ADELAIDE midfielder Nathan van Berlo says the Crows' younger players have earned the right to test themselves against the might of Geelong next Friday.

Adelaide took five players with 10 games or less of AFL experience into its match against the West Coast Eagles at Subiaco Oval and emerged victorious by 22 points.

Ricky Henderson (five games) and Matthew Jaensch (six games) each kicked three goals as the Crows recorded their third win in succession after a forgettable first half of 2010.

Van Berlo said Geelong would be a tougher test but the younger players should relish the challenge.

“It’s going to be a huge challenge for us and those guys certainly should look forward to the opportunity,” van Berlo said.

“It’s good to put yourself up against the best. It gives you a reality check of where you actually are at and at the moment we’re ready for a challenge. We’re going to go out there and give our all.”

Van Berlo acknowledged that Adelaide had under-performed in the first half of the season but believed the Crows were now building momentum.

“After sitting three and nine at the half-way point, we were bitterly disappointed with that and we believe we’re a much better side than that,” he said. “What’s happened in the past has now gone and in the last half of the year we just want to play the football that we know we’re capable of and the results will look after themselves.

“We’ve been playing with a lot more intensity and speed around the contest (and) we’ve been more consistent with our effort throughout the game.

“For the first half of the year, we had patches where we’d just fall away from our style of play and teams would kick seven goals in a quarter and ultimately that would be the margin at the end of the game.

“We’ve managed to maintain some consistency over the past three weeks and we know if we’re able to do that it will hold us in good stead against any team in the comp.

“We’ve won three on the trot now which is good momentum for us and certainly we’re going to need that going into Geelong next week.”