Watch highlights from the Hawks' third quarter surge above.

HAWTHORN defender Grant Birchall did not have a sense of déjà vu when Adelaide came from behind to hit the front in the dying minutes of Saturday's preliminary final, but concedes the Hawks were massively relieved to win through to the Grand Final.

Hawthorn lost last year's preliminary final against Collingwood after leading by 17 points at three-quarter time, the Magpies getting up by three points after a late Luke Ball goal.

Against the Crows on Saturday, the Hawks led by 16 points at three-quarter-time, but faced the heartbreak of missing a second consecutive Grand Final by a whisker when Crows substitute Graham Johncock goaled at the 20-minute mark of the final quarter to put the Crows in front by one point.

However, the Hawks steadied through goals to Cyril Rioli and Lance Franklin, but had to endure a frantic final 16 seconds after Taylor Walker goaled to put the Crows within five points.

"I didn't really think about last year at all. I was just trying to focus on what we had to do right there and then," Birchall told hawthornfc.com.au in Hawthorn's rooms after the game.

"But the heart was going towards the end, [I was] just trying to stay composed as best as I could. It was just a massive relief when that siren went.

"Full credit to the boys - we really hung in there and it was a fantastic win in the end and we can move on to next week now."

The Hawks entered Saturday's game after a week's rest and past preliminary finalists in the same position have occasionally looked rusty.

The all-conquering Geelong team of 2007 is a good example. The Cats struggled to produce their trademark free-flowing footy against Collingwood in that year's first preliminary final, eventually hanging on for a six-point win.
 
However, Birchall said the Hawks' main problem against the Crows had not been rust, rather poor foot skills.

"We thought we were playing pretty well," Birchall said.

"But turnovers by foot really hurt us and some of our forward 50 entries were pretty average and made it pretty hard for our forwards.

"We'll learn from today and we just move onto next week now."

Birchall acknowledged the Hawks had also made things difficult for themselves with their inaccuracy in front of goal, especially in the first half when they kicked 5.10 to the Crows' 7.3.

But Birchall said the Hawks had felt they were in control of the game at half-time despite being five points down.

"We felt as though we were in control of the game, particularly early on," he said.

"We felt as though the game would break open eventually.

"We got on top in the third quarter but we just tried to stay composed and tried to stay calm and tried to control the tempo of the game.

"But full credit to Adelaide their pressure was outstanding tonight. We had to fight really hard for it."

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs.