CROWS star Tyson Edwards says his team will welcome another physical approach from Port Adelaide in this Sunday’s Showdown at AAMI Stadium.
In round three this season the cross-town rivals played out one of the most enthralling and brutal games of the year. Adelaide pulled off a courageous six-point victory, despite being reduced to only 18 fit men at different stages in the match.
Utility Luke Jericho was the major casualty, cracking his sternum in a heavy collision with Power ruckman Dean Brogan, but Edwards said he would back his team to win another tight, hard contest.
“It would just be a great game to watch [if Port Adelaide plays that way again]. It would be a physical game and we’ll go about it the same way. We’ll go as hard as we can at the ball and take them on,” Edwards said.
“If they are going to do that [play physical], that’s fine and we can only worry about what we’re going to do, but it was good enough for us to win last time, so we’ll be confident we can do it again.”
Port Adelaide, out of the finals race, has declared Showdown XXV to be its grand final, while the Crows desperately need a win to keep their hopes of making the final day in September alive.
“It’s obviously a big game for both teams. We’re both coming off a lot of losses and we [the Crows] are desperately fighting for a spot in the eight,” Edwards said.
“If I was Port I’d be playing for some pride, and it’s a Showdown, so we want to win.
“Who has the bigger carrot on the end doesn’t really matter in these sorts of games. They are big games and finals-like games anyway.
“We’re sixth on the ladder, so we’re still right in the eight and we want to play finals footy. That was our aim at the start of the year, to make the eight, and that’s what we’re still striving for.”
The Crows have played seemingly finals bound teams Hawthorn, the Brisbane Lions, Geelong and Collingwood in the past month and, despite dropping all four games, Edwards said his team are well capable of challenging for the top eight in the remaining seven rounds.
“We’ve still got a lot of improvement to be made and we’ve made some improvement on last year. We know we can play some good footy against the good sides and we have played well, over the last month, in patches,” he said.
“Both teams [Adelaide and Port Adelaide] haven’t won a lot of games, but I think our experience of playing the really good sides over the last month has put us in good stead for the rest of the year, in terms of seeing how we need to play.
“Now, it’s just a matter of doing it.”
Sunday’s Showdown is a Port Adelaide ‘home’ game, but with the Power’s attendances at AAMI Stadium having dwindled this season, Edwards said it was a good opportunity for Adelaide fans to secure tickets.
“It’s a big game and when our supporters get behind us, we sense them there and they lift us a bit. We really encourage them to come out, support us and get behind us.”
