IT'S ADELAIDE this weekend, not Port Adelaide, that is fighting to keep its season alive, yet the Power insist they're the hunters in Sunday's Showdown.
A loss for the Crows could see them fall three wins out of the eight while the Power remain a victory clear of the competition on top of the AFL ladder.
Port will run onto the redeveloped Adelaide Oval on Sunday afternoon as the away side for the first time, after hosting round two's Showdown that it won by 54 points.
The Power's director of coaching Shaun Hart acknowledged that as ladder leaders every team in the competition was hunting his side – Adelaide, included.
He said the best way to deal with that was to double back and turn the tables.
"I think it's always right to have the mentality that you're the hunted going into a game," Hart said.
"If you go in not realising that someone's coming after you, you can easily get caught – early in games – on the back foot.
"Right at the moment every team would come at us and hunt us, so we need to be the ones who hunt them better."
Hart said Port was wary of its wounded cross-town rival, which lost valuable ground to a fellow finals challenger in Essendon last weekend.
Adelaide hasn't been able to find the consistency it desperately needs to mount a genuine finals push this season.
But Hart had no doubt the Crows could quickly turn around their year.
"The Crows are, you might say, on the ropes … they need to win to keep their finals challenge [alive]," he said.
"They're got a lot of ability in their team and on any given day they're capable of beating any opposition.
"They just haven’t been able to get it done consistently this year and there comes a time in a season when potentially that can change.
"We hope it's not this week."
The Power expect to regain the services of star midfielder Hamish Hartlett and young defender Jarman Impey, while veteran Dom Cassisi will likely miss another week because of knee soreness.
Hartlett and Impey both trained on Thursday, while Cassisi didn't complete the entire session.
"Cassisi's still struggling with a knee challenge, so he's really doubtful for this week but the other two guys definitely I believe will be par to our squad," Hart said.
We're the hunters, says Port Adelaide assistant coach
Coaching director says Port needs to be better hunters in Showdown