Adelaide and Hawthorn have met 38 times, including four finals. The Hawks hold a slight edge, winning 20 times against the Crows.

The Club will be eager to reverse a poor recent record against the Hawks. Adelaide has lost the last seven meetings between the two teams dating back to Round One, 2011.

Only three points separated the two sides in the last meeting in Round Five at the ‘G last season. Watch Last Time We Met

The Crows will be aiming to win the opening two games of a season for the second time in three years and the sixth time in Club history.

Adelaide has qualified for finals in all but one season after winning its first two games.

Hawthorn is one of the teams Adelaide will meet twice during the 2017 premiership season. The Crows host the Hawks at Adelaide Oval in Round 14 and also have ‘double up’ games against Geelong, Essendon, Port Adelaide and Melbourne.

Saturday’s match is the first of three Crows games at the MCG in the 2017 home and away season.

Four of the last six games between the two clubs have been decided by two goals or less.

Adelaide’s last win over Hawthorn at the MCG was a 27-point victory in Round 20 of the 2009 season. Trent Hentschel booted four goals in the win.

The biggest home-and-away crowd for a game between Adelaide and Hawthorn was 50,321 at Adelaide Oval in Round 17, 2014. The largest attendance for a minor round match at the ‘G between the two teams was 45,781 in last year’s Round Five clash.

The biggest attendance overall for a Crows/Hawks clash was in the 2015 Semi-Final (70,879).

Adelaide’s biggest second-half comeback was against the Hawks at Football Park in Round Nine, 1995. The Club fought back from a 34-point half-time deficit.

Hawthorn has the oldest age profile of any 2017 squad. Adelaide has the fourth-youngest.

The Hawks are the second-most experienced team in terms of games played.

The Crows are top of the AFL ladder after defeating Greater Western Sydney by 56 points in Round One. Hawthorn is 12^th following a 25-point loss to Essendon.

Hawthorn was the most inaccurate team of Round One with a conversion of 46 per cent. Adelaide’s accuracy was 63 per cent.

Rory Laird, who amassed a career-best 40 disposals last weekend, has averaged 25 possessions in his last three games against the Hawks.

Rory Sloane also relishes the challenge of playing the Hawks. He’s averaged 25 possessions and four tackles from his last seven games against them.

Recruit Tom Mitchell amassed 37 possessions in his Hawks debut last weekend – ranked equal-third in the AFL for Round One. The former Swan also had 10 inside 50ms, which was equal-second of any player for the round

The record for the most Crows goals in a game against Hawthorn is held by Tony Modra, who kicked 7.3 at Football Park in Round Six, 1993. Brett Burton also slotted seven (7.1) in a win over the Hawks in Round 15, 2006.

Saturday’s match will be only the second time Adelaide has played Hawthorn in Round Two. The last occasion was in the second round of the 1999 season when the Crows prevailed by four points at Waverley Park.

Forward Josh Jenkins averages three goals a game from his five matches against Hawthorn since 2013. He bagged five majors in the Round 17 clash in 2014.

Former Hawks captain Luke Hodge is a near-certainty to return from a club-imposed suspension this week. He averages 26 possessions, five marks and a goal a game against Adelaide.

Hawthorn forward Luke Breust averages three goals a game against the Crows, including a six-goal haul in the 2015 Semi-Final.