WHILE the Brisbane Lions put their feet up with a bye last weekend, Sunday's opponent Adelaide has been through a tumultuous past fortnight.

Since former coach Neil Craig resigned at the start of last week, the Crows have appointed Mark Bickley as interim coach, had a Showdown win against Port Adelaide in his first match and been embroiled in a controversy that is expected to see young defender Phil Davis go to expansion club GWS.

But the Lions will only be worried about what happens on the field, and Adelaide was much improved in its 32-point victory over their cross-town rivals last Sunday.

Taylor Walker returned from an indifferent season with four goals, while Chris Knights also added plenty of punch with his 31 disposals after a lean season.

The Crows have now moved themselves away from wooden spoon contention and a win for the Lions on Sunday would do likewise for them.

The Lions won by 40 points when the teams met in round 10 at AAMI Stadium.

Forward Scout
The Club: Adelaide Crows

2011 so far: It's been a difficult season to say the least for Adelaide. With Andrew McLeod, Simon Goodwin, Tyson Edwards and Brett Burton all retiring in the previous 12 months and Nathan Bock moving to Gold Coast, the Crows lost plenty of experience and talent and began with a much younger team. Despite Jason Porplyzia's injury in round one, they defeated Hawthorn by 20 points. But the losses quickly started stacking up, as did the pressure on Craig, who resigned on July 25.

The Coach: Mark Bickley has a perfect record so far - one from one. The former Crows captain has been appointed caretaker coach until the end of the season and started in fine fashion with a win over arch rivals Port Adelaide. His reactivation of Walker and Knights had instant results and showed some initiative. Bickley has the respect of everyone around the club after playing 272 matches with them and captaining the 1997 and 1998 premierships.

The Star: As a player, Scott Thompson is a little like Simon Black. Perhaps not quite in the same class and efficiency, but the way he goes about his game has to be admired. Thompson does all the hard work for the Crows and with a minimum of fuss, keeps racking up the numbers. He is sixth overall in the competition for disposals and also in the top 20 for tackles, a combination that puts him in an elite group that also contains Chris Judd, Scott Pendlebury, Matthew Boyd, Matthew Priddis and Andrew Swallow.

The Sleeper: Patrick Dangerfield is one of the few Crows that can genuinely turn a match in a quarter. The robust half-forward (189cm, 92kg) is a difficult match-up with his pace and strength and can also do damage in the midfield. He has had a patchy season and Crows fans are waiting for him to make the jump to the next level. He is in good touch at the moment with 27 disposals against the Power.

The Young Gun: Along with Dangerfield, 21-year-old forward Taylor Walker is a man that can turn a match off his own boot. His 76 goals in 40 career matches don't tell the full story of a player that can mark well overhead or on the lead and is also good with the ball below his knees. Seemed to fall out of favour with Craig because of a lack of defensive pressure, but with Bickley at the helm, Walker got another chance and pounced with four goals.

Strengths: They're sitting 14th in the competition, but Adelaide's defence has still been a strength. They are ninth on points against (although three teams below have played an extra match), conceding 98 points per match. With Thompson, Bernie Vince and Nathan van Berlo a strong midfield, and Andy Otten, Graham Johncock and Ben Rutten the nucleus of a sound defence, the Crows can be hard to break down.

Weaknesses: After one match in charge, it's hard to get a handle on Bickley's influence. For most of the season Adelaide has been guilty of bombing the ball long into its forwards and giving them little chance to mark. As a result they have scored more total points than Gold Coast only. The Lions will also remember their win in round 10 when a number of swift moves coming out of defence caught Adelaide out over the back of its last line and resulted in a number of goals.

Michael Whiting covers Brisbane Lions news for afl.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @mike_whiting

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs