The Crows managed just three wins in the opening 12 rounds of the season and were being talked about as potential candidates for the wooden spoon as recently as two weeks ago.
However, the club has returned from the mid-season break refocused and re-energised and could sit as high as 10th at the end of the round after disposing of the Bombers by 84 points at AAMI Stadium on Saturday night.
Craig said he was pleased with his side’s return to form, but that the next challenge would be to win away from home against West Coast at Subiaco next weekend.
“We’re still a long way away from challenging for the finals in reality,” he said after the match.
“We’re playing some better football at the moment and that’s very pleasing for us as a club and also for our supporters, but we’ve just got to worry about playing at that level on a consistent basis and that [the top eight] will all look after itself.
“We played really well last week and we followed it up again this week. It’s the first time we’ve put two wins together.
“Now we have an opportunity to try and win away, which we haven’t been able to do all year. Whilst we’ve won in Perth we certainly haven’t on a consistent basis and it’s a much more difficult task next week.”
Adelaide kicked 12 goals to Essendon’s two in the first half to set up an unassailable lead.
Forwards Kurt Tippett (six goals), Patrick Dangerfield (four goals), Taylor Walker (three goals) and Ricky Henderson (three goals) all benefited from the Crows’ quicker ball movement and Craig said he was also pleased with the team’s defensive pressure.
“I thought our attack on the ball carrier was outstanding,” he said.
“Your defence all of a sudden becomes a major weapon for offence. The players were fantastic at it and you could see that Essendon’s kicking efficiency was about 45 per cent in the first half, so they were rushed all the time.”
Adelaide’s win was soured by an ankle injury to in-form ruckman Jon Griffin.
Griffin tweaked his ankle twice during the game and is likely to miss the trip to his native WA next week, but All-Australian defender Nathan Bock (groin) should be available.
