The Crows came into the match in second position on the ladder with nine wins from their first 11 matches while North sat a game outside the top eight.
PRESS PLAY above to watch match highlights | YouTube
It was the day North unveil its three-pronged tall approach which would become the key to its revival in the second half of the season.
Lachlan Hansen came into the side to play his first game of the season, combining with Drew Petrie and Robbie Tarrant in the forward half.
While Hansen played further up the ground, it created havoc for the Adelaide defence and left more space for Tarrant and Petrie to operate deeper in the forward 50.
Tarrant kicked a career-high four goals, while Leigh Adams returned to form with three goals and the three Brownlow Medal votes for his 26 disposals and 3 goals.
After a flat patch in the previous handful of weeks, Adams’ efforts against the Crows would set him up for a purple patch of form.
Lindsay Thomas continued his redemption tour as he banished the ‘yips’ which had hampered him in 2011. When Adelaide made an attempted comeback late in the third quarter it was Thomas who stood up with an important goal to halt momentum and send North on its way to victory.
The Adelaide game came in the middle of a stretch where Thomas kicked at least two goals in seven consecutive matches.
Taking the big scalp of the Crows seemed to spur North on, as it went on to win seven of its next eight games to surge to the finals for the first time in four years.
North Melbourne 6.6.42, 10.10.70, 13.14.92, 17.19.121
Adelaide 3.2.20, 4.5.29, 9.8.62, 13.11.89
Goals
North Melbourne: Tarrant 4, Adams 3, Thomas 3, Bastinac 2, Petrie 2, Hansen 1, Harper 1, Harvey 1
Adelaide: Walker 3, Vince 2, Callinan 1, Dangerfield 1, Douglas 1, McKernan 1, Porplyzia 1, Sloane 1, Tippett 1, Wright 1
Brownlow Medal
3 – Leigh Adams (NM), 2 – Ryan Bastinac (NM), 1 – Daniel Wells (NM)
