'A happy footballer': Crows star returning to form

Their star utility is yet to find his best form this season. Rankine has played the last three games after serving a four-match ban for a homophobic slur.

The suspension meant Rankine missed last year's finals, when the Crows crashed out in straight sets.

Rankine spent time in the middle against the Blues, going toe-to-toe with Carlton captain Patrick Cripps, and kicked a goal late in the last quarter.

"We saw his energy, didn't we? That was the one," Nicks said.

"The main thing we've been looking for is our ability as a team to inject Izak into the game.

"We just love the fact that he has that smile back on his face.

"When he's a happy footballer, we're a very happy team."

But Nicks was most unhappy at quarter time after the Crows had another sluggish start and their midfielders struggled.

"It looked a little bit rougher than maybe I thought it was," Nicks said of his animated discussion with the midfielders at the quarter-time break.

"I think I started the conversation with 'I'm not going to yell'. I may have gone there.

"To their credit, they turned it around instantly in the second quarter."

Overall, Nicks said the win was unquestionably a step forward for Adelaide.

"We found patches of ourselves again," he said.

"It was a really positive step for our group. We started slowly again, which is going to be a work-on, but to turn that around ... we got a glimpse.

"Some of our best footy was back tonight.

"Our best, we believe, is at the level it needs to be. We're just dropping away a little bit too much."

One setback was a hamstring injury to defender Mitch Hinge, who was taken out of the game at halftime.

"We think hamstring - to what grade, we don't know yet," Nicks said.'

"It didn't seem that good."