Johncock’s foray forward turned out to be a stroke of genius - he kicked the first goal of the quarter to kick-start Adelaide’s comeback, and the last, which secured the win.
Johncock laughed off a suggestion his new coach might send him forward permanently, but said he was happy with the change of scenery.
"I didn’t mind it because today I couldn’t get near it for the first three quarters [Johncock had nine touches and two marks at three-quarter time and finished with 11 and four] so to change it up, I was looking forward to the challenge," he said.
"It just worked out alright today, they put me up forward and I was lucky to get a couple of goals."
The defender, who has played 202 games, said the team had been confident it could overcome the three-quarter time deficit of 20 points.
"Towards the second part of the third quarter, we had all the play and just couldn’t finish on the scoreboard," he said.
"We knew we had them on the ropes and all we needed to do was finish off our good work and the belief from the guys at three-quarter time that we were still in it was pretty good."
Bickley has now had two wins from two as caretaker coach since Neil Craig stepped down at the end of Round 18.
However, he faces his biggest challenge in the form of Geelong at AAMI Stadium next week.
"Our last two games, we are starting to get on the winning list and getting some confidence back, so we have definitely got nothing to lose [against Geelong],"Johncock said.
"Geelong are a pretty good team and for us to go forward we have to face challenges like this."
