TWELVE second-half goals from Adelaide piled on the pain for Gold Coast, propelling the Crows into the top four.
It was a win led by stalwart Taylor Walker, whose five goals takes him to 699 career majors, contributing significantly to the 19.14 (128) to 7.7 (49) win on a wet Adelaide Oval on Saturday evening.
The SUNS have now lost seven straight games.
Captain Jordan Dawson led the way once again, finishing with 29 disposals and two goals, doing his claims for another All-Australian blazer no harm.
The one sour note for the Crows was an ankle injury to Rory Laird, which saw him ruled out in the first half.
Adelaide's capacity to own the contest was seriously damaging, winning the clearance count 54-34. Sam Berry (28 disposals, 10 clearances, 12 tackles) was immense through the middle of the ground, continuing his breakout season, and Izak Rankine (31 disposals, seven clearances, one goal) effectively created attack from the midfield.
James Peatling (23 disposals, 10 clearances) also had his say at the contest.
Matt Rowell and Ned Moyle worked hard against Adelaide's clearance game, combining for 12 of their own, but had little support across the evening.
The home side brought the pressure in a big way, notably winning the tackle count by 22 in the second quarter alone.
It was Josh Rachele who presented the early challenge in attack, with three first-half goals all created in different ways, and his connection with returning key forward Riley Thilthorpe was on show.
So big was Rachele's impact that lockdown defender Bodhi Uwland was tasked with shadowing the Crow for the remainder of the evening.
After the main break, however, it was Adelaide's big men who kept the scoreboard ticking over, including five goals to Walker, who took some time to get his radar focused.
Unfortunately for the visitors, connection was found lacking in large patches of play, often creating turnovers as a result of poor execution or chemistry and opening the door for the Crows.
There was a real lack of confidence about how Gold Coast played, which bled into the side's capacity to defend up the ground, and find its own attacking form.
The conditions didn't help matters, as the rain forced a change in how the SUNS used their talls. Club leading goalkicker Ben King spent extended periods on the bench rotating with Jed Walter to try to feature a smaller attacking unit around a sole tall target.
Sam Collins offered a calm head behind the ball for the SUNS, particularly when under the greatest of pressure. By half-time he had recorded seven intercepts, forcing Adelaide to get smarter about how it entered its attacking 50.
It is a crushing blow for the SUNS, who after a bright start to the season have now lost seven consecutive games.
Doubling down
As the Crows were starting to break clear of the SUNS in the second quarter, with rain teeming down, Ben Keays kicked a team-lifting goal from a contested mire. As Keays was lifted from the ground by teammates in celebration, the umpires called for another free kick to go the home side's way, against Mac Andrew for dissent. Having already been warned multiple times in the half, the umpires opted to make a statement by giving Jake Soligo a set shot from directly in front. Quick as a flash, the Crows were up by 30 points.
The captain flies
On a slippery night, when the Crows were vulnerable to Sam Collins' intercepting prowess, Jordan Dawson bucked the trend. A kick coming into Adelaide's attacking 50 seemed prime Collins fodder, but Dawson had other ideas, flying at the footy and bringing the wet footy down. It wasn't necessarily a textbook screamer, with the Crow losing his stepladder halfway through the leap, but he maintained the composure to give the fans something to roar about.
ADELAIDE 3.2 7.8 13.12 19.14 (128)
GOLD COAST 2.3 3.5 4.6 7.7 (49)
GOALS
Adelaide: Walker 5, Rachele 3, Keays 2, Fogarty 2, Dawson 2, Soligo, Rankine, Neal-Bullen, Nankervis, McAndrew
Gold Coast: Walter 3, Petracca, Lombard, King, Humphrey
BEST
Adelaide: Milera, Dawson, Rankine, Berry, Rachele, Peatling
Gold Coast: Rowell, Collins, Noble, Moyle
INJURIES
Adelaide: Laird (left ankle)
Gold Coast: Graham (left shoulder)
Crowd: TBC at Adelaide Oval
