SCOTT Camporeale has praised Adelaide's players for staying strong during a "bloody hard" campaign since Phil Walsh's death, following the Crows' disappointing 74-point semi-final loss to Hawthorn on Friday night.
Camporeale, who took over after Walsh's passing, also said he needs to time to decide if he wants to throw his hat into the ring to stay in charge next season.
The Crows were confident of causing a boilover and sending the back-to-back premiers out in straight sets on Friday night, but received a harsh reality check at the MCG.
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The Hawks brutally snuffed out the visitors' chances of an upset with a clinical eight-goal-to-two opening term, and never allowed the Crows the slightest sniff of getting back into the match.
Although disappointed with his side's performance, Camporeale was bullish that the Crows were "on the way up".
"I'm really proud of the playing group and the footy club at large," he said post-match.
Click here to watch Scott Camporeale's full post-match press conference
"It's been bloody hard for everyone that's been involved, and as I said to the players after the West Coast game (eight days after Walsh's death) it could've gone either way.
"They decided as a group they wanted to keep going forward and to put the performances they did to get to this position, they earned the right to play, they win a final (against the Western Bulldogs), so great experience for our group.
"They started a journey. There's some great foundations in place for this footy club going forward."
Camporeale said Walsh would've applauded the Crows overcoming their grief to win six of their last nine games and clinch a finals berth.
"He would've been proud of them. Phil was one that (accepted) no excuses. He would've been disappointed about tonight's performance, no doubt about that," Camporeale said.
"So we did cover that off after the game; you've got to keep learning in this game and you've got to keep getting better. So we got a great lesson tonight."
Adelaide was simply outclassed from the opening bounce by a ruthless Hawthorn outfit, which dominated disposals (+70), uncontested marks (+59) and had nine more scoring shots for the match.
"We were just beaten by a great quality footy team in Hawthorn," Camporeale said.
"We just couldn't get our hands on the ball early, so I'm not sure we were flat. Some of our skill errors (hurt) and they counter-punched us with their skills and went coast to coast.
"Full credit to Hawthorn, they're a quality team and they're going to be tough to beat.
In what might have been his last game for the club, Patrick Dangerfield was Adelaide's best player with 29 touches – 14 contested – 10 clearances and a miraculous boundary line snap to kick the Crows' second goal.
Camporeale said he wouldn't speak to the free agent about his future before Dangerfield makes a decision whether, as widely expected, he returns home to play for Geelong.
"No, it's up to Paddy," he said, adding he wasn't sure when to expect a decision: "No, I'm not sure, we'll wait and see once the dust settles, I guess. That will all take care of itself."
Camporeale said he needed to get away and take the emotion out of his choice whether to go for the senior coaching job on a full-time basis after leading the side to seven wins from 11 games.
"I'm not sure, I'll let the dust settle a bit. I probably haven't had any time even for myself to grieve and everything with what's happened, so I'll sit down and make a decision," he said.
"I've enjoyed working with the players, I love this playing group, there's a lot of talent here, we've made some foundations and I think we're on the way up.
