Cooper Sharman and Jade Hodge had great days for the Crows as they kicked five and four goals respectively as the Crows came away with a 16.10 (106) to 8.9 (57) win over the Goannas.

Crows coach Daniel Muir was full of praise for his key forwards.

"Cooper Sharman and Hodgey were dangerous up forward today," he said. "Cooper can out-jump anyone, and it is really exciting to watch and as long as we keep playing to our strengths."

Hodge made a strong start kicking the first two goals of the game as they Crows kicked three unanswered goals to start the game before Mangoplah hit the scoreboard with two late goals to see the sides separated by eight points at the first break.

The Crows were able to kick away in the second term with five goals to one before matching that with a six-goal third quarter despite a stronger start from the Goannas after the main break.

Muir expected the visiting side were going to look to respond and was pleased with the way his side got through a tricky period.

"They were always going to come, and you could hear their coach give them a bit of a rocket at halftime," he said.

"You can't dictate terms for the whole game, so they were always going to respond, and it was just a matter of how we were going to weather the storm and bounce back from that.

"A few times we probably tried to over possess it a bit, and there were also times where we tried to rush it a bit. I suppose we got used to playing wet weather football after the last three weeks. I was pleased that we were able to finish the game off."

The sides traded goals in the final term before the final siren blew to see the Crows secure top spot heading into finals next weekend.

The Crows were down on troops with Muir, Bryce O'Garey, Matt Rainbird and Jonathan Spina ruled out during the week, but then they lost Jayden Lehman on game day which handed a first-grade debut to Jaedan Celi, and Muir said the result shows the depth at the club's disposal.

"We had five starters out, and it was an excellent win considering that, but it also makes selection that much harder now with potentially five guys to come back in," he said.

"I said at the start of the year it's not the 21 that play on a Saturday there is a list of 28 or 29 that we can call on."

There were also some concerns around Thomas Meline who picked up a knock in the third quarter and didn't return, but Muir said he sat out the rest of the game as a precaution. The Crows will travel to Robertson Oval next Saturday to take on Wagga Tigers for a spot in the decider.

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