Adelaide backman Brodie Smith doubts it can be repeated.

Adelaide’s stirring AFL elimination final victory against the Western Bulldogs came with glaring statistical anomalies.

The Crows had less scoring shots – and less contested possessions, inside 50s, clearances and tackles.

And while Smith says winning the game by seven points despite losing such key areas is confidence-building, the trend can’t be repeated in Friday night’s semi-final against Hawthorn.

“Obviously a few areas of our KPIs (key performance indicators) were down at the weekend,” Smith told reporters.

“But just the fight of the boys to get over the line and get the win, even though the game probably wasn’t going our way at times, we get a lot of confidence out of that, to know that even if we’re not winning those areas we can still find ways to win.

“But obviously on Friday night, we have got to win those areas.”

The Crows haven’t beaten Hawthorn since round one, 2011 – a five-match losing streak against the reigning premiers.

But Smith noted most of those matches had been relatively tight, with Adelaide’s losing margins in the past four clashes being 29 points, 12 points, 11 points and five points.

“We have had a few tough games against Hawthorn but I don’t think they have beaten us heavily,” he said.

“If you go back to the game we played halfway through the year we probably didn’t play four quarters of footy and that is what cost us.

“The last month, that is what we have been focussing on: just playing consistent four quarters of footy. And we know if we do that on the weekend and play our best, we can get over the line.”