AFL finals week one tips: Grim warning for 'oddly obsessed' Crows as game style goes under the microscope

The finals series will get off to a bumper start on Thursday night when minor premiers the Adelaide Crows play host to Collingwood, with Nine's tipsters split on who will advance to a home preliminary final.

A match was struck when the two premiership fancies last met three weeks ago, with the Crows lucky to hold on for a tense three-point win in a match that has since become more famous for Izak Rankine's homophobic slur that led to a four-game suspension.

While Adelaide came out on top, commentator Gerard Whateley assessed that if they played the same conservative style against Collingwood the next time they met the tables would be turned.

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"My view in the immediate aftermath was should this match come again there's no way the Crows would play Collingwood like that again, and if it did it would be to their peril," Whateley said on SEN.

"Seemingly dictated by fear rather than inspired by opportunity, Adelaide seemed oddly obsessed with defending their way to a win, rather than seizing the day with the weapons in their game.

"Collingwood would love a repeat of the trench warfare but they've looked most vulnerable when opponents have come straight at them with speed.

"It's to be seen if the Crows will be bold in their first final since 2017 or if they will be crippled by the thought of what might be lost."

While Whateley focused his analysis on the Crows, Demons legend Garry Lyon wondered about Collingwood's ageing list.

He said the Magpies' experience would hold them in good stead if they can take the easy road through finals but if they have to play four games in a row at finals intensity the challenge could get beyond them, adding weight to their task, and the potential reward of a week off and a prelim at the MCG if they can snag an upset victory.

"They're all chips in, the Magpies, there's no doubt about it," Lyon said on SEN.

"The way they've profiled, the way they've structured up their list, they are all chips in and it all comes to a head tonight.

"If they lose it's a long way around for a club that have gone chips in on an older group.

"For me, I've got faith in the Crows, maybe because I've been over there a fair bit recently and watched them in action, and I think they'll get up and it'll be under 10 points and it'll be an absolute belter."

Nine's tipsters were split on every game, with Adelaide the more fancied side on Thursday night, Brisbane favoured to get up on Friday, and Hawthorn and Fremantle picked to survive their elimination finals and keep their September dreams alive.

Expert tips for finals week 1

Jimmy Bartel: Collingwood, Geelong, Hawthorn, Fremantle

Eddie McGuire: Collingwood, Brisbane, Hawthorn, Fremantle

Rory Sloane: Adelaide, Brisbane, Hawthorn, Fremantle

Nat Yoannidis: Adelaide, Geelong, Hawthorn, Fremantle

Tom Morris: Adelaide, Brisbane, GWS, Fremantle

Clint Stanaway: Adelaide, Brisbane, Hawthorn, Gold Coast