The Crows were bundled out of finals in the first week in both 2007 and 2008 and were under immense pressure to avoid a third successive strikeout against the undermanned Bombers.
Craig said he was pleased with the way his team handled the expectations going into the do-or-die clash.
“It was a great step forward for us as a football club tonight to be able to win a final and to be able to win it in that manner. The players need to feel good about themselves and be congratulated but she rolls on again next week,” Craig said.
“There’ll be some hype because of the winning margin, but I would want our supporters to enjoy the way the guys actually went about their football.
“The challenge now for us will be to be able to do that again next week and apply that sort of pressure against, probably, a better opposition because of where St Kilda and Collingwood have finished [on the ladder].”
The Crows will enjoy an eight-day break ahead of next weekend’s game against the loser of Sunday’s qualifying final between the Saints and the Magpies.
Adelaide reported no new injuries from the big win over Essendon and could face a dilemma at the selection table with Nathan van Berlo (back), Rob Shirley (hamstring) and Nathan Bock (heel) all likely to be available.
Bock trained with the side twice last week before ruling himself out because of ongoing soreness in his fractured heel.
Craig said the club had earned the right to an extra day’s break.
“The break could be important for Nathan Bock. It will certainly be important for Nathan van Berlo and it’ll be good for Rob Shirley even though he probably didn’t need it,” he said.
Craig said his side would take confidence from Friday night’s performance but it needed to take another step up to beat the likes of St Kilda and Collingwood.
“I think it would be fair to say that reality says [between] the top-four sides and the rest, there was a bit of a gap there,” he said.
“Now, we’ve given ourselves an opportunity and it’s up to us. We beat Collingwood in the first game, but we certainly haven’t beaten the other three so that lies ahead of us.”
