Adelaide is fighting to earn its place in the finals as the remarkable resurgence of this football club continues.
The Crows head to the MCG to play Melbourne on Sunday, having won their past five games, and are fast winning the hearts and minds of neutral supporters for the way they go about their footy.
This weekend marks the one-year anniversary of the shocking death of coach Phil Walsh. The Crows have come through the most traumatic experience imaginable and have come out better than many expected.
The Club has marked the anniversary with a full-page advertisement in this week's edition of the AFL Record, lauding their former coach as "a leader with integrity and passion who made a significant contribution to the lives of many in the game of football that he so dearly loved."
One of Walsh's first acts as coach of the Crows was to install Taylor Walker as captain. Earlier this week, Walker said the Crows players would mark the anniversary of Walsh's death in their own ways.
"He left a massive footprint on the footy club and individuals' lives so I'm sure individuals will treat it differently by themselves," he said.
Walker admitted Walsh was never too far from his thoughts. "I had a great relationship with him, so it's probably fair to say I do think about him quite often," he said. "He was a great man, Phil."
CEO Andrew Fagan remembers Walsh
Walsh's legacy to the Crows was a harder edge and a culture of honesty, as typified by the "man conversations" for which he quickly became renowned.
This newfound hardness helped the Crows all the way to a top-six finish last year when a reasonable expectation was that they might tumble back down the ladder and write the season off.
The departure at the end of last season of superstar midfielder Patrick Dangerfield was another hurdle the team needed to overcome.
Instead, the Round Eight defeat to Dangerfield's Cats was the last time they lost a game.
"We are a pretty united group as it is, we have got a great culture here," Walker said.
"And I think anything that is dramatic within footy clubs can unite and bring the group together and we have been able to do that."
The Crows enter the clash against Melbourne as the second-heaviest scoring team in the competition, while only five teams have conceded fewer points.
And midfielder Rory Sloane is in red-hot form, sparking suggestions he and close mate Dangerfield are leading the Brownlow Medal count.
Sunday's clash will be the second of three MCG games for Adelaide this season. The Crows lost a heart-stopper to Hawthorn in Round Five and the Melbourne clash will be the first of two consecutive games there with Carlton to follow in Round 16.
