GUN MAGPIE Taylor Adams remembers Collingwood's 11-goal hiding from West Coast in round eight differently to others.

It was confirmation the Eagles were back on track after a sluggish season start and rocketed them into premiership favouritism, but there was something Adams noticed about his own side.

The two teams will, of course, meet again at Optus Stadium in two Saturday nights' time in an elimination final where most expect West Coast to prevail again.

"That was probably them at the peak of their powers," Adams told reporters on Friday.

"We got smacked around the ball and we couldn't get any flow in our game, so it's a great learning opportunity for us.

"That was certainly the only outlier for (us) this year, where we probably lacked real effort and intent across four quarters. We started the game quite strongly, but we faded really quickly.

"It's something we can't control now. We're aware of the danger a quality side like West Coast can produce and we'll be ready to go and prepared for that as best we can on Saturday (week)."

Adams, who's contracted through 2024, will enter the finals on the back of a career-best solo campaign that earned him an AFL All-Australian debut and a top-five finish in AFL Coaches' Association voting.

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The clash with West Coast also doubles as his 150th career match – a milestone he'll share with Brodie Grundy – so it's little wonder the 27-year-old former Giant describes the past few days as a "whirlwind".

Adams' outstanding season follows his bad luck from a year ago, when a finger injury and adductor setback kept him to only 12 appearances, after the midfielder finished 2018 in red-hot form.

"It's been a building period for me over the last three or four years; being able to get some continuity in my game and focusing on things that needed work and putting time and effort in," he said.

"I feel like that's something I've never really shied away from. I'm happy to cop honest feedback, then get to work on things that may not be strengths.

"This year I've probably been able to hold that consistency for a long period of time, and I feel really confident going into the finals series that I can have an impact."

Joining Adams in the All-Australian team was teammate Darcy Moore, who he hailed as a 30-year-old in a 24-year-old's body and someone the Magpies turned to for leadership and support.