Richard Douglas made an immediate impact in his return from a foot injury against Hawthorn.

Douglas had a first possession to forget, turning the ball over and gifting the Hawks the opening goal. However, the 2010 Crows Club Champion made amends with two goals of his own from six disposals in the opening term.

His first, a left foot snap, put the home team on the scoreboard and his second, which also resulted from some hard running, broke a run of four straight Hawthorn goals and steadied his side.

In his first AFL game in six weeks, Douglas was quieter in the second half but pulled up well and will be looking to build on his encouraging form.

“I felt okay out there. I turned one over early and gave one (a goal) away and then good one back, thankfully,” Douglas said after the game.

“It was nice to be out there and the body felt good, which was pleasing.”

After trailing by 27 points in the second quarter, Adelaide responded to twice hit the front by one point halfway through the third term. But the Hawks showed why they are back-to-back premiers, kicking four quick goals in the final term to record a deserved 29-point win.

Douglas said the strong crowd of 50,000-plus deserved a better finish.

“In front of our home crowd, we got in front in the third quarter but I think our polish and our skills really hurt us all night,” Douglas said.

“In a bit of that centre bounce work in the last quarter, they got on top and we couldn’t get the momentum back, which was disappointing. We want to be the best, and that’s what Hawthorn are. I thought we matched them for, probably, three quarters but they just ran away with it in the end. We’ve got some areas to work on, we know that, but we want to get better.

“To get 50,000 fans here on a Thursday night was sensational.

“The boys are really thankful for their support.”

For one of the few times this season, the Crows also lost the tackle count, 75-56.

Coach Phil Walsh said the experienced Hawks were at another level with their tackling.

“Their method and technique to tackle, and how they were able to absorb our tackles – that was at a completely different standard,” Walsh said.

“We’ll have a close look at that. We’ve got a lot of work to do and that’s one of the areas we’re doing some work on.”

Adelaide had to deal with the loss of captain Taylor Walker, who suffered a nasty corked hip in a contest with Sam Mitchell in the second quarter. Walker battled on, but was obviously limited in his movement and subbed out at three-quarter time.

To counter the absence of Walker, Walsh moved Patrick Dangerfield to the forward line – a move that the coach admitted after the match didn’t work.

“When Walker went out, it just probably left us not quite as potent in our forward half,” Walsh said.

“Josh Jenkins and Tom Lynch had to come off at some stage, so we were hoping that, maybe, he (Dangerfield) would kick a couple of goals and take a mark, which he did late.

“He got us going (in the midfield) at stages during the game, so it was a debate (over whether to play him in the midfield or forward). It probably didn’t work.”

Disappointed with his team’s ‘safe’ ball movement at times, Walsh said he “wouldn’t back away” from the style of game he wants Adelaide to play.

“I’ve got great confidence that this group is good enough,” he said.

“Maybe, I’ve just got to get to know them a little bit better. Maybe, we’ve got to coach them a little bit harder. We (coaches) will have a really hard look at ourselves as well.

“We’ve just got to find that trigger. When the game is there to be won, we’ve got to find a way to take control.”