CROWS skipper Simon Goodwin says a win over St Kilda in Saturday night’s NAB Cup grand final at AAMI Stadium would be apt “reward” for Adelaide’s pre-season.

Goodwin is no stranger to pre-season success, having been a member of the Adelaide team that beat Collingwood to claim the Crows’ only NAB Cup title in 2003. The dual premiership player was also awarded the Michael Tuck Medal for best on ground in the 2006 loss to Geelong.

“As a player you always strive to play for silverware,” Goodwin said on Friday.

“The ultimate [premiership cup] is still a long way away, but at this early stage of the year, the NAB Cup would be a great reward for the club.

“The players have showed that they can do the job for us and if we get the silverware at the end of the night, that would be terrific.”

Goodwin, an All-Australian midfielder, has played up forward and also in defence during the past three weeks while the Crows prepare for life after the big trio of Goodwin, Tyson Edwards and Andrew McLeod.

Emerging star Scott Thompson and also lesser names like Brent Reilly, Nathan van Berlo, Chris Knights, David Mackay and Bernie Vince have relished the opportunity to play against quality midfields like that of Hawthorn and Fremantle.

“I’ve really enjoyed my new role,” Goodwin said.

“As a leader you delegate a lot of responsibility and the older players have certainly done that. We’ve given some opportunities to some younger players and they have grabbed it with both hands.

“There’s no doubt we need to expose our younger guys in the midfield again on Saturday night. They have spent three weeks in there, they are doing a terrific job and the three of us (Goodwin, McLeod and Edwards) down forward or back are enjoying our roles. 

“There’s no greater test than if the game is tight in a NAB grand final and why shouldn’t the younger guys experience that? That’s where you get your real growth in your players and your footy club.

“If we can get another good result against quality opposition like St Kilda – they’re a side that’s going to play finals footy this year by the looks of it – it will give us great confidence going into the season.”

Coach Neil Craig has also taken heart from the young group’s performance.

“It’s probably given our club confidence that some of our younger brigade have come along at a rate that we would expect,” he said.

“Dave Mackay is a good example. He has played during the pre-season and when the situation arises, if not in round one, later on in the year, you pick him with a big degree of confidence because of what he’s been able to show in a legitimate competition.

“Clearly we’re not out of the woods in terms of the development of our squad. We’ve got a lot of work to do and I think everyone understands the perspective you keep the NAB Cup in, but certainly the signs that we’ve seen are very pleasing for us.”

Craig and his coaching staff opted for another running player this week in what is forecast to be scorching conditions, with one-gamer Bryce Campbell coming in to replace the impressive James Sellar.

Sellar burst onto the scene with three goals in Dubai and Craig said he was “pleased” with the 18-year-old’s first three AFL games.

“We just want to try a few things up forward with the side that we’ve got, so someone had to go out for that to happen,” Craig said.

“James goes out, but he should be really proud of what he’s been able to achieve so far. He’s come a long way in a relatively short amount of time.”