Adelaide will hope to put an end to their horror MCG record that hasn't seen a victory since the midway point of 2017.
Facing Essendon at the home of football will be an early litmus test for the improving Crows, who are tipped to rise up the ladder, making a genuine case for finals football.
Ironically, their last finals campaign was in 2017, when in Round 15 of that campaign they defeated Carlton by 12 points - their last win at the venue.
Veteran midfielder Matt Crouch didn't buy into the poor history the club has at the MCG, saying, like they have all pre-season, they are sticking to the process, which has held them in good stead early on.
"It's a great oval to play on, everyone looks forward to playing there and it's going to be a big challenge against Essendon who are very strong," Crouch told reporters on Monday.
"This season we're pretty process driven at the moment, that has been a massive focus for us through our pre-season so it will be the same this week.
"It will be about the process and how we go about beating Essendon but wins on the road are gold, so we're looking forward to it."
In recent times, the two teams have played in tight games, with the last four encounters being decided by three goals or less.
Aside from last year's Round 19 victory, which broke a seven-game losing streak, Adelaide has historically struggled against Essendon, with their last win before that coming in 2017.
Saturday's clash with the Bombers will be one of three contests at the MCG for the Crows in 2025, with the second against Collingwood in Round 10 and the third against Richmond in Round 16.
Brisbane has three (Richmond, Hawthorn, Collingwood) cracks at the Colosseum; Fremantle has two (Melbourne, Collingwood); Sydney also has two (Melbourne and Richmond).
Cross-town rivals Port Adelaide and premiership fancy GWS played their one solitary match at the ground over the weekend while Gold Coast (Round 3 - Melbourne) and West Coast (Round 9 - Richmond) will only be seen once at the MCG.
Wow – a ground that will host the finals will be available to the crows for 3 whole games in just ONE year!
Meanwhile the wobbles will have what – 18?
The “needles” will have what -18?
Carlton and Hawthorn and Richmond will each have what – 11 to 16?
Nothing like stacking the decks for a finals advantage……
… amusing that the filth (port adel jnr) – as a “premiership fancy – will have a whole ONE game there this year.
… no doubt if they play in a GF it’ll be against a side who will have a home ground advantage (and played there anywhere from 11 to 18 times this year) regardless of whether they’ve “earned” that home ground advantage or not.
It’s entirely possible that a side that finishes 8th gets a home ground advantage on a ground they have played on up to 18 times this year against a team that has an unbeaten season and only played there once….
But the league executives will get fat “KPI” cheques.