The Crows had been beaten by the Lions at their past six meetings - including the 141-point thrashing at the Gabba in 2004 - and coach Neil Craig described the effort as one the whole club including supporters should savour.
"This time a couple of years ago we suffered a really bad loss and the Brisbane Lions have had the wood on us the last six times," said Craig on Saturday night after the win.
"So to win up here on an away trip with some of the injuries we had I thought it was the best win for the year.
"The real pleasing thing was that we started poorly and they began fantastically well and in the past that would have been it for us so it was just a fantastic result for us.
"I think it starts to show the maturity the group is playing with and it was an important experience for us."
Craig could only 'hypothesise' if his players took a while to come down after last week's huge win over Essendon but Saturday night's opening term provided a 'good lesson'.
"It was a good lesson for us to say that's what happens if you don't do it (prepare) correctly - that is the sort of thing can happen in a quarter of football," he said.
The coach praised the Lions' intensity at the start of the match and knew his players mindset had to change at the first break when the Crows trailed by 17 points.
"At quarter-time I didn't have to say too much - the players knew exactly what we were talking about," explained Craig.
"The real challenge from the playing group is to change that (poor) mindset and get back onto a level which is conducive to playing competitive footy.
"It was not one person who did it, but for the whole team who were prepared to go out in that second quarter and have a behavioural change is an important characteristic when things are not going well for you.
"If we had not changed we would have been beaten by seven or eight goals."
In the latter stages of the opening term, Adelaide began playing the high possession and chipping game Richmond had controversially used against them in round eight as they attempted to regain control of the ball.
While the passage of play may have frustrated the footy purists and the home fans - it only brought praise form the coach.
"I was very positive towards our players for doing that," replied Craig confidently when asked his reaction even though the Crows were still goalless at the time.
"We had lost control of the game and if we continued the way we were going we would have been four or five goals down at quarter time - so it was exceptional by our players."
Earlier in the season, Adelaide faced a double travel test when they narrowly beat Melbourne on the Gold Coast over the Easter weekend at Carrara and followed that up with a tough win in the west against Fremantle.
Now, after battling the wet conditions on a Saturday night in Brisbane, the Crows must travel again with only a six-day break to meet Saturday night's surprise winner in St Kilda at the 'dry' Telstra Dome.
"Other sides have set themselves to win at AAMI Stadium," replied the coach when asked if the Crows had made an extra special effort in setting themselves for these away trips.
"We have had a tough first half (of the season) and that is not a complaint because we knew what the draw so we prepare ourselves for that.
"It is a short break and we play against a side with a lot of talent so it will be on again."
A couple of injuries was the only the only sour note in the win over the Lions, with small forward Nathan Van Berlo suffering a suspected fractured collarbone and big-marking forward Ken McGregor rolling an ankle - and rated a '50-50 chance' by Craig to line up against the Saints.
