HAWTHORN utility Shaun Burgoyne says the Club needs to be well prepared for Adelaide on Sunday, believing that the Crows are the competition’s in-form team.

New coach Brenton Sanderson has so far employed a more attacking game plan in Adelaide, and Burgoyne says his side knows it’s going to be a tough match.

“It’s going to definitely be a good challenge for us, playing those guys over here, and I think they’ll see it as a good challenge coming over here as well," he said.

Despite suffering a narrow loss to the Cats on Monday, the Hawks have turned their attention to their next opponent, who are unbeaten so far in 2012.

“If there’s a team in form, it’s Adelaide because they haven’t lost a game all pre-season and they’ve won the first two games,” Burgoyne said.

Burgoyne says that the Crows have a number of strengths, and his team need to be adequately prepared.

One of those strengths, is the emergence of forward pair Kurt Tippett and Taylor Walker, who have booted 12 goals between them so far in season 2012.

“They’ve got some big forwards in Tippett and Walker who are playing well,” he said.

“They’ve (also) got some good midfielders - Scott Thompson seems to be getting better and their backline seems to be working pretty well.”

“They’re going to be right onto us so we’ll have to be prepared for them.”

The loss to the Cats, however, has assisted the Hawks in their preparation for the Crows duo, a valuable learning curve heading into the match.

“We definitely need to help out our backs with the ball coming in, there’s some things we need to tinker with.

“Tippett is capable of kicking a bag (of goals) and so is Walker so it’s another big challenge, not only for the guys who play on them, but the defensive six.”

Jarryd Roughead made a successful return from injury against the Cats, and showed he hasn’t lost any of his versatility - spending time up forward, in the ruck and as a key defender.

“I think for now they’re (the coaching staff) probably just trying to ease him back in, he had a long layoff and he needs game time at the level as well, so they’ll probably throw him around a fair bit,” Burgoyne said.

“It’s great to have someone like him in the team because he can go forward, (in the ruck) and back and make an impact wherever he goes.”

Kate Salemme is a member of Hawthorn Football Club’s digital media team reporting exclusively for hawthornfc.com.au from the Ricoh Centre.