Greater Western Sydney were handed another football lesson on Thursday night, this time by a rampant Adelaide, who opened this year's finals series with a crushing 12.12 (84) to 6.12 (48) victory over the pre-season flag favourites.
The Giants' list is laden with young bucks who were top of their class but it seems they are slow learners if the latest hiding is any guide.
This thrashing comes a fortnight after they were well beaten by Geelong. There is still a way back for the Giants but there are serious doubts over their premiership credentials.
The team that is supposedly on the cusp of a dynasty has now suffered emphatic losses to the Crows, Cats, Richmond and Sydney in their past eight games.
A sorry night for the Giants at Adelaide Oval became even worse when star forward Jeremy Cameron was ruled out of the game at half-time with a hamstring injury - his third in the past two months. His finals campaign must now be in extreme doubt.
The Giants will back themselves against either Port Adelaide or West Coast next week at home but considerable improvement is required if they are to keep their season alive.
The Crows are now just one win away from their first grand final appearance since 1998 though their fans will be hoping Sydney will not be the team they have to overcome.
Twelve months ago, the Giants turned in one of the most brutal finals performances of recent times against the Swans, but this effort was in marked contrast.
Their half-time score of 11 was the lowest first-half tally in a final since Collingwood were restricted to just one goal straight in the 1960 decider.
Apart from a brief flurry to start the second half, the Giants were comprehensively outplayed by a Crows team that were not only missing Rory Sloane but were reduced to 21 men early in the match when rebounding defender Brodie Smith hurt his knee.
Their midfield was worked over by the Crows, which prevented the Giants from opening up the ground for their winning game.
Few Giants had nights worth remembering, though Josh Kelly found plenty of work without generating his usual influence.
Their attack was impotent. Jonathon Patton, Cameron and Rory Lobb were hardly sighted while Toby Greene, with the exception of a dribbler from the boundary line, was quiet.
Lobb's howler in the second term summed up the Giants' night. After marking strongly deep in defence, the big man played on unaware that Eddie Betts was behind him and run down. It gifted Betts his third goal.
The limp showing means there is renewed hope for Steve Johnson, though the mercurial forward would have struggled to make an impact here even at his peak.
Their defence buckled under an avalanche of entries inside their 50. At times, they were so disorganised the Crows were able to engineer two-on-one contests. Given the Giants were struggling to win one-on-ones, this was asking too much of Phil Davis' back men.
The form of the Giants' senior core will be a worry for Leon Cameron. Shane Mumford competed hard at the stoppages but is not covering the ground well. He did not have a disposal in the first half.
Heath Shaw was torched by Betts in the first half and though he had decent numbers on the stats sheet, his use of the ball was poor.
The Crows were clinical. Though better known for their attacking verve, their team defence was miserly. Exit points were closed and space rapidly shut down. The Giants laid more tackles but Adelaide's had more impact, breaking their run.
The downer was what appears to be a serious knee injury to their defensive quarterback Smith, who is suspected of tearing his anterior cruciate ligament.
Adelaide 3.4 8.7 12.8 12.12 (84) beat Greater Western Sydney 1.4 1.5 5.7 6.12 (48)
Goals: Adelaide: E Betts 3 R Douglas 2 B Crouch B Smith J Jenkins M McGovern P Seedsman T Lynch T Walker.
Greater Western Sydney: S Coniglio 2 C Ward H Himmelberg M De Boer T Greene.
