HAWTHORN has sent an ominous warning that its quest for a third consecutive premiership remains on track with a vintage 74-point win over Adelaide in the second semi-final at the MCG on Friday night.

Some questioned whether the Hawks' recent golden era under Alastair Clarkson was over after their comprehensive 32-point defeat by West Coast in last Friday night's qualifying final at Domain Stadium.

But despite coming off the Perth trip, Jack Gunston's absence through injury and the advancing years of many of its premiership stars, Hawthorn put the Crows to the sword with an electrifying eight-goal first quarter and never gave them a sniff thereafter, extending their lead at every break to cruise to a 21.9 (135) to 8.13 (61) victory.

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The Hawks will now play Fremantle at Domain Stadium in next Friday night's first preliminary final, when they will bid to qualify for their fourth consecutive Grand Final.

Six things we learned: Hawthorn v Adelaide 

It was perhaps unfair that Adelaide's season ended with such a whimper given the courage the club showed to reach the second week of the finals after the tragic death of its coach Phil Walsh on the eve of round 14.

WATCH: Top five plays - Hawks v Crows

The Crows must now also face the likelihood that star midfielder Patrick Dangerfield has played his last game for the club.

Dangerfield was one of the Crows' best performers against the Hawks, finishing with 29 possessions, 10 clearances and a freakish banana goal from the boundary in the first quarter, but it is widely expected he will seek to join Geelong in next month's free agency period.

How the fans saw it: Hawks v Crows

Hawthorn was razor-sharp from the opening bounce, slicing through the Crows' defences with breathtaking run through the middle and its trademark precision short-passing. It also pressured the Crows into error after error with suffocating all-ground pressure.

Captain Luke Hodge responded emphatically to criticism of his leadership against the Eagles with 29 possessions and four goals, while Luke Breust, goalless in his previous three matches, starred in the Hawks' opening-quarter blitz with three goals and finished with a game-high six majors.

Player focus: 'Mr September' steps up

The Hawks were not short of good players, with Josh Gibson (27 possessions) a creative sweeper in defence and Sam Mitchell (a game-high 33 possessions) his usual prolific and precise self through the midfield, while James Frawley bounced back from a poor first final for Hawthorn to keep Adelaide captain Taylor Walker to one goal and little of his usual influence.

Eddie Betts was the Crows' hero in their elimination final win against the Western Bulldogs with five goals, but Ben Stratton completely blanketed the star small forward, holding him goalless.

Isaac Smith (21 possessions and two goals) also ran with his usual freedom after looking restricted by a knee injury against the Eagles.

Player ratings: Hawthorn

Clarkson said after the game that the whole club had been determined to rebound from the Eagles loss.

"We expected a response and we got it tonight," Clarkson said.

"But we knew it was going be tough. Adelaide have been playing really good footy and they're a really dangerous side. It was important that we applied a lot of pressure to the Adelaide side throughout the course of the night.

"We had a lot of the footy, but what was pleasing was our pressure skills were really good tonight.

"Our first quarter was important for us. We applied a lot of pressure to the Adelaide ball carrier, made them indecisive as to what they'd do with the ball.

"We know how damaging they can be if they get that control of the ball, we saw that last and last week with the Western Bulldogs game."

Despite the Crows' meek exit from the finals, they won't lose any of the fans they gained this year.

No one would have criticised them if they had let their season slip after Walsh's death, especially when in their first game back a round later they fell out of the top eight for the first time in 2015 after losing an emotional encounter against West Coast by 56 points at Domain Stadium.

But Adelaide regrouped under interim coach Scott Camporeale to win six of its last eight home and away games to make the finals, and then defeated the Bulldogs by seven points in a thrilling elimination final.

In addition to Dangerfield, Rory Laird (30 possessions) battled his heart out all night in defence, as did Scott Thompson (28 possessions and eight clearances) through the midfield. Josh Jenkins kicked four goals, and Sam Jacobs had the better of his ruck duel against Ben McEvoy and David Hale. 

Player ratings: Adelaide

Camporeale said after the game that the Crows would learn from the experience.

"We were just beaten by a great quality footy team in Hawthorn. They're well-drilled, highly skilled and it's no surprise they're back-to-back premiers," Camporeale said.

"Once again, it's a great experience for our guys and we learn a lot tonight (about) where we've got to get to.

"We just couldn't get our hands on the ball early, so I'm not sure we were flat.

"Some of our skill errors (hurt) and they counter-punched us with their skills and went coast to coast.

"I thought we panicked a bit, our composure with the ball going forward, we didn't lower our eyes and that plays into Hawthorn's hands."   

The Hawks will be sweating on Gunston's fitness in the lead-up to next Friday night's game.

Gunston told Triple M radio on Friday night that he was no certainty to be available for the preliminary final, saying he would have to prove he had overcome the ankle injury he suffered against West Coast by Tuesday or Wednesday next week. 

Patrick Dangerfield's stunning first-term goal was a rare highlight for the Crows. Picture: AFL Media 

HAWTHORN   8.4   11.6   16.7   21.9 (135)
ADELAIDE      2.2   4.3     6.7    8.13 (61)

GOALS
Hawthorn: Breust 6, Hodge 4, Smith 2, Roughead 2, Lewis 2, Suckling, Schoenmakers, Rioli, Hill, Puopolo
Adelaide: Jenkins 4, Lynch 2, Dangerfield, Walker

BEST 
Hawthorn: Hodge, Breust, Frawley, Mitchell, Stratton, Birchall, Gibson, Burgoyne
Adelaide: Dangerfield, Talia, Laird, Jenkins, Lynch, Jacobs, Thompson

INJURIES 
Hawthorn: Lake (abdomen)
Adelaide: Laird (ankle)

SUBSTITUTES
Hawthorn: David Hale replaced by Billy Hartung at three-quarter time
Adelaide: David Mackay replaced by Jarryd Lyons in the third quarter 

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Rosebury, Chamberlain, Jeffery

Official crowd: 70,879 at the MCG