IT HAS long been known that Adelaide will field a vastly different forward set-up in 2014 after the recruitment of James Podsiadly and Eddie Betts.
But the introduction of the interchange cap could allow damaging midfielder Patrick Dangerfield to cause even more havoc for the opposition, with a plan for him to spend more time in the Crows' attacking arc.
The 23-year-old is renowned for his ability to be dangerous up forward, having spent the early years of his career closer to goal.
Having played a predominantly midfield role in recent years, Dangerfield could slot in around the Crows goalkickers and give defenders yet another headache when teams are restricted to 120 rotations a game.
"With the introduction of the interchange cap, I'll maybe spend a little bit more time down forward," Dangerfield hinted this week.
"Hopefully with 'Tex' (Walker) and ‘Pods’ and Betts in the side, it's more of a midfield role."
The Crows have been preparing for the interchange limit by regularly simulating games and increasing their running output in what Dangerfield described as "one of the harder [pre-seasons] I've certainly done".
With Walker likely to return from a knee reconstruction in the first half of the season, the Crows have the ingredients to challenge other teams with a multi-pronged attacking half.
Dangerfield believes the Crows have not only recruited well, but the new structure with Podsiadly and Betts will boost their firepower and scoring ability.
"If 'Joshy' Jenkins can chip in with a few goals and Tommy Lynch, I think it's the makings of a really good forward line," he said.
"If we can get it down to them, I think we can score well."
Recently, the Crows' list was ranked fifth in the AFL in an analysis done by Champion Data that looked at player ranking points over two years
A weighting of 75 per cent was given to scores from the season just past and 25 per cent given to 2012.
Hawthorn topped the list ahead of the Sydney Swans, West Coast and Richmond before Adelaide slotted in fifth.
Dangerfield said the players wouldn't read anything into the findings and there was no reason to take confidence from a collection of figures.
Instead, he said eliminating the patches of inconsistency that plagued the team in 2013 would be the priority next season.
"There's statistics for basically everything these days but until teams actually put the score on the board and play good footy, that's when you start to build the confidence, when you're actually playing well," he said.
"We were really inconsistent this season so that's something we'll look to rectify.
"Certainly the top four sides this year were the real standouts so they're the benchmark and that's where we need to get to if we're going to be able to compete with them."
