Adelaide utility Dan Curtin knew his game was building but more importantly, he wanted to start repaying the faith of his teammate and coaches.

After four steady games in his return from a knee injury sustained in January, the 21-year-old delivered his strongest performance this season, and arguably his career, against Geelong on Thursday night.

Curtin collected a team-high 26 disposals, had five clearances, 527 metres gained, and took five marks - including a crucial grab late in the final quarter when the game was on the line. 

Speaking to AFC Media post-match, Curtin said he had not been focusing on his own disposal count, but wanted his performance to translate into helping the Crows win.

“I'm feeling absolutely incredible, that was, that was pretty awesome, it was a close win, but it was a good win,” Curtin said

“It's nice to be a part of the team again. Obviously, when you’re out for a few weeks you’re kind of separate from the team, so you try to fit in where you can, but you're doing a lot of work away from all the boys.

“I still have a long way to go, but it's a great step forward, and it's nice to get that after the kind of stop, start year.”

Against the Cats, Curtin shifted behind the ball in the dying minutes to take that crucial, game-saving intercept mark which stopped a desperate Geelong attack just seconds before the final siren.

The one-point victory was the Crows’ first win against the Cats since Round One, 2021, when Adelaide took the spoils by 12 points.

It was also the fourth game across the past two season between the two sides that was decided by less than two goals

Curtin reflected on that moment and what was going through his mind knowing there wasn’t much time left with the Crows leading by a point.

”I just committed to (the ball) coming through and took the mark, and then looked at the bench,” Curtin said.

“Everyone was kind of telling me just to chill out, take the full 15 seconds, and move it on.

“We got to 20 points up and probably just took the foot off the gas a little bit and let them straight back in it.

“I think our biggest thing was making sure we could win in the contest, and staying connected to all three lines.

“The Cats are a quality opponent, so it was finally good to get a win over them, and to win like that too is pretty cool.”

Adelaide’s victory on Thursday night now puts the team on a 7-5 win-loss record, ahead of a clash against the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium next Thursday.

Curtin said the Geelong performance had given both him and the team a strong platform to attack the second half of the season.

“At the beginning of the year I was probably playing a little bit more mid, but obviously that was interrupted with my knee injury,” Curtin said.

“It’s just about getting back to what I was doing best last year, being a bit of an aerial presence, and trying to have a bit more physical presence this year.

“We are looking forward to our game against the Bulldogs next week, it will be a big game and those are the ones we look to play in.”