Adelaide captain Nathan van Berlo says the money-can’t-buy experience of going within a kick of a grand final last year will make the Crows better for the AFL season ahead.

Adelaide open the new season on Friday night, taking on Essendon at AAMI Stadium.

After last year’s surprise packets made the preliminary final and failed by just five points to beat Hawthorn, van Berlo believes what the young Crows have learned in the clutch moments will prove the making of his side.

“I just know over the last two seasons – the core group of players have grown another 40 or 50 games’ experience amongst us,” van Berlo told AAP.

“That helps the chemistry in the group, the maturity in the group.

“That experience you can’t buy. I know it holds us in really good stead.

“I know that when the crunch time comes, we’ll be able to look at each other and know we’ve been through similar situations before, know what we expect from each other and how we go about winning in those tight contests.”

Both the Crows and Essendon go into the match having survived difficult off-seasons.

The Bombers continue to live with the spectre of a drugs probe, while the Crows had the fallout of Kurt Tippett quitting and the AFL’s investigation and penalties over the forward’s side agreement which breached the salary cap.

Already Crows coach Brenton Sanderson has publicly appealed to his players and fans not to sledge the Bombers over the drugs scandal.

And van Berlo doesn’t believe sledging by fans or players will be an issue at AAMI Stadium – believing the modern player doesn’t have enough time or energy to verbally stoush with opponents.

“I think Crows fans will be more excited that footy’s back and supporting us,” he said.

“I don’t think there’ll be too much hostility from the Adelaide crowd.

“People think we’ve got time to sledge out on the field. I tell you what, we run around and any spare second I get, I’m trying to catch my breath.

“Sledging isn’t nearly as prevalent as maybe it was in the past.

“We simply don’t have time.”

Van Berlo is conscious the Crows must back up their breakthrough season to be taken seriously as a competition powerhouse.

“We know we’re fitter, faster, stronger than we were at this time last year, and the group’s more mature as well.

“We don’t want to be a team that’s based on one year of solid performances. We want to be able to back that up year on year.”