This year's raging premiership favourite, the Adelaide Crows, have easily accounted for last year's champs Sydney by 39 points at the SCG on Sunday afternoon.

A few days after Crows coach Neil Craig re-signed with the club until the end of the 2009 season, his team celebrated by trouncing Sydney 15.11 (101) to 8.14 (62).

Adelaide, which has looked a class above the rest of the competition in recent weeks, was again in supreme touch after having to overcome a dogged Sydney outfit in the opening term.

But once they found their feet, there was no stopping Craig's men.

It was another even team performance from Adelaide, although Simon Goodwin (27 possessions), Mark Ricciuto (16 possessions and two goals), Trent Hentschel (three goals) and Graham Johncock were all outstanding.

For the Swans, Michael O'Loughlin provided a target in attack all day, while Jarrad McVeigh and Luke Vogels provided some rays of light ahead of the Swans' tough road trip to the west next week.

From the opening bounce it was evident the Swans had come to play, and were determined to restrict the Crows' run off half-back which has been such a weapon in recent weeks.

In a low-scoring but enthralling opening term, neither side could assert itself on the contest and gain any real supremacy.

The Swans were playing it tight and in close early, and were rewarded in the sixth minute. In a sight to warm the heart of all home fans, Sydney's big guns all got a touch as Barry Hall found O'Loughlin, whose high ball found the sure hands of Ryan O'Keefe.

Hentschel answered O'Keefe's major mid-way through the opening term to get the Crows on the board, but O'Loughlin replied following a strong mark a minute later.

Ricciuto, without kicking a goal in the first quarter, was looking dangerous for Adelaide, who despite not having many clear winners was right in the contest and trailed by just four points at the first break.

It didn't take long for the Crows to take the lead in the second term.

After a Swans chip on the wing failed to find the target, Adelaide pounced and from the resulting turnover Ricciuto kicked a long bomb from just outside 50.

Three goals in three minutes from the eight-minute mark further silenced the Sydney faithful, as the Crows running machine started to click into gear.

Johncock cleared the pack and bounced one through from a long way out, and then Rhett Biglands showed his mobility from the ensuing centre bounce to dob one on the run from 45.

When Goodwin did the same a minute later, the visitors had skipped out to a 19-point buffer and Sydney was in trouble.

Johncock was awarded his second after a dubious soccer - which the home fans thought had already crossed the goal line - and it wasn't until time-on before the previously unsighted Nick Davis booted the Swans' first of the term.

But Adelaide hit back through Hentschel, who somehow managed to sneak through his second amid a host of defenders just nine seconds before the half-time siren.

The Crows led 7.7 to 3.5 at the long change and the Swans needed to manufacture another of their famous SCG comebacks if they were to take the points.

Sydney did manage to stem Adelaide's run in the third term and actually looked the better side in patches throughout, but converting was a problem.

Jude Bolton had a moment he would prefer to forget, as Ricciuto swooped on the Swan's dropped chest mark 30 metres out from the Crows' goal to boot his team further ahead.

McVeigh goaled at the 17-minute mark to lift Sydney and his major looked as though it might rally the reigning champs.

They seemed to have the momentum and could have edged inside a three-goal margin, but O'Loughlin's horror miss from 20m out in front might have killed off any sniff Paul Roos' men had of pinching a win.

Matthew Bode goaled deep in time-on to make it a 28-point ballgame - and with Sydney having just four goals on the board at the last change - the fat lady began warming her tonsils.

The two teams traded goals in the last quarter but the Crows were able to extend their margin, making it look easy at times while the inaccurate Swans have some work ahead of them if they are to force their way into the top four.

Next week Adelaide returns to AAMI Stadium for a meeting with Hawthorn while Sydney travels to the other side of the country for a Grand Final replay against West Coast on Saturday night.

Craig was thrilled with his team after the match, saying the Crows had been looking forward to testing themselves against the best contested-football side in the competition.

"It was a great game for us today to play, because we have a huge respect for Sydney, particularly with the way they play," Craig said.

"It was good for us to be exposed to that style.

"We need to continue to work on the areas that we are weak at. We have some vulnerable areas, so we'll continue to do that but, also acknowledging that we played some pretty good footy today too against Sydney."

Sydney coach Paul Roos believes the players lost their intensity after the first quarter and it proved costly in their heaviest loss of the season.

"We played very poorly after quarter time and you can't do that against the 16th side in the competition let alone the first team in the competition," Roos said after the game.

"We didn't give ourselves an opportunity to test ourselves against the best team in the competition."


SYDNEY: 2.2, 3.5, 4.10, 8.14 (62)
ADELAIDE: 1.4, 7.7, 9.8, 15.11 (101)

GOALS – Sydney: McVeigh 2, O'Keefe, O'Loughlin, Davis, Buchanan, Williams, Goodes
Adelaide: Hentschel 3, Johncock 2, Ricciuto 2, McGregor 2, Biglands, Goodwin, Bode, Thompson, Edwards, Burton
BEST – Sydney: McVeigh, Vogels, Dempster, Goodes, O'Loughlin
Adelaide: Goodwin, Ricciuto, Hentschel, Johncock, Mattner
INJURIES – Sydney: nil
Adelaide: nil
CHANGES - Porplyzia (hip) replaced in the starting side with Skipworth
REPORTS - nil
UMPIRES - McBurney, Jeffery, McInerney
CROWD - 36,104 at the Sydney Cricket Ground