There's only so much that can be taken from a Round 1 performance but Adelaide's 63-point drubbing of St Kilda indicated that they meant business.
The proud South Australian club has been starved of finals since the 2017 grand final loss and was on the verge in 2023 before an incorrect score review turned their dream into a nightmare.
But throughout that campaign, the Crows ranked as one of the best offensive sides, putting scores on the board in quick succession at a ridiculous efficiency rate.
And on Sunday, West Lakes fans were reminded how damaging this club can be.
With a score of 135 points and 21 goals, 12 players managed to put the football through the big sticks.
Key forward pair and future of the club Darcy Fogarty and Riley Thilthorpe combined for seven goals.
Star youngsters Izak Rankine and Josh Rachele bobbed up with a pair of goals, as did captain Jordan Dawson and recruit Isaac Cumming.
From the outset, Adelaide were the dominant force that we've seen in glimpses but this could be the beginning of something special.
From 59 inside 50s, the Crows registered 30 scores, sitting at an impressive rate of 57.6 per cent efficiency.
This was compounded by their elite disposal use, recording three in every four (74.6 per cent) possessions as effective.
"Our guys ... brought the fight that we were after," said satisfied Crows coach Matthew Nicks.
"The challenge now is for us to do it week after week, but it's a great start."
"There were periods in the game where I thought it was a reasonably vanilla battle ... but we took our chances when we had them," Nicks added.
The Saints, who had key players absent through injury, had no answers, which could also be an indication of where they are at.
But, Adelaide did what they needed to do on Sunday, and with three weeks against Essendon, North Melbourne and Gold Coast deemed as a winnable, 2025 could be the club's best start for eight years.
It was a good winโฆ but we shouldnโt โget ahead of ourselvesโโฆ consider:
They had an undersized defence (if it rained we might have had it much harder).
They had 7 first choice payers out. Regardless of what their coach says, thatโs a big ask for any sideโฆ a big ask.
We pretty much stopped at stagesโฆ.. in both the second and fourth quarters we only outscored them by a goal or soโฆ in the fourth, we had 6 shots on goal (4.2) to their 8 (3.5)โฆ. we stopped โฆโฆ.. sure the game was โwonโ by thenโฆ but won games are lost when a team stops. Not a good habit to flirt with.
It was a good winโฆ. but we have work to do.
(interesting โrolesโ at the centre bouncesโฆ. brutally effective at times).