The Crows bounced back well from the disappointment of last week’s comprehensive defeat to run out 70-point winners against the Power, boosting their percentage and jumping to fifth on the ladder.
Craig felt the loss to the unbeaten Saints didn’t deter his side’s focus ahead of the clash against their cross-town rivals, with the coach using the round 16 defeat as a learning experience for his side.
“You have to give credit to the playing group for rebounding, because it was a big loss last week,” Craig said after the game.
“Our playing group certainly didn’t get down on themselves, and we learnt a lot of good lessons out of it [the loss to St Kilda] as in the standard we still need to get to.
“To come out and play like we did tonight is great credit to our playing group, and it shows they have belief in themselves.
“Last week was good for us, and obviously tonight was good for us as well.”
Adelaide was a little wayward with its goal kicking on Sunday, particularly early in the game when it kicked 2.5 in the opening term. Craig said capitalising on scoring opportunities was something his team would look at ahead of its clash with Geelong at Skilled Stadium next week.
“We need to make sure we continue to work on that, because we don’t want to be a wasteful club," he said.
"Certainly the playing group have made a very clear decision to put another layer on their performances to be able to compete with the top four sides in the competition.”
Craig was full of praise for ruckmen Ivan Maric and James Sellar, who won the hit-outs (47-38) against a depleted Port Adelaide ruck corps following Dean Brogan's late withdrawal with a corked thigh.
With Brad Moran succumbing to a season-ending knee injury, Maric has now become Adelaide’s premier ruckman, while Sellar has been given an opportunity after limited chances.
“I was really pleased with what they did, and obviously losing (Dean) Brogan was a setback for Port," Craig said.
“Ivan has been improving nearly on a weekly basis, and James Sellar has really made me happy with the way he goes about his work, particularly his centre-bounce work.
“He’s prepared to jump and be aggressive in there, and he’s done a really good job.
“We said coming into the game it would be a really good experience for those guys because they are still inexperienced.”
Craig also singled out Brett Burton for praise after the high-flying forward booted four goals in just his second game back from a 12-month layoff following a knee reconstruction.
“I was really pleased with Brett’s response to last week because he had a bad game irrespective of how we played as a team. To come out and do what he did tonight was good," Craig said.
“That was always on the cards, because he’s such a competitive player and he’s got a lot of self-respect.”
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