFL competition.

Ahead of starting his second pre-season program with the Club after joining the Crows’ high performance team in September 2021, Burgess was determined to help players become stronger.

Speaking on the first episode of The Crows Show for 2023, Burgess gave an insight into the focus of the Crows’ high performance program during the 2023 pre-season.

“It’s (pre-season) been good, it’s been a long one,” Burgess said.

“One (focus) was the strength and size of the players and the other was a lot of footy.

“We wanted to really have a focus on the skills because we are a very good running team and we know the boys run at elite standards.

“But because we are a young team, we probably got pushed around a little bit too much last year, so the focus one was to put a bit of size on the boys, mainly through the core.

“The proof will be in the pudding soon enough, but so far, so good.”

Burgess was impressed with the intensity the players showed throughout the four-month pre-season.

He said the three practice games, including the internal trial, as well as the matches against West Coast and Fremantle, were used to finetune all the work done during the summer.

“The internal was just another training session for us,” Burgess said.

“ It was really good for the fans to be able to see it but that was nothing different to what we had been doing the last few weeks.

“Between the Freo and West Coast game, we just wanted to increase the game time of the key players.

“(It was about) making sure that by the West Coast game they experienced a full AFL game so that when we play Round One, it’s not a shock to them.

“It was mainly about game exposure and getting our game plan tested by the coaches and also to get as much cohesion with skills as we possibly could.”

Crows small forward Ned McHenry said he had enjoyed the challenge of another pre-season run by Burgess.

“Burgo’s pre-seasons are pretty good,” McHenry said.

“Certainly there’s a challenge in what Burgo brings.

“There’s an intensity with training, a high-speed running element, which means we are flat out a lot on the track.

“Everyone has got collective focuses as a group, we want to improve in certain ways, but then also individually, you’ve got goals that you set for yourself as well.”

Also on The Crows Show this week, Irish players Mark Keane and Niamh Kelly give an insight into how they’re enjoying SA, while SANFL Senior Coach Mick Godden also joins the program to discuss the team’s progress ahead of Round One.

The Crows Show airs on Channel 7 this Sunday at 12pm (ACDT), prior to Adelaide’s opening round match with GWS.