Want the full story? Here's what coach Brenton Sanderson had to say in his press conference ahead of Saturday's Preliminary Final clash with Hawthorn.


Sanderson on Jared Petrenko’s chances of playing against Hawthorn …

“Jared trained today and every time I see him he tells me that he’s playing, which is a good sign. He’s really keen and all the marking drills he’s been fine with. We’ll pick him and probably have to test him behind closed doors on Friday before we fly out. He’s a realistic chance of playing.

"He’s such a strong kid. He’s just desperate to play in a prelim final, so we have to speak to our medical staff and make a good decision from a coaching point of view. We’ll make sure that we’re picking a player, who we think has a low risk of further injuring himself. He’d need to be pretty close to (100 per cent). Prelim finals are hard and brutal. You don’t want to take players in with injuries hanging over their heads.

"One thing he does better than almost anyone in the team is provide that tackling pressure, so he has to tackle at 100 per cent on Friday to be fit to play. He’s better than a 50/50 chance from my point of view.”

On who will replace Sam Shaw …

“You’re never going to replace a Dan Talia, or a Sam Shaw but we think we’ve got guys coming into the side that have played good SANFL football. Guys have come in and slotted in fine. Even though we might lose a couple this week, I’m sure we’ll put out a really strong side on Saturday night. We’ll pick a squad of 25 and finalise the 22 in Melbourne on Friday night.

"Josh Jenkins will certainly be considered. There’s an opportunity for us to stretch Hawthorn’s defence. At different time this year, we’ve used the three-tall strategy and it’s worked. Other times, we’ve gone with it and it hasn’t worked. Andy Otten missed six games through injury. He hasn’t had his best season in terms of continuity … but he’s a good player. If he’s the one that comes in, I’m sure he’ll play his heart out. He can certainly play that role Sam Shaw’s been playing this year.”

On how to stop Lance Franklin …

“It’ll be a team effort. We’ll rely on defensive pressure up the ground. We’ve got to make sure we’ve got defensive pressure on the ball coming in. Ben Rutten was so grateful for the pressure our midfielders put on the Fremantle midfielders last week. If we give Hawthorn time and space, whoever plays on Buddy is going to have a long night. At the same time, we’ll need a special effort from someone (to play on Franklin) this week.”

On the last meeting between Adelaide and Hawthorn in Round Three …

“It was a long time ago, but they took 140 marks against us last time in Round Three. We’ve come a long way since then. I watched that game earlier in the week, and it was a different team … we’ve really improved since then. Hawthorn has as well. They’re a really good side. We acknowledge that their best is almost hard to get near. We have to make sure we put tackling pressure on them, but also do what we do really well.”

On improving on the starts of the past two weeks …

“We’ve got to start well. We’ve got to play four quarters this week. What we’ll do is break it down into four, 30-minute blocks and make sure we play our best footy in those blocks. That starts from the first quarter. We’ve been jumped the last two weeks. Hawthorn normally start their games really well, so we’ve got to ensure we’re switched on and ready to go right from the first bounce. We can’t allow Hawthorn to get a decent start this week.

"It just takes too much energy to get back and to overrun a side makes it even tougher. Hawthorn has had a 15 or 16-day break heading into this game. They’re certainly fresh and fit. We’re coming off two hard finals but I think our guys are ready for this game.”

On Hawthorn being overwhelming favourites, and no one giving Adelaide a chance …

"There are still four teams, who can win it. We’ll do everything we possibly can to be at our best. Hopefully, our best is good enough. We certainly also need Hawthorn not to play at their best.

“That’s fine. I honestly think we can win. And I’m sure we’ll have 22 players from Adelaide run out, who give themselves a realistic chance as well. It’s a two-horse race and we’ll give everything we’ve got. We’ll fight it out right until the end and hopefully our good is good enough.”

On Kurt Tippett’s form …

“Mark Bickley and I have sat down with Kurt and reviewed his game. Some of it wasn’t up to the level we expect from him. But some other stuff he’s doing has been really good. We need him to have an improved performance this week - we certainly can’t have too many passengers if we’re going to win this match. We’ll need our full 22 playing their best to win.”