The message coming out of West Lakes is simple. Focus on the week ahead.
Adelaide's start to 2025 has the competition in fear of the giant that has seemingly awoken from its slumber, after a seven-year hiatus from September following its disastrous grand final loss in 2017.
After a near-top-eight finish in 2023 that was denied by a score review gone wrong, last year was Matthew Nicks' year of reckoning.
However, the external noise and pressure proved all too much for the Crows, who slumped to 15th with eight wins and a draw.
But now the script has been flipped after taking "many learnings" from 2024.
In every player or coach press conference, the message from Adelaide has been solely centred around the next training session or practice game or upcoming match.
Nothing more.
"We're focused on North Melbourne," Nicks said.
"It's going to bore the hell out of you guys, but we have to. We can't not do that. And too many learnings across the journey. We're going to embrace where we're at at the moment.
"We can't control a lot of the noise from the outside.
"I mention to you guys (media) every week, we come out, we go hard, we train hard, we take some risks in amongst that, but we know that's what gets us to the level of footy we need to get to.
"We've already learnt our lesson, we did a fair bit of learning last year. This year is focused on the moment."
The Crows' faultless start has seen them notch back-to-back 10-goal victories against St Kilda and Essendon.
Admittedly, the Saints and Bombers don't pose as genuine threats of the competition, but Nicks would be pleased with the way his squad is performing as a unit, with all 23 players getting a fair lick of the ice-cream.
The three-headed snake up forward (Riley Thilthorpe, Darcy Fogarty and Taylor Walker) are quickly becoming the most dangerous batch of talls in the competition, combining for 15 goals, but arguably more importantly, 11 goal assists in a fortnight.
The midfield brigade that has pushed All-Australian Rory Laird to the backline boasts a variety and versatility that has dominated the opposition to date.
Recruit James Peatling, Matt Crouch, and Jake Soligo are the tough ball winners, who distribute to the likes of Izak Rankine and Jordan Dawson.
The selfless running of Alex Neal-Bullen and Ben Keays cannot be understated, while Josh Rachele's start to 2025 is in stark contrast to his axing late last year.
Adelaide's run-and-gun is back in vogue, slotting 46 goals.
Nicks' men rank first for shots per inside 50 (59.8 per cent); goal efficiency (37.7 per cent); goal accuracy (63 per cent); metres gained (6520m); scores from defensive half (59.5 points); scores from turnover (90.5 points).
Adelaide sits second in disposal efficiency (76.4 per cent); inside 50s (61); marks inside 50 (16); scores from forward half (73.5 points).
Amid all that efficiency is the club's staggering 32.8 points above the expected score according to WheeloRatings. The next best is the Western Bulldogs at 9.4.
The simplified outlook has boded well for Nicks and his Crows.
And 2025 is a wait and see on how far it'll take them.
