ADELAIDE coach Brenton Sanderson admits Hawthorn needs to be off its game if the Crows are any chance of advancing past the minor premiers into a Grand Final.

The Hawks smashed Adelaide by 56 points at the MCG in round three and, while Sanderson insisted his side had improved dramatically since early in the season, he conceded the Hawks were unbeatable if at their best.

"We've really improved since then (but) I know Hawthorn has as well. They're a really good side and we acknowledge that their best is almost hard to get near," Sanderson said.

"We'll do everything we possibly can to be at our best. Hopefully our best is good enough, but we certainly need Hawthorn to not play at their best."

Sanderson said he would break Saturday's preliminary final down into manageable pieces.

Despite Hawthorn's favouritism heading into the match, the first-year Adelaide coach said the Crows were still in with a shot if they can ensure the home side didn't race to an early lead.

"There's still four teams that can win it (the premiership)," he said.

"What we'll just do is break it down into four, 30-minute blocks and make sure we play our best footy in four, 30-minute blocks.

"We can't allow Hawthorn to get a decent start on us this week. It takes too much energy to get back … they're certainly fresh, they're certainly fit, we're coming off two hard finals, but I think our guys are ready for this game."

Small forward Jared Petrenko will be given until the last minute to prove his fitness after he dislocated his right shoulder in the dying moments of last Friday night's semi-final against Fremantle.

The 22-year-old has trained this week, and while Sanderson rated him a "realistic chance" of lining up for the Crows, he said Petrenko would need to be able to tackle at "100 per cent" before he took his place.

"He's really keen and all the marking sort of drills he's been fine with, so we'll certainly pick him and then we'll probably have to test him on Friday before we fly out," Sanderson said after training on Wednesday.

"He's a realistic chance of playing … he looks good.

"Tackling and wrestling are probably the ones we've got to test him out with. He has to tackle at 100 per cent on Friday to be fit to play."

Sanderson said his side needed to make the most of its opportunities early in Saturday's clash.

In its two finals this year, Adelaide has kicked just 2.6 from its opening quarters.

Sanderson said his forwards should take a leaf out of Jason Porplyzia's book when kicking for goal, likening him to a professional golfer.

"We saw with Porplyzia, his routine is the same thing for every set shot that he has. It's like a pro golfer, the way that they putt," he said.

"Their routine is the same every time there's a set shot; good routines and practiced routines normally stand up in big games.

"That's what Porplyzia does and that's what the rest of our team needs to do."

Harry Thring is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Harry.