A RECENT visit from Australian cricket champion Justin Langer has provided Adelaide players with a key insight into the resilience they need to show to hold onto a finals spot in 2016.

At the request of coach Don Pyke, West Australian state cricket team mentor and Perth Scorchers coach Langer spoke to the Crows players about the ups and downs he experienced during his playing career.

For All Australian defender Brodie Smith, Langer's philosophies on the importance of bouncing back from adversity can easily be translated into the football arena.

"As a keen cricketer myself, I was lucky enough to grow up watching cricket in the era of Langer, (Matthew) Hayden, (Ricky) Ponting and (Adam) Gilchrist," Smith, 24, told AFL.com.au.

"He gave his philosophies on how he went about things and that was the main correlation (between football and cricket).

"It was about being mentally strong and responding from whatever the game hits you with."

Despite making it through to last year's semi-final against Hawthorn following a seven-point win over the Western Bulldogs the week previous, the Crows have a tough task of repeating the dose in 2016.

Competition for spots in the top-eight are likely to be hard to come by, with Port Adelaide, Geelong, Collingwood and Greater Western Sydney all looking to stake their claims.

That the Crows have lost their best player, Patrick Dangerfield, to Geelong only adds to the difficulties they are set to face.

Smith said the grittiness Langer was renowned for as a Test opener shone through when he addressed the group.

Langer made more than 28,000 first-class runs during his career, having to deal with fiery opening spells of bowling from the opposing team's fast bowling battery.

"He was a really tough cricketer with a strong mindset and a lot of that was spoken about while he was in with us," Smith said.

"Whether it be a poor performance or something goes wrong, it's the ability to fight your way through that and take that head on, put it into play and come back bigger and better."