Adelaide coach Brenton Sanderson says Hawthorn’s milestone games bubble will burst in minutes, but concedes Sunday’s AFL clash “doesn’t get much bigger than this” for his Crows.

Three Hawks players celebrate significant milestones against the Crows at the MCG – Sam Mitchell and Shaun Burgoyne play their 200th AFL match while midfielder Jordan Lewis posts his 150th.

While Sanderson said his unbeaten Crows lifted five per cent last week to mark club champion Scott Thompson’s 200th match, he said the emotion surrounding milestones rapidly disappeared.

“That (emotion) goes away after the first two minutes of the game and it becomes just another game of footy,” Sanderson told reporters on Thursday.

“Geelong lost my 200th game by about 20 goals … so it doesn’t always go to script.

“We can’t affect what is going to happen with the Hawthorn team before the game and how they generate their enthusiasm.

“But we’re certainly fired up, we’re not just going over there to make up the numbers.”

While Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson bristled at his club being deemed a flag favourite, Sanderson had no doubt the Hawks were a benchmark.

“They don’t get much bigger than this,” Sanderson said.

“You have to admit this is as tough as it will get – going to Melbourne to play a top four side at the MCG.

“It’s a big ground, it’s easier to attack and harder to defend, so you have to have the balance right. It’s important at the MCG that all your systems are really water-tight.”

Sanderson expected Adelaide’s systems to be scrutinised with the Crows undefeated this year.

“We want to be really good at the basics,” he said.

“But at the same time we don’t want to follow the competition – we want to be ahead of the curve, so we want to ensure that what we’re doing, other clubs are going to follow.”

The rookie coach also admitted making errors in last week’s win over the Western Bulldogs, who kicked four unanswered goals in the third quarter to steam back into the game.

“I didn’t have my best quarter of footy that I have had in my short coaching career,” Sanderson said.

“I couldn’t see what was happening as clearly as what I would have liked.

“I was surprised because I spoke to the players after the game and they were more aware of what was happening on-field than I was.

“So I’ll put my hand up … and do my best to improve.”