Wayne Carey was laughing loudest as Adelaide won its grudge match over the Kangaroos by 54 points in AFL round six at Telstra Dome.

Carey, playing his first game against the club where he was revered as its greatest ever player, kicked the opening goal of the match and finished with four as the Crows won 19.10 (124) to 9.16 (70).

A terribly inaccurate and error-ridden Roos outfit had now slipped to a third successive defeat, its bright start to the season buried beneath successive grudge match defeats and a slide southwards on the ladder.

For the Crows, the win was a rebound after last week's defeat to Port Adelaide, and a riposte to questions about its premiership legitimacy as it responded better to Friday night's heated atmosphere.

Mark Ricciuto, who was benched last week for indiscipline against Port, played a superb captain's game to lead the way for his side.

The omens favoured Adelaide when Carey strolled into an open goal for the first score of the game, and lifted a defiant fist to a pack of Roos supporters behind the goal.

The expected fireworks never really eventuated, with the main flashpoint being mild confrontations with Anthony Stevens - the Roos captain whose wife had the affair with Carey that precipitated his exit - and Glenn Archer, the man who discovered it and bore a considerable grudge toward his ex-mate.

Both sides acted with commendable restraint given the emotional nature of the contest, but the Crows settled better and led by 20 points early before being reeled in to a five-point advantage at the main break.

The Roos butchered a series of gettable goals while the Crows converted simple opportunities to re-open a handy lead during the third term and ease away for a comfortable victory.

The Kangaroos, without injured Sav Rocca and the omitted Digby Morrell, lacked forward targets and were forced to manufacture every goal in ad-hoc fashion.

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