Sando the difference?
Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley heaps praise on Brenton Sanderson, Crows
COLLINGWOOD coach Nathan Buckley has issued the competition a stern warning, claiming Adelaide will be ‘hard to beat’ this season, after his side was dismantled at AAMI Stadium to the tune of 77 points.
There was just eight points separating the sides at half-time, but the Crows showed no mercy in the second half, outscoring Buckley's side 13 goals to two.
"Adelaide are going to be a pretty good side playing their best football," Buckley said.
"If you give them an inch they'll take a mile and they did tonight.
"If they play that well during the year they're going to be hard to beat."
Despite Buckley's praise, Crows coach Brenton Sanderson said there was still much his team needed to work on before the start of the season proper.
"We've still got a long way to go to be honest," he said.
"We still saw some things tonight that we really need to sharpen up on that we wouldn't be able to get away with in a regular-season game.
"A few times tonight I thought we were a bit cute.
"There were some efforts defensively in the first quarter that I think we still need to sharpen up on."
Buckley said the Crows' style of play under Sanderson was visibly different to the one he saw as an assistant at Collingwood last year.
"It's pretty clear that Brenton's had an influence in regards to the way they play at this early stage," he said.
"There's definitely been modification into where their forwards set up and their structure and their running patterns.
"What was displayed this evening was a very well-drilled unit that believed in its style of play."
Collingwood entered Friday night's contest with 12 players yet to officially make their AFL debuts, while Adelaide brought a wealth of experience back into their side including captain Nathan van Berlo and veteran Brent Reilly.
While the gap in experience played a large part in the one-sided second half, Buckley refused to blame it for the demolition.
"You could easily put it down to personnel," Buckley said.
"But we're not going to use that. We expect everyone that puts on a Collingwood guernsey to perform at the level required and to fulfill their role.
"And we probably had some players who were substandard this evening."
In what was icing on the cake for Sanderson, Jason Porplyzia took another step on his way back from injury with a four-goal haul.
His troublesome shoulders looked of no concern on his way to 13 disposals, six marks and four goals.
"I've been impressed with him since the first day I walked through the front doors," Sanderson said.
"He's just one of those guys who has time and space when others don't. I know I shouldn't get too carried away but he did some pretty special things tonight.
"There were a couple of times you held your breath I the coaches box hoping that he'd just bounce up and run off and he did.
"The doctors and medicos tell us his shoulders are both 100 per cent and he's ready to go."
Harry Thring covers Adelaide news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: AFL_Harry.
The views in this article are those of the author and not of the AFL or the clubs.