Adelaide coach Brenton Sanderson says he has the tools to knock over Hawthorn – with or without his human wrecking ball.

Sanderson says he will select forward Jared Petrenko for Saturday’s AFL preliminary final against the Hawks.

Petrenko, dubbed the human wrecking ball for his kamikaze attack on the ball and opposition players, dislocated his right shoulder in the final minutes of Adelaide’s semi-final triumph against Fremantle.

But Sanderson says Petrenko is so critical to the Crows, he will be afforded until match-eve to prove his fitness for the cut-throat MCG final.

“Every time I see him, he tells me that he’s playing which is a good sign,” Sanderson told reporters on Wednesday.

“He is such a strong kid, he’s a player that is just desperate to play in a prelim final.

” … He does send the fear of God through the opposition at times when he’s in the area – when he hits, he hits hard.”

Hawthorn have been installed by bookmakers as the shortest-priced preliminary final favourites in history but Sanderson “honestly” believed Adelaide can cause a boilover.

Sanderson said Hawthorn’s “best is almost hard to get near”, but an Adelaide victory was possible – if the Crows lifted another five to 10 per cent and did not allow the Hawks to reach their peak.

“These games go another level again,” he said.

“We have seen, and our boys have commented on, the pressure that is involved in these matches so far, qualifying finals and semi-finals.

“But prelim finals are almost the toughest game to win.

“Sometimes structure and set-ups get thrown out the door and it’s just brutal, hard footy and that is what our guys are expecting.”

Sanderson said the Crows were ignoring bookies and pundits predicting a comfortable Hawthorn win before the Victorian club collected the premiership the following week.

“I love the build-up of prelim finals – there are four teams left and there is all the speculation and people looking at match-ups and who looks better,” Sanderson said.

“There are still four teams that can win it (the premiership).

“It seems really simplistic but the game will start with the score at 0-0.

“We will do everything we possibly can to be at our best, hopefully our best is good enough.

“We certainly need Hawthorn to not play at their best.”