Adelaide’s dream return to AFL finals is now at risk of turning into a nightmare. The days when sides could lose a qualifying final, as the Crows did against Collingwood, then not have to do much more than show up for a semi-final to get their campaign back on track are long gone.
Hawthorn can ride a wave of momentum into the second week of finals with reason to believe they can survive a second do-or-die clash. In the nine seasons since the introduction of the pre-finals bye in 2016, eight elimination final winners have rolled on to win their semi-final. In the previous 16 seasons under the current top-eight system, only five teams started the finals with two consecutive finals victories – while just as few blew their double chance.
