They had looked in control of the game at half-time against Fremantle, despite a slow start.

After trailing by 22 points at quarter time, they kicked six goals to nil in the second term to lead by 12 points at the main break.

And with 988 games more experience on the ground, the Crows appeared to have weathered the storm.

With Nat Fyfe (suspended) and Aaron Sandilands (injured) not playing, and 13 players on the ground with fewer than 45 games under their belts, Fremantle shouldn't have been able to get themselves back into the game.

They did.

Lachie Neale stepped up in the midfield in the absence of Fyfe – and took Adam Cerra and Bailey Banfield with him.

Michael Walters was well held by Luke Brown. He had only 17 touches and didn’t kick a goal, but he still impacted with five goal assists.

Brown was forced off the ground midway through the final term with an ankle injury – which didn’t help the Crows in the run home.

Walters' frustrations came through late in the game too, when he gave away a free kick and 50m penalty to Jake Kelly. He was reported for the incident which will also be looked at closely by the match review panel.

The run of Connor Blakely and Ed Langdon continued from previous weeks, while Joel Hamling’s 10 marks in defence were crucial.

A career-best four goals from Brennan Cox was the difference though. He’d kicked 8.17 in his previous 18 games, but was able to stretch the Crows defence – and also ignore the yips he’d had in front of goal in the past. He’d booted 4.11 this year before Sunday.

At the other end it was Eddie Betts that could have won the game for Adelaide but missed his chances. He kicked 2.6 and while three of the misses would have appeared in goal-of-the-year reels for 2018, he usually finds a way to kick them.

Even with so many youngsters playing for the Dockers, there would have been no surprise that they led at quarter-time. They have won all seven first terms at their new stadium this season.

Sunday's 5.2 was their best start of those seven, and the 22-point lead they held was their biggest.

Both sides had 13 inside 50 entries in the opening term, but the Crows could manage only 1.4 for their efforts and all four behind were rushed, not skill errors.

But even with a fistful of their top players sidelined with injury, Adelaide’s class was still able to take control of the game from the start of the second.

On the back of Matt Crouch and Bryce Gibbs getting plenty of the ball, Adelaide kicked six goals to nil in the second term to lead by 12 points at half-time.

Josh Jenkins, who had kicked just one goal a game in the previous four games, booted two for the term.

The four other goals all came from experienced players – Betts, Richard Douglas, captain Tex Walker and Sam Gibson.

But skill errors hurt the Crows.

Some of their higher possession winners didn’t use the ball as well as they could and the Dockers were able to get them on the rebound.

FREMANTLE
5.2 5.6 9.8 10.11 (71)
ADELAIDE
1.4 7.6 7.9 9.14 (68)

GOALS - Fremantle: Cox 4, Sheridan 2, Banfield, Tucker, Langdon, Ballantyne.
Adelaide: Betts 2, Jenkins 2, Greenwood, Poholke, Douglas, Gibson, Walker.
BEST - Fremantle: Neale, Cerra, Cox, Langdon, Banfield, Hamling.
Adelaide: Gibbs, Gibson, Jenkins, Brown, Seedsman, Betts.
UMPIRES: Margetts, Hosking, Whetton.
CROWD: 33,421 at Optus Stadium.

VOTES
L Neale (Fremantle) 8
B Gibbs (Adelaide) 8
A Cerra (Fremantle) 7
B Cox (Fremantle) 7
E Langdon (Fremantle) 7