Adelaide coach Neil Craig believes his side can make history and become the first in more than a decade to win an AFL premiership from outside the top four.

The Crows had what Craig labelled the "perfect" tune-up at Etihad Stadium on Saturday, blitzing Carlton 27.14 (176) to 16.8 (104) to clinch fifth spot and a home elimination final against Essendon next weekend.

While no team has won the flag from that low on the ladder since the Crows of 1998, and the finals system has since been changed to make the feat harder, Craig rates his side a genuine contender.

"We do, that's the reason we wanted to try to get into the finals ... we're not in it to make up the numbers," he said.

"No one thought the four-minute mile would be broken either, it just takes someone to do it first.

"What we have and (three) other teams have is an opportunity to make history."

And there are reasons for Adelaide to enter September with optimism.

One of them is an attack that is peaking at the right time and full of scoring avenues.

The Crows had three players boot four goals - Kurt Tippett, Jason Porplyzia and Chris Knights - while Brett Burton, Trent Hentschel and Patrick Dangerfield each kicked two, as they amassed the highest score by any side this season.

Burton, 31, showed that coming back from a knee reconstruction this season and a buttock injury this match, has not taken the leap from his legs, producing probably the mark of the year in the third quarter, when he soared high over a pack.

With Hentschel having also recently come back from injury, Adelaide has potency and versatility at the right time.

"The key thing there is that we've got a nice mix of different types of players, not stereotypes and that will be important for us," Craig said.

Adelaide's defensive work was also impressive.

Their teamwork to choke Carlton's ball movement was best exemplified with a string of three goals late in the third quarter and another early in the fourth, which all came as a direct result of winning the ball from Blues' kick-ins, which proved the game-breaking period.

"Our pressure on the ball-carrier in the third quarter was sensational, as good as we've had at any time during the year," Craig said.

Adding to his satisfaction, the dominance came despite a fast start by the Blues - who led by 22 points 17 minutes into the match - and the early loss of tagger Nathan Van Berlo to injury.

Carlton coach Brett Ratten could take little from the day, other than noting his team had fought back from several challenging situations this season and would need that character to regroup ahead of an elimination final against Brisbane.

"Today we just got beaten comprehensively," he said.

"But I thought our group across the season has actually matured ... this is just another challenge for us.

"We have to play finals but this season we'll have to play off a round 22 defeat that probably doesn't sit too well with us."

He said Eddie Betts, Jeff Garlett and Cameron Cloke would be available for selection, after the club suspended the trio from the Crows clash for turning up late to a recovery session last Sunday.

"Hopefully they feel that they let the team down maybe a bit today," he said.

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