There was a difference this year from the previous few, in which Craig has compiled an unflattering 2-6 finals record, with a younger side getting a bitter taste of September defeat.

But the usefulness of the experience will be tempered by the fact that the team that beat them, Collingwood, was younger still, yet far better suited to the tempo of September.

End of season queries will again be directed towards Craig's game plan, which he said this week was built on countering the opposition's strengths as much as playing to Adelaide's own.

"It's a different group, we were disappointed last year (losing an elimination final to Hawthorn) and we need to be disappointed today as well, let's not shy away from that," Craig said.

"Both sides were pretty similar on paper, and on our home ground, and I just thought it was in general a poor performance." On the game plan, which rival Mick Malthouse likened to that of a German soccer side protecting a one nil lead, Craig conceded there were flaws, particularly when moving chaotically forward.

"That's where we've got to be pretty clear in our self analysis," he said.

"Our system at the moment, certainly our capacity to score quickly and regular big scores, our system isn't what it should be, so we need to do a lot of work on that because it's not there." In the first term and at regular intervals from that point on, the Crows were often brought undone by Collingwood's pressure, their tackle count showing Adelaide's communication skills and urgency were not up to scratch.

A number of Adelaide's mid-tier group, Scott Thompson in particular, failed to handle big-day pressure.

"Particularly early I thought it was a bit unusual for us, normally we have good communication on the ground and I didn't think we adjusted to the speed of finals early in the first quarter, quite a few were run down from behind," Craig said.

"We all understand in this game that big reputations are made in finals and we haven't been able to do it yet.

"That doesn't mean we back off, if you don't want the disappointment or the hurt that goes with it, don't even put yourself up so we just need to regroup." Requiring investigation, too, was the crowd of 37,685, well down on stadium capacity.

"We need to ask the question why of our supporters why we didn't get a slightly bigger crowd," Craig said.

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