A DEPTH of available talent unseen for years at West Lakes has Adelaide in a perfect position as round one of the 2012 AFL season nears.

Ben Rutten is the only Crow unavailable for Friday night's NAB Cup clash against Collingwood, as competition for spots heats up to frightening levels.

The side looked razor sharp in its 51-point dismantling of an under-strength Lions outfit, despite resting a host of first-choice players including captain Nathan van Berlo, Scott Thompson, Kurt Tippett, Brent Reilly, Michael Doughty and Matthew Wright.

"I think on the weekend we had eight of our experienced players out and still got an eight-goal win so it shows how good the depth is at the moment," young midfielder Brodie Smith said.

"I wouldn't want to be 'Sando' (coach Brenton Sanderson) come round one because it's on for spots at the moment."

A bulked-up Smith is pushing for a midfield role in 2012 and looks likely to find more game time after assistant coach Dean Bailey likened his role in the side to that of Joel Corey's at Geelong on Adelaide radio station 5AA.

"Obviously Joel Corey is a wonderful player so if I could play anything like him that'd be great," Smith said.

"I've played mostly on the wing, so I'm looking at that wing role at the moment and hopefully can try and crack into the midfield later on.

"I've just got to keep playing good footy and I've got a couple of weeks left to put my best foot forward and hopefully get a spot."

The Crows have arguably been the form team of the pre-season and remain unbeaten in the NAB Cup. But even with a home Grand Final all-but-assured with a win on Friday night, Smith denied it was something the group spent much time thinking about. 

"It (making the Grand Final) is not as important as getting all our structures right and improving for round one," Smith said.

"Obviously it would be nice to be there but it's not on the top of our list."

The playing group has clearly responded well to a different game-plan under Sanderson and the key, Smith said, was how early in the pre-season the new coach began to implement it.

"We've had a lot of meetings on structure and team play … We've done match simulation since even before Christmas," he said.

"All that time has gone into it and all the boys are starting to get the hang of it.

"It's a bit more exciting footy I guess … a bit more licence to have a bit of a crack.

"At the moment it's working well and I think that if we keep improving on it we'll be pretty good come round one."

Smith is hoping a pre-season of weightlifting will ensure he'll be a part of Adelaide's round one squad to play Gold Coast, claiming he's going to be harder to push around this season.

"I've put a bit of muscle on now so I can try and at least match it with some of the bigger boys in the AFL," he said.

"Last year I was pretty skinny and had to stay on the outside of the contest a bit, so I feel a lot better that way and I'm a fair bit fitter as well."

Harry Thring covers Adelaide news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Harry.

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