Proud but not satisfied.

They’re the emotions Adelaide Captain Jordan Dawson has been wrestling with since the Crows were bundled out of the finals on Friday night.

The Crows fell to the Hawks in their semi-final clash at Adelaide Oval, putting an end to what was a solid campaign where they climbed from 15th on the ladder in 2024 to minor premiers.

And the Skipper had no doubt that the disappointment from what could have been would only fuel the fire for players, as they looked towards 2026.

“It (footy) is ruthless and you’re not completely satisfied until you’re that last team standing on the last weekend of September,” Dawson said.

“You definitely bounce between being really proud of what we’ve been able to do this year, but also then knowing we didn’t achieve anything and you’re also disappointed with how it finished.

“Ever since I’ve been here the work ethic of the group and the connectedness of the group has been massive, and it’s something we’ve prided ourselves on over the past few years.

“I’ve got no doubt the boys are going to get to work as individuals and as a group this off-season, and we’ll figure out what we need to improve at the pointy end of the season.”

Adelaide worked hard to work itself back into the contest but Hawthorn proved too strong and prevailed by 34 points.

Dawson said there were aspects of the Crows’ game that needed improvement and, together with the coaching cohort, would review and reflect later this week.

“We will definitely dive into it over the next few days as a group, and go through what we could’ve done better,” Dawson said.

“In patches we played some good footy, but we just probably didn’t take our moments as much as we needed to.

“I think it will probably be a bit more of a broader look and how we can execute our best footy under the biggest pressure in finals footy. That’s probably where we would go, I’d imagine.

“You want to play your brand of footy and you can walk off and be proud of that, and I think that’s probably where the disappointment comes from, but I don’t think the gap was as big as what people probably think.”

Despite the disappointment, Dawson said he would still keep an eye on the remainder of the finals series, determined to learn from the best teams in the competition and come back stronger next season.

“I’ll tune in, I love watching footy,” Dawson said.

“You watch the Granny every year and you want to be there, so I’ll be thinking it through that lense and hopefully we can work on things in the off-season and get there in the next few years.”