Adelaide has played Hawthorn 40 times for 19 wins and 21 losses.

The first meeting between the two sides was in Adelaide’s first-ever AFL game on March 22, 1991. The Crows prevailed by 86 points on a memorable evening with John Klug and Bruce Lindner each booting four goals, while Andrew Jarman claimed three Brownlow votes for his 29-disposal performance.

The Crows have lost eight of their last nine clashes with the Hawks including the 2012 Preliminary Final and the 2015 Semi Final. 

However, the last time the two teams played on the MCG in Round 2, 2017, Adelaide came out victorious by 24 points led by Rory Sloane (25 disposals and a Club-high 15 tackles), Sam Jacobs (39 hitouts, six contested marks) and Matt Crouch (35 disposals).

On that day, the Crows trailed by 24 points at quarter time but booted 14 goals to seven after the opening break to storm to victory. 

Saturday night marks Adelaide’s first visit to the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 2018, and the first time they will step onto the hallowed turf since the 2017 Grand Final defeat.

The Crows had a 2-1-1 record at the venue last year.

Shaun Burgoyne is set to play his 350th game against the Crows this weekend. The four-time premiership player also celebrated his 200 and 300-game milestones against Adelaide, both of which resulted in Hawthorn wins.

Adelaide has now lost three consecutive games for the first time since the opening three rounds of 2014. The last time the Crows dropped four consecutive games was in 2011.

The Crows and Hawks prefer to use the ball by foot with kick-to-handball ratios of 1.43 and 1.47 respectively. Both sides rank top five in the AFL for kicks per game. 

On paper, Adelaide has the edge around the contested ball, averaging 157.4 contested possessions to Hawthorn’s 141.4. The Crows lead the AFL for hardball gets, with 53.3 per game, while the Hawks rank 17th with 40.6 per game. 

However, Hawks midfielder Tom Mitchell ranks third in the League for contested possession per game (16.5). The ball magnet also leads the AFL for disposals per game (34.1) and clearances per game (8.7).

Rory Laird (third, 32.9 disposals per game) and Matt Crouch (29.8 disposals per game) both sit inside the top 10 for disposals.