THE BARK of Adelaide's five-game losing streak against Hawthorn is worse than its bite.
The Crows haven't beaten the reigning premiers since round one, 2011, but nor have they been convincingly dismissed.
In three of the past four clashes the Hawks' victory has been by two goals or less and even their most recent 29-point win – in round 12 – was tighter than the margin suggested.
Played at Adelaide Oval, the home side hit the front in the third term but booted just 1.6 to 4.3 in the final term.
Defender Brodie Smith said his teammates would take confidence from their ability to take it to the Hawks in round 12, as well as from their 12-point loss in 2014, nine-point loss in 2013 and five-point loss in the 2012 preliminary final.
Match preview: Second semi-final, Hawthorn v Adelaide
"We've had a few tough games against Hawthorn but I don't think they've beaten us heavily – we've always been involved in the game," Smith said.
"Go back to the game we played halfway through the year – we probably didn't play four quarters of footy and that's what cost us.
"The last month that's what we've been focusing on – just playing consistent four quarters of footy and we know if we do that on the weekend and play our best we can get over the line."
Smith and his fellow Crows don't have long to recover from their incredible seven-point win over the Western Bulldogs last Saturday night.
They flew home on Sunday, but will only train fully on Wednesday, with a light run on Thursday before flying back to Melbourne.
A six-day break is far from ideal, although the Crows have won four of their five games coming off short breaks this season.
Their only loss came in round 23 against Geelong,
Smith said the week would play out like any other six-day break, with a focus on getting as much out of the side's limited training sessions as possible.
"We got into the rooms [after last weekend's win] and 'Campo' sat us down and we gathered our thoughts," he said.
"We've just got to put that game behind us and go into this week, attack training, train really well – that's what we've been doing the last month."
Smith spent last week under an injury cloud with a rolled ankle, but after performing well against the Bulldogs he said he was 100 per cent ready for the Hawks.
