Curtly Hampton is confident the Crows will learn from their loss to South Adelaide and bounce back quickly ahead of the Club’s first ever SANFL final.

The second-placed Panthers hosted the fourth-placed SANFL Crows at Hickinbotham Oval on Saturday in an early taste of finals action.

South Adelaide was simply too strong all afternoon however, storming to a comfortable 38-point victory in the final round of the home and away season.

The Crows now have a week to prepare for next Saturday’s Elimination Final against Central District at Adelaide Oval. The Bulldogs boast an impressive record against the SANFL Crows, having won the last five meetings between the two teams including a 55-point victory in Round 13.

Hampton said Saturday’s loss to South Adelaide was a timely test heading into next weekend’s do-or-die final.

“We’re disappointed with the loss. It was a tough game,” he said.

“South Adelaide brought it to us. We had a game plan today but couldn’t really execute it today.

“But we’ve got to move on quickly because obviously we’ve got finals next week which we can look forward to.

“We have to train hard this week, stick together, see where we can improve and hit the ground running come Saturday at Adelaide Oval.

“We’ve got a few things we’ve got to work on, but it’s a good learning curve going into finals. We needed a game like that where a team took it to us.

“It’s good preparation for finals.”

SANFL Stats: Round 22 v South Adelaide

It’s Hampton’s first season as a Crow after crossing from Greater Western Sydney during last year’s trade period.

After an interrupted start to his Crows career due to a long-term foot injury, the 23-year-old is excited by the prospect of competing in his first final as a Crow. 

“It’s our first finals campaign for us in the SANFL, so it’s great for me to be able to come to the Club and play finals with the boys in my first year,” he said.

“I’m really looking forward to it and hopefully we can go deep.”

Hampton has now played seven consecutive games after making his Club debut in Adelaide’s Round 15 win over Sturt at Thebarton Oval. He’s already impressed with his clean skills, electric pace and sheer athleticism at SANFL level.

But the dynamic defender still feels he can take his game to another level.

“I’m getting a bit better each week, but I’m pretty hard on myself,” Hampton said.

“I want to be a leader and I want to be a strong, consistent contributor to our team each week.

“I just need to keep playing my natural game and keep using my strengths. I tried to run and attack today, and I know I need to keep taking the game on, especially going into finals.”

Both teams wore Indigenous arm bands at Hickinbotham Oval in a united stand against racism in sport and the wider community. Adelaide’s AFL side also wore the Club’s Indigenous guernsey during its pre-game warm-up on Friday night.

“I spoke the boys before the game about it,” Hampton said.

“We all sat down and we spoke about what we could do to make a strong stand against racism.

“The boys last night (Friday night) wore the Indigenous guernseys for the warm-up, and Wayne Milera and I thought it’d be a good idea to wear the Indigenous bands around our arms.

“All the boys, including the South Adelaide guys, said yes and supported us. It was a proud moment.”