A vastly understrength Adelaide outfit have beaten Carlton by one point at Visy Park in Melbourne in their final practice match before the AFL season begins.

Missing half their best team, the Crows led from the start before the Blues fought back to tie the scores in the final term, with Adelaide skipper Simon Goodwin kicking a late point to break the deadlock.

Among those missing for the Crows were Bernie Vince, Andrew McLeod, Brad Symes, Brett Burton, Andy Otten, Nathan van Berlo, Ivan Maric, Jason Porplyzia, James Sellar and Scott Thompson.

Shaun Hampson, Brad Fisher, Chris Johnson and Richard Hadley were the main omissions for the Blues.

The Crows would appear to have an embarrassment of key forward options, with Kurt Tippett, Taylor Walker and Trent Hentschel all impressing at stages.

Tippett, who has resisted overtures to return home to play for the Gold Coast next season, booted three goals and took a huge pack mark in the second quarter.

Walker kicked two and is shaping as a handy foil for Tippett and Burton.

The Blues are still experimenting as they get used to life after Brendan Fevola.

Setanta O'hAilpin booted three goals, but Jarrad Waite - in his second game of the pre-season - was disappointing when he played forward and spent most of the second half in the backline.

Lachlan Henderson, traded from Brisbane for Fevola, wasn't a factor.

The Crows were well served by Goodwin, Brent Reilly and David Mackay.

The Blues' midfield struggled, with Chris Judd, Marc Murphy and Bryce Gibbs rarely appearing to be in top gear.

Worryingly, former Melbourne midfielder Brock McLean didn't win much of the ball and looked slow when he did.

The Blues open the AFL season in 12 days against Richmond at the MCG, while the Crows travel to Subiaco to play Fremantle. The entire Richmond coaching staff were at Visy Park to scout their first-round opponent.

Crows coach Neil Craig is happy with how his squad is progressing heading into round one.

"Our last three weeks have been good," he said.

"It's pretty encouraging when you look at the teams we have selected after what was a pretty disappointing match against Port in the first round.

"I thought the guys responded well against Collingwood in tough conditions, we dominated against Melbourne last week and today's effort against a strong Carlton team was a good effort.

"It was great to win a close one against them and I thought our ball movement was pretty good. It has been an important four weeks for us."

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