BRENTON Sanderson drew on Adelaide's underdog status to lift his side in its heartbreaking five-point preliminary final loss to Hawthorn, and expects the defeat to "burn" inside his team all summer.

The Hawks entered the clash as overwhelming favourites, with few giving the Crows any hope of an upset victory at the MCG. It was something the first-year coach rammed home to his players, and ammunition that seemed to spark them into action.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't use it [as motivation]. But I think our boys enjoyed being that most of the season," Sanderson said after the loss.

"We were told a lot this year that we weren't ready, that we weren't good enough. But hopefully we've gained some respect this year and now it's going to be a summer of managing expectations.

"But I think we're ready for that. We'll keep most of the group together and I'm sure we'll be a better group next year."

That may be, but Sanderson's players weren't thinking about next year just yet.

Inside the Adelaide rooms, tears rolled down a number of players' faces. They were hurting, something Sanderson expects to linger for some time yet.

"From the first day of pre-season until the final siren tonight, I just thought they gave everything they possibly had for the footy club and for each other," Sanderson said.

"I'm so disappointed for them because they were so close to the ultimate game, but now we've had a taste of it I'm sure it'll burn and it'll hurt for a long time."

Sanderson pinpointed the start of the third quarter as the hole in the perfect game, when the Hawks broke through and kicked four consecutive goals.

In contrast, the Crows "bombed it away, didn't lower our vision, [didn't] hit usable targets." He would have liked them to pressure Hawthorn more, too, and force the Hawks into more errors.  

But Sanderson noted the statistics - Hawthorn had 26 more inside 50s - as evidence the Hawks deserved the win. Not that it made the loss any easier to handle, particularly for retiring defender Michael Doughty, who played the last of his 231 AFL games.

"I don't think I've seen a group so disappointed and I think it's because we really wanted to shock you," Sanderson said.

"No one picked us, no one thought we'd get to this far let alone to that point in the game. But we had strong belief within our group that we could win today.

"To get so close, there's so much pain in that changerooms now, with Doughty calling it quits and just knowing that's the last time they'll be able to play with him.

"I think they really feel like they let him down. But they shouldn't feel that way because they made the club proud today."

Callum Twomey is a reporter for the AFL website. Follow him on Twitter at @AFL_CalTwomey.