Burton was the headline performer as Adelaide ruthlessly disposed of Melbourne, winning 1.16.24 (129) to 1.5.5 (44) in the pre-season competition's semi-final at AAMI Stadium.

Burton, dubbed the Birdman for his penchant for the spectacular mark, kicked four goals and soared in the third quarter for a trademark screamer certain to feature in the annual mark of the year competition.

The floating forward leapt onto the shoulders of teammate Trent Hentshel - and then landed on his feet, played on and goaled - as Adelaide clinically booked a grand final berth against the winner of the semi-final between Geelong and Fremantle.

The Crows were powerful in attack and stingy in defence - keeping Melbourne to just three points in the last half as a home crowd of 12,594 reveled in their side's utter dominance.

Adelaide exorcised the Demons early, booting six goals to three in the first quarter to stamp an authority on the game never relinquished.

Burton sparked his teammates with two majors in the opening term and another in second stanza - a quarter most notable for two supergoals from Adelaide maestro Andrew McLeod and Melbourne wingman Travis Johnstone.

Adelaide had established a handy four-goal buffer at halftime, but exploded in a rampant third term which sealed the victory - four majors while the Demons didn't register a score.

Crow forward Ian Perrie snared two of the goals and prolific possession winner Scott Thompson another, before Burton took his high flying grab which iced Adelaide's triumph.

The trend was maintained in the last quarter, with Melbourne at least registering three behinds on a bleak night for the Demons.

Burton was rested late in the last quarter after securing best field honours while McLeod, and fellow onballers Thompson, Chris Knights and Brent Reilly were also prominent.

Crow defender Graham Johncock controlled his defensive area with aplomb while young forwards Luke Jericho (three goals) and Bernie Vince (two goals) cashed in on the fine work of their team-mates upfield.

Melbourne veterans Adem Yze, Brad Green and Johnstone battled gamely, promising tall Paul Johnson kicked two goals while ruckman Jeff White made a successful, but subdued, return from a shocking broken jaw sustained last year.

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