Seven wins, two losses, and position firmly entrenched in the top three on the ladder - the numbers suggest this has been Adelaide’s best start to a SANFL season in its 11-year history. 

But if you were to ask Senior Coach Matthew Wright what has impressed him the most in the early stages of the 2025 campaign, it is not the results themselves. 

It’s been the process behind the achieving results that has put a smile on the mentor’s face, with continued growth and a strong connectedness among the group the key ingredients behind the Crows’ early season success. 

Speaking to AFC Media, Wright reflected on how his side had fared across the first half of the season and how the group had built a successful style of play.

“I think the connectedness across the group has been a real highlight for mine - the mids, forwards and backs have all worked together beautifully to help us achieve success on the field,” Wright said. 

“Defensively we’ve been super strong, our ability to restrict opposition scores has been a highlight and allowed us to build our game. 

“Forward of the ball we’ve been able to kick winning scores which is always nice, and week in and week out we’ve just produced a consistent brand of footy.

“It’s nice to have put ourselves in this position, but we know the job isn’t even close to being finished, and we’ll have to be even better across what is going to be a tough back half to the season.” 

From a development point of view, Wright has seen great growth from his playing group in 2025. 

The Crows have players performing at a high-level across all three lines, but the coach pointed out a few stand-out contributors. 

“Charlie Edwards has really come on, in his second year at the footy club he’s been very consistent for us down back,” Wright said. 

“You throw Lachie McAndrew into the mix, who in his first year with us has been able to come in and be really successful in the ruck and give our midfielders first look at the footy. 

“James Borlase has been outstanding for us down back, and is growing his game every week, while the development boys in Jay O’Leary and Jay Boyle have been very consistent for us, which is a massive bonus.

“The most pleasing thing is we’ve got a group of guys playing an extremely high level of footy, but they constantly want to get better and learn every single week.” 

A key reason behind the group’s ability to get the best out of itself has been the coaching group’s willingness to move magnets and shift players to different positions. 

Across the past month, Chayce Jones has found a new-home within the on-ball brigade, while talented youngster Charlie Edwards has evolved from a dynamic on-baller to classy defender. 

Wright explained the importance of being adaptable, and why he is so keen to have his players experience playing different positions. 

“When you change things around you’ve got to get buy-in from the players, and they’ve done that really well,” Wright said. 

“A big part of it is us trying to give guys multiple avenues into the AFL team, so if they can play a couple of different roles it really helps their cause. 

“Chayce has been one of our top three players the last few games since going into the midfield, for him to continue to develop and play multiple roles puts him in good stead. 

“Charlie is one who last year developed into one of the best midfielders in the SANFL competition, so we know what he can do there, and we wanted to have a look and see what he could do in defence, and he’s really risen to that challenge which is great. 

“We are all about giving guys opportunities to get the best out of themselves, and positional switches are a big part of that.” 

This all feeds into one of the SANFL side’s key objectives, being to help set its AFL counterpart up for success.

Wright said he felt the program had done an excellent job in that area this season, with a number of players being called up into the senior side and able to hold their own. 

“We want to provide players (to the AFL team) that can go up and play a role at the higher level, and over the first half of the year I think we’ve done that really well,” Wright said. 

“Guys like Sam Berry, Brodie Smith, Lachie Murphy, Zac Taylor and Luke Nankervis have all shown that when they’ve gotten the opportunity at AFL level they’ve been able to contribute, which has been great and shows the work we’ve been doing in the SANFL program. 

“A big part of our role in the SANFL is to develop the entire squad to play the Crows way, and I think we’ve done that to this stage.” 

Sitting in third spot on the ladder, the Crows have set themselves up nicely for a strong tilt at finals football. 

But if you ask anyone involved with the program, the focus is simply on the next task at hand, which this is week is in the form of North Adelaide at Prospect Oval this Saturday. 

“We are a long way out from the finals, and we are really process driven at the moment, looking at one week at a time,” Wright said. 

“This week is all about North Adelaide and getting that done at Prospect, so this week we’ll put all our energy into that. 

“Once we tick that box we’ll look towards the next game, and hopefully keep progressing along in the back half of the year where we can set ourselves up for an opportunity.”

Adelaide’s SANFL side faces North Adelaide at Prospect Oval this Saturday, with the first bounce at 2.10pm.