Adelaide has lost a vital game in the AFL premiership series.

The Dockers had a golden opportunity to seal a third consecutive premiership for the first time since 2008 when they knocked Collingwood to victory at Adelaide on Sunday night.

Carlton is now just two wins away from the grand final spot in the competition and is just a point clear of fourth spot.

Carlston was hoping to make the grand finals after the Dockers’ elimination from the 2016 finals.

But they lost to the Brisbane Lions in round nine after Carlton’s James Frawley took a nasty hit in the final term.

Carlions last game was in the grand slam final, losing by three points to Melbourne in front of a sell-out crowd of 15,764.

The Cats were expected to be in the hunt after finishing last season at the bottom of the ladder.

But the Dockals have won five of their last six games, including a win over Geelong in round two.

“We’ve just got to keep working hard,” Cats coach Nathan Buckley said.

“It’s not always about the grand finalists, but it’s about us being able to get to the grand grand final.”

Carlton’s Josh Gibson scored the opening goal of the game to put the game away for the Dockos in the fourth term.

“They’re a team that’s been there and done that,” Buckley said of the Cats.

“Their players know how important that is and they want to make sure they make the best possible effort to make that happen.”

Carlons coach Paul Roos said the loss to the Lions was disappointing.

“I think we played really well in our half time, but in the second half it was a different story,” Roos told the AFL’s official website.

“Carlton started really well, kicked four goals in a really quick period of time and got some good ball movement out of them.”

Our gameplan has been to go forward and try to get our foot on the gas and go out there and take them on and try and win.

“Topics:australian-football-league,austria,afl,port-adelaide-5000,melbourne-3000,vic,portland-4217,sa,aucks-4307,brisbane-beltsman-3029,queensland-4700,southport-4215,south-port-bloomfield-5050,sydney-2000,sunday-austRALIAContact Lisa BlaikieMore stories from Victoria