Adelaide have denied inspirational midfielder Ben Cunnington a fairytale AFL return as they overcame a spirited North Melbourne challenge to run away with a 29-point victory.
The Crows proved too slick and finished stronger than the injury-hit Kangaroos, kicking the only five goals of the final term on their way to a 15.13 (103) to 10.14 (74) triumph at Adelaide Oval on Saturday.
Adelaide's Darcy Fogarty continued his impressive form and looked a threat throughout as he booted four goals while Taylor Walker finished with three.
Jordan Dawson was also influential as he gathered 33 disposals and had 834m gained, while Rory Laird worked his way into the match after a slow start to finish with 25 touches.
The Crows (8-13) have now won three straight and improved on their seven wins in 2021.
"It's a nice reward for where we're at," coach Matthew Nicks said about the Crows' progress.
"There are games we've dropped this year that may have had us knocking (on the top eight) but overall we're looking to play a brand of footy that people walk out and they've enjoyed watching.
"We're playing a finals brand, we strongly believe that, so we'll continue playing that way."
Cunnington impressed in his first AFL match for 385 days after overcoming two bouts of cancer, but it was emerging star Luke Davies-Uniacke that looked most likely to propel the Kangaroos to a rousing victory.
Davies-Uniacke was outstanding in gathering 37 disposals, 11 clearances and 10 inside 50s - all game-highs - and kicked a goal as his partnership with Jy Simpkin (30 touches, 10 clearances) continued to blossom.
Spiritual leader Cunnington battled well throughout in his comeback match and finished with 17 disposals, six of them in his preferred contested manner.
"The emotional lift it gave our group at this time of year was fantastic," Kangaroos interim coach Leigh Adams said about Cunnington's return.
"He had a tear in his eye when he put his jumper back on today. For our young blokes to see what it means to play for this footy club, hopefully has a lasting impression to this group."
The Kangaroos (2-19) were dominant at the centre bounces, especially in the second term, but they failed to make the Crows pay as they kicked 5.6 to 3.0 to take an eight-point lead into the main break.
That left room for the hosts to wrestle back the momentum and the teams started the final term with scores level.
While the Kangaroos had it all to play for, with captain Jack Ziebell (shoulder) subbed out of the match and Jaidyn Stephenson (back), Jed Anderson (concussion) and Paul Curtis (shoulder) also sidelined, it was Adelaide who finished with the running.
The Crows will be desperate to stretch their winning streak into their final-round Showdown against Port Adelaide while the Kangaroos need a win over Gold Coast, also on Saturday, to avoid their worst win-loss record since 1972.
