Melbourne coach Dean Bailey forecast some old-fashioned punishment for his AFL players after they crashed to a 44-point loss to Adelaide on Sunday.

Bailey said the heavy defeat was equal to Melbourne's worst of the year, and castigated his players for a lack of competitive spirit against the Crows.

Adelaide, with Kurt Tippett kicking four goals, were never headed on their way to their fourth win of the season, 16.21 (117) to Melbourne's 11.7 (73).

Bailey mooted some training-track punishment after the lacklustre Demons were ambushed at AAMI Stadium, falling a game-defining 41 points behind by halftime.

"If you don't bring it to the game, then we will get it out of you during the week," Bailey said of his side's lack of competitive spirit.

The Demons coach said the defeat was as bad as their round-one capitulation to Hawthorn, when they lost by 56 points.

And the true toll from the Crows thrashing would only be known next Sunday, when his side confront in-form St Kilda.

"The damage will be determined by next week's game to be honest, we will see what sort of response we get from a really poor effort," he said.

"Their collective effort was not competitive enough.

"We have to look at a couple of, some, changes ... but the great challenge is for the guys who were poor today to actually show something next week."

Bailey was at a loss to explain his side's lack of intensity against the Crows, who were superbly guided by defenders Simon Goodwin and defender Graham Johncock.

Goodwin (36 disposals) and Johncock (32 touches) were the creators of many Adelaide attacks - and there were many: the Crows went inside their 50-metre attacking zone 60 times compared to Melbourne's 29.

The Crows had double the clearances, 30 more contested possessions, 73 more disposals and 19 more scoring shots.

"The result and the stats spell a pretty simple message: that our collective competitiveness just wasn't there," Bailey said.

Melbourne, still stuck on four wins for the year, now have lost their past 14 matches at AAMI Stadium.

"With a young playing group that haven't played a lot of footy here, history doesn't mean much to them, it's a stat that just sits there," Bailey said of the streak.

"Unfortunately today, the group has only contributed to that history."

Crows coach Neil Craig was heartened by the performances of his younger brigade, including the likes of 22-year-old Tippett, lively Rory Sloane, Matthew Jaensch (three goals) and forward Taylor Walker (two goals).

"The club is in good hands with the playing group, our supporters shouldn't worry or be anxious about that," Craig said.

"They will still take time to develop ... (but) the club is in good hands."

Adelaide, who host Essendon on Saturday night, will lose David Mackay for the short term - the winger was cleared of a broken right ankle by x-rays which confirmed substantial ligament damage.

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