It's Adelaide's turn to try to harness the pain and pressure that follow an uncompetitive AFL performance to produce their best, says coach Neil Craig.

Melbourne bounced back from a shocker against West Coast to hand the Crows' the second-biggest hiding in Craig's tenure, at the MCG on Sunday, the greatest coming in 2004 when he had just taken the reins.

While Craig acknowledged Adelaide were way below acceptable AFL standard in the 96-point thrashing, he said previous signs from his young team this season gave him confidence they would rebound.

"As disappointing as it was and it was through the whole group, we need to make sure we keep pushing forward and we use this really bad loss to make sure this group continues to grow," Craig said.

"In this game you're going to learn how to handle failure and adversity if you're going to be any good and we've got something to handle just at the moment in the short-term.

"It's as bad as we've put on display for a long time in our footy club, so we need to regroup pretty quickly."

Craig admitted the 12th-placed Crows were thrashed in all areas and said it would not take many such performances to lose their hard-won reputation for consistent competitiveness.

"That takes a long time to build up, that perception and it can be torn down really quickly if you're not careful," he said.

Melbourne dominated possession and spent much of the game in attack.

But more damning for Adelaide was the lopsided tackle count, and the way Demons players regularly broke clear from attempted tackles.

Adelaide's minimal resistance as Melbourne stormed away in the second half was also concerning.

But Craig said it had not shaken his faith in his side's character or the speed with which they could become the hardened, consistent team he wants.

"I've got great faith in this playing group, but we'll find out a bit more about ourselves in the next few weeks," he said.

"It's going to be a challenge for them, but they'll be up for it."

The Crows play Gold Coast at AAMI Stadium next round and will have to sweat on the fitness of Patrick Dangerfield (concussion), Scott Thompson (corked calf) and Matthew Wright (strained knee), who all sustained injuries.

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