ADELAIDE will give Sydney Swans superstar Lance Franklin the silent treatment for fear of "poking the bear" and have him end their premiership dreams.
Greater Western Sydney ruckman Shane Mumford has apologised for comments he made to Franklin about his mental health issues in last weekend's qualifying final.
Crows midfielder Richard Douglas told AFL.com.au his side wouldn't be taunting the champion forward, knowing that will only motivate him further.
"He's one of those players … if you poke the bear, he's probably going to come out and play better, so maybe we'll leave that one alone," Douglas said.
"I don't think sledging will come into it too much and I'm not sure how effective it is these days.
"It's not something we do; we don't go out to target a player or that sort of stuff."
Limiting Franklin's influence in Saturday night's semi-final at the SCG will be crucial to the Crows keeping alive their chances of their first flag since 1998.
The Crows know how damaging Franklin can be in finals.
Franklin dragged Hawthorn over the line to beat the Crows in the 2012 preliminary final.
He also kicked four goals when the two teams met in round four this year.
"He's a big-game player," Douglas said.
"One of our big backs, (Daniel Talia or Kyle Hartigan), will probably rotate on Buddy all night.
"They're just worried about keeping up with him and nullifying him that way."
Another challenge for the Crows is containing the dynamic midfield of the Swans featuring Josh Kennedy, Luke Parker and Dan Hannebery.
"They're big-bodied strong mids and they'll be looking to respond after last week," Douglas said.
"For us, it's about matching them in the contest and try and get them on the outside with our speed and spread, that's what the Giants did against them last week.
"We'll be trying to replicate that."
The Crows have a decent record at the SCG having won four of their past five games at the ground going back to 2005.
"I don't read too much into it; I've played there three times and I've been at the club for 11 years," Douglas said.
"It's not a ground we've played at a lot, some guys probably haven't played there yet.
"We won't draw too much from those stats.
"The SCG isn't a long ground, but it's a wide ground, so we've got to try to use those conditions to our advantage."
