Adelaide captain Rory Sloane is hellbent on bucking gloomy predictions and leading his club to the AFL finals.
The Crows, after finishing bottom last year for the first time in the club's history, are widely expected to struggle again.
But Sloane says his young side is shooting for the finals.
"You want to go after exactly that and I don't think there's one guy in our team that is not striving to play finals footy," Sloane told reporters on Thursday.
"It comes back to the way we go about it.
"We saw the way we finished last year with some really solid contested footy."
The Crows won just three games last season - all in the last four rounds.
"We finished on the bottom of the ladder for the first time in the club's history so for us, that burns," he said.
"And that has got to be the driving force this year.
"The way we have attacked this summer and the nick we came back in, that is going to set us up for a really strong year.
"We're a young side, there's always going to be ups and downs and maybe a little bit of inconsistency here and there.
"But if we just stick to the game plan and what we want to go after, that will make us better going forward."
Adelaide ruckman Reilly O'Brien on Thursday inked a four-year contract extension with the Crows, following teammates including Rory Laird, Brodie Smith and youngsters Harry Schoenberg, Andrew McPherson and Josh Worrell in re-signing.
"It's a great sign for the footy club that these guys believe we are heading in the right direction," Sloane said.
"And that is what we need from everyone. We want guys who want to be a part of it.
"We know there's some solid work to do - from where we finished last year, we know we have got a lot of work to do.
"These guys are young developing leaders that want to take this footy club forward."