The brutal way Crows got over Grand Final heartbreak

The Adelaide Crows have resorted to brutal measures in an attempt to rid themselves of the demons of their Grand Final loss to Richmond.

Star defender Daniel Talia has admitted that some players still aren't over the heartbreaking loss, with the defeat hitting the team harder than most people realise.

The Crows were heavy favourites to lift the premiership cup on the first Sunday of October, but it all went horribly wrong as the Tigers broke their long title drought.

"It was pretty raw that first week (of pre-season)," Talia said on Friday.

"We had to talk about what happened and it was really tough for some guys."

Talia revealed the team put themselves through the nightmare again by watching the game over.

"Going through it again and re-living it, seeing clips, it's not the nicest thing," he said.

"It took a bit of time, some guys were over it and some guys weren't."

Fear of suffering a Sydney-like Grand Final hangover has been the catalyst for a brutally honest pre-season player feedback session.

Talia also opened up about how too many players had reported for pre-season training in less-than-ideal shape.

"I think it was the whole group ... we'd had two weeks less holidays and we were a bit behind where we were the year before," he said.

"It wasn't just the young guys - it was the whole group. We didn't really meet our times but we've all regained that fitness now in the last three weeks.

"I think coming off a season where there were a lot of niggles and injuries ... we had to address that really quick because we saw what happened to Sydney last year being 0-6. We don't want a repeat of that.

"We were a bit behind where we needed to be, but I think we've caught that up now."

The Swans, who lost the 2016 grand final to the Western Bulldogs, recovered from their 0-6 start last season to make the finals, but they were the first team in history to do so.

With too many early pre-season benchmarks not being met, Adelaide's senior players decided to act.

"It had nothing to do with the coaches - it was player-run," Talia said of the feedback sessions.

"We're an honest group, we know when we run certain times and we do a certain number in pre-season. It sets us up for the year.

"There's a formula behind that and we've got to keep hitting those marks.

"The meetings were player-run, not aggressive at all, just being honest with each other and letting each other know we've got to improve.

"That's certainly happened the last three weeks."

with AAP