Adelaide had been waiting eight years for this moment. They thought they knew what to expect. But the lift in intensity and pressure still came as a shock in the Crows’ first AFL final since 2017.

The long journey back to the finals was capped off by sealing their spot as minor premiers. But after being outplayed – and arguably outsmarted – by Collingwood in their qualifying final, Adelaide are at risk of becoming the first team for 42 years to finish on top of the ladder then be bundled out in straight sets.

Darcy Fogarty arrived at the Crows a few weeks after their most recent final – a defeat to the Tigers in the 2017 decider. He didn’t have too far to travel after growing up in Lucindale, a small town in the south-east of South Australia with a population of fewer than 300, before completing high school as a boarder in Adelaide.

The 12th pick in the 2017 draft was handed the prized No 32 guernsey previously worn by Crows greats Mark Ricciuto and Patrick Dangerfield. The expectation was that the powerful forward would be a key part of a team that would remain in contention for years to come.

A series of on-field and off-field blunders – most notably an ill-fated pre-season training camp in 2018 – plunged the club into crisis. The Crows plummeted from runners-up to wooden spooners in just three years.

“There were some dark times over a long period,” Fogarty says. “We were really poor during the Covid years, so that makes it hard to compare the lowest points to where we are now.

“I always had a little bit of belief, especially the last three or four years, that the group was building and going in the right direction, getting the right young players and we were lucky enough to recruit really well. But that experience just made everyone hungrier.

“The goal for a long time was just to play finals. Even though it’s only one game, we’ve done that now. So now it has become more about ‘how far can we go,’ and ‘how much damage can we do?’”

Darcy Fogarty has been a key figure in Adelaide’s rise up the AFL ladder but had a finals debut to forget. Photograph: Sarah Reed/AFL Photos/Getty Images

Fogarty didn’t have the finals debut he hoped. The sharp-shooter has booted 40 goals this season, only one behind his career-high tally last year, but went goalless against the Pies. At 192cm, Fogarty is undersized for a key forward. But even his 201cm teammate Riley Thilthorpe had a game he’d like to forget. The Magpies took 28 intercept marks while the Crows only booted eight goals from 50 inside 50s.

Finals can be hard work for tall forwards. The increased physicality and pressure affects decision-making and skill execution all across the field. Fogarty is likely to be matched up on James Sicily for long periods in the semi-final, with the Hawthorn captain’s ability to turn defence into attack a weapon to be contained.

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“I had a very quiet day and didn’t really impact the game which is frustrating,” he says. “The Collingwood defenders took a lot of intercept marks, so us as key forwards need to be better at competing ahead of the ball and bringing it to ground.

“The ball isn’t always going to come in clean in finals because there’s so much pressure up the ground. We’ll have a really big emphasis on not allowing the Hawthorn defenders to mark the ball and then win our share from there. We need to respond this week.”

Fogarty wasn’t too surprised by the extra heat that came with playing in a final. The Crows had 16 players lining up against the Pies in their first final but were confident they had had enough of a taster in high-stakes clashes during the run home. The biggest shock to the 25-year-old was the noise coming out of Adelaide Oval and what felt like a 50-50 split between Crows and travelling fans.

A touch of spice is always expected against Collingwood. The game was even more fiery this time, just three weeks after the Crows snapped an 11-match winless streak against the Pies, but star forward Izak Rankine was soon handed a four-game ban for using a homophobic slur during the game.

The Crows’ return to finals for the first time in eight years should have been a celebration. It was soured by the booing of Isaac Quaynor – the target of Rankine’s offensive comment – as much as the eventual defeat.

Darcy Fogarty’s main focus is avoiding a straight-sets finals exit. Photograph: Morgan Hancock/Getty Images

“We noticed it a little bit throughout the game,” Fogarty says. “We want fans to come and support their teams and do that within respectful boundaries. Come and have fun and cheer us on but don’t step over the line.”

The Crows return to Adelaide Oval to host the Hawks on Friday night. The first-up defeat to the Pies means Rankine’s pathway back into the side this year has opened up, but only if the Crows reach the grand final.

Fogarty is more focused on “bigger challenges ahead” than thoughts of Rankine’s comeback. The Crows first need to stare down their fears of a straight-sets finals exit. To put aside the idea of their return to the biggest stages turning into a horror show.

“You appreciate the hard times more when they’re in the past,” Fogarty says. “Those eight years are going to be a big part of our journey no matter what happens from here. We’ve got a lot of work to do to take the next step. We haven’t achieved much at all yet. We have come a long way but we feel at the club that we’re only just getting started.”