Adelaide Crows vs Hawthorn Hawks LIVE: Feisty Mitchell takes on Ricciuto as Hawks, Crows clash in Adelaide We’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. We’re working to restore it. Please try again later. 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Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size 7.37pmMitchell in a feisty mood pregame 7.16pmYour view: Hawks, Crows finals hopes 7.03pmSubs named 6.48pmInteractive: Your club’s road to the finals 6.37pmAdelaide loom as litmus test as Hawks ponder selections 6.36pmAbout last night: Bulldogs hand Giants thumping Hide key posts Go to latest Pinned post from 7.16pm Your view: Hawks, Crows finals hopes Latest posts Latest posts Mitchell in a feisty mood pregame By Roy Ward Hawks coach Sam Mitchell has come out swinging just minutes before his club’s clash with Adelaide. Mitchell gave Adelaide great and Fox Footy commentator Mark Ricciuto some cheek during his pregame chat which started with Ricciuto calling the match an “eight-point” game. Will Day with coach Sam Mitchell.Credit: AFL Photos “It certainly is, I feel a bit uncomfortable standing so close to you Roo knowing how hard you go for the Crows,” Mitchell said with a smile. Mitchell tipped Will Day to be even better last week. “Everyone walks around him a bit taller. He got sat on last week in his first game in four months, he’s really important to us,” Mitchell told Fox Footy. “They are the number one kicking team in the competition so we know what we are going to get….there are a lot of individual match-ups that are worth the price of admission.” When Ricciuto wished him good luck, Mitchell was ready for that too. “I’m sure you really think that,” Mitchell said with a laugh. In pictures: Teams warm up The Crows and Hawks are finishing their warm-ups at Adelaide Oval. The Hawks warm up.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images Taylor Walker of the Crows.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images Jack Ginnivan of the Hawks warms up.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images Your view: Hawks, Crows finals hopes Advertisement Nicks refuses to look past Hawks Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks refuses to hear any talk about his side as a premiership fancy, especially with Hawthorn rolling into Adelaide Oval tonight. Some commentators and opinion-makers believe the Crows can win the flag this season despite having fallen to 15th place last season. Matthew Nicks.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images “I’m glad I didn’t hear it - we are focused on something a bit different at the moment,” Nicks told Fox Footy pregame. Nicks said defensive transition was a huge focus for his side, especially with finals on the horizon. “We’ve always had a belief that finals are won on defence and transition,” Nicks told Fox Footy. “It’s not always about defending, it’s about transitioning from offence to defence. Do you value it? “Our guys really do value it.” Neither side has made a late change. Chayce Jones (Adelaide) and James Worpel (Hawthorn) are the subs. ‘Had our measure’: High-flying Crows wary of Hawks Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks is expecting a finals-like intensity when the red-hot Crows attempt to flip a poor recent record against Hawthorn. The most in-form team in the AFL, the Crows can lock up a first finals appearance since 2017 with a victory in Friday night’s blockbuster at the Adelaide Oval. Josh Rachele of the Crows (L) and Hugh Bond of the Crows last season.Credit: Getty Images Adelaide (14-5, second) are gunning for a sixth-straight win, and 10th from 11 games. Their only defeat in the last three months came when they led Hawthorn in Launceston until midway through the final term before losing by three points. “They’re a top-four side and the game goes into a finals mode,” Nicks said of Hawthorn on Thursday. “There is an importance to be able to defend and limit score and there is no doubt they are good at that, so are we. “We’re looking forward to the battle, but they’ve had our measure over the last few contests. “They’ve been well and truly on top of us. “While we respect them in a big way, we need to come in with our game and really back ourselves in.” Nicks has recalled Hugh Bond for his first game of the season, replacing injured defender Max Michalanney. A crucial part of Adelaide’s rise up the ladder, Michalanney will miss up to six weeks due to a hamstring injury. It leaves the Crows’ defence undermanned as Jordon Butts is still sidelined as he recovers from a punctured lung. “We have great respect for Hawthorn’s small forward line, and how dangerous they are,” Nicks said. “It would be nice to have a few Bond’s - but we do rate our guys down back to get the job done as a team. “Bondy is a great in for our group, it will be his first game for the year and we know what he is going to bring.” Hawthorn sit fifth, poised to make a run at the top-four, but could also still miss finals altogether with other difficult assignments to come after they face the Crows. The Hawks still need to play Collingwood and Brisbane in the run home, with a game against embattled Melbourne in between those showdowns. Star midfielder Will Day made an encouraging return following four months on the sidelines due to a foot injury in last week’s comfortable win against Carlton. Advertisement ‘Big advocate for ruckmen’: Lions address Draper links Brisbane’s milestone man Darcy Fort believes the more ruckmen the better as the Lions chase off-contract big man Sam Draper. Essendon’s Draper, an unrestricted free agent, is expected to move to Queensland next year to bolster the Lions’ ruck stocks. Todd Goldstein wrestles Brisbane’s Darcy Fort in a ruck duel.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images Stalwart Oscar McInerney, who was the hard-luck story of Brisbane’s premiership last year, is battling a chronic back injury that is no guarantee to get better. The 31-year-old has been managed for Saturday night’s blockbuster against Collingwood at the MCG, leaving Fort as the No.1 ruck and youngster Henry Smith to get an opportunity. Fort would welcome any new inclusion into Brisbane’s tight-knit ruck community. “I’m not too aware of those specifics,” he said on Friday when asked about the possibility of the Lions signing Draper. “I’m always a fan of the more ruckmen the better. “I’m a big advocate for ruckmen.” This week, Essendon coach Brad Scott played down rumours linking Draper with a move to Brisbane, but conceded there are doubts whether the 26-year-old will remain with the Bombers. Fort will play his 50th AFL game, seven years after being recruited by Geelong, and 14 years since he was eligible to be drafted. The 31-year-old famously stepped up to replace McInerney for last year’s grand final when his good mate badly hurt his shoulder in the preliminary final. “Oscar is the most humble guy in the group,” said Fort, who joined the Lions in 2022. “Always plays his role, team-first guy, so he set the standard there, and we’re just doing our best to live up to him. “He’s been a warrior for us, and any opportunity we can get to give him a bit of a rest and get himself right, we’re happy to do it.” Fort and Smith - playing just his fifth AFL game - will come up against one of the league’s in-form rucks, Darcy Cameron. The midfield battle will set the tone for the blockbuster clash between the No.1 and No.3 teams in front of an expected crowd of more than 70,000. Brisbane are coming off their worst loss of the season, battered by Gold Coast last week as Matt Rowell dominated for the Suns. Humbled by their Queensland rivals, the Lions know they will have to lift significantly to end a four-game losing run against the Magpies. Ladder-leading Collingwood have had the edge over the Lions since their epic grand final in 2023, and comfortably won the encounter at the Gabba earlier this season. “When you get touched up you need to bring the fire, and everyone wants to beat us all the time,” Magpies forward Brody Mihocek told AAP. “We know what our best footy is and we know what Brisbane’s is, so it’s going to be a tough battle, but we’re looking forward to it.” Interactive: Your club’s road to the finals Adelaide loom as litmus test as Hawks ponder selections Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell has welcomed his side’s high-stakes clash with Adelaide as a litmus test ahead of the AFL finals as he faces tough calls at selection. Mabior Chol’s pending return from a groin injury puts the squeeze on the Hawks’ tall forward line for the Adelaide Oval blockbuster on Friday night. Mabior Chol slots a goal.Credit: Getty Images Calsher Dear and Mitch Lewis both kicked multiple goals alongside evergreen veteran Jack Gunston last round and have claims to holding their spots. Chol’s return - either in place of Dear or Lewis, or alongside them - could provide a solution to Mitchell’s “conundrum” around support for ruckman Lloyd Meek. Mitchell said playing as a part-time ruckman had impacted Conor Nash more than he would like and Josh Weddle (back) is sidelined, at least for the rest of the home-and-away season. “We’ve got some decisions to make about how we pick the team,” Mitchell said on Wednesday. “We’ve had a look at a lot of data and stuff. “We play the three talls probably two-thirds of the time ... so we need to make an assessment whether that’s the way we think that we’ll kick the biggest score.” Adelaide present a huge challenge to Mitchell’s men, sitting second after winning eight of their last nine games. Their only loss in that period was a three-point defeat to Hawthorn in Launceston, in round 15. The Crows have also lost just once in 11 games at Adelaide Oval this season, against Geelong in round five. Hawthorn, meanwhile, have won six of their last seven games and sit fifth, just one win and percentage behind Adelaide. “They’re probably the in-form team of the competition and we feel like we’re well placed,” Mitchell said. “We’re the one and two (ranked) pressure teams in the competition, one and two contested possession post-clearance teams in the competition. “So there’s a lot of good things about this game and it’s a real opportunity to test ourselves out. “It’s certainly an eight-point game for us. We’ve got high aspirations for our season and games like this is where it’s all going to count.” Mitchell said Jai Newcombe had reaped benefits from being subbed out of last round’s win over Carlton, having battled a sore calf and hip in recent weeks. Newcombe will be critical to the midfield battle against Adelaide’s high-powered engine room alongside Will Day, who made a successful return from a foot injury against the Blues. The reigning Peter Crimmins medallist has signed a six-year contract extension, keeping him with the Hawks until at least 2032. Newcombe was not due to come off-contract until the end of next year. “Jai’s rise from a mid-season draftee to one of the premier midfielders in the league has been a credit to his persistence, leadership and poise at the elite level,” Hawthorn recruiting boss Mark McKenzie said. Advertisement About last night: Bulldogs hand Giants thumping By Marc McGowan Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has lauded his team’s dominant 88-point thumping of the Giants that his counterpart Adam Kingsley conceded was their worst display in his three-year tenure. A sizzling six-goals-to-one opening quarter set up the landslide victory against a sloppy Greater Western Sydney, who lost Toby Greene, Josh Kelly and Jack Buckley from last week’s comeback win over Sydney, but had plenty enough talent to perform better than they did. Marcus Bontempelli and his Bulldogs ran rings around the hapless Giants.Credit: Getty Images Making matters worse for the Giants, reigning Coleman medallist Jesse Hogan struggled with a foot injury throughout the match and is in doubt for next week’s clash with North Melbourne. The Bulldogs had 37 scoring shots to GWS’s 14, in a go-to-whoa thrashing that spiked their already-mighty percentage to 137.3, which trails only Adelaide’s 146. Twin towers Aaron Naughton and Sam Darcy feasted with five goals apiece – after combining for 13 last week – while skipper Marcus Bontempelli (27 disposals) and Tom Liberatore (26) excelled in the midfield and ruckman Tim English starred in the ruck and helped kick-start the demolition with two first-quarter goals. “[There was] absolutely nothing to be unhappy about tonight,” Beveridge said after his 250th game in charge. Please click here for our coverage from Thursday night. 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