YOUNG Adelaide onballer Aidan Riley believes caretaker coach Mark Bickley could be 'well suited' to the permanent position after guiding the club to victory in his coaching debut against Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium on Sunday. 

Bickley was appointed as interim coach of the Crows following the resignation of mentor Neil Craig last week.

The dual premiership captain and member of the AFL Hall of Fame is yet to publicly put his hand up for the vacant senior coaching position, vowing to use the last five weeks of the season to determine whether he's ready to coach.

After the club's determined win on Sunday, Bickley maintained his stance on the issue, but revealed he hadn't felt "out of his depth" at any stage during his first game in charge.

Riley said the early indications were that the third-year assistant was capable of stepping into the role on a full-time basis.

"Leading up [to the Showdown] 'Bicks' was really positive," Riley said on Monday.

"He controlled himself really well throughout the week, and from what I saw yesterday throughout the game I think he might be well-suited to coach. 

"But that's up to him. He'll see how he goes over the next five weeks."

It comes as no surprise that Riley should endorse the Crows' caretaker, considering one of Bickley's first actions as coach was to hand the 19-year-old his AFL debut.

The second-year rookie was promoted to the senior list in May but couldn’t force his way into the best 22 under Craig, having been named as an emergency on numerous occasions prior to making his debut against Port Adelaide.

"'Bicks' had a chat to me early in the week and spoke about my contested style of play, my tackling and aggressiveness," Riley said.

"Showdowns are known to be that sort of aggressive football and it was a trait he liked in me. He wanted to see how I went in that regard, and I think that was the main reason behind it [my selection]."

Riley experienced another wait at AAMI Stadium on Sunday, watching the first three quarters of Showdown XXXI from the interchange bench before being substituted into the game at the start of the final term.

The former NSW Scholarship holder got involved in the play almost immediately after coming onto the ground, remonstrating with young Power defender Cam O'Shea, who received a 50m penalty for late contact to David Mackay.

He quickly made his way back to the bench as part of the team's rotations, avoiding the ensuing melee and a potential loss of match payment in his first game.

"I'm not too worried about that [a possible fine]," he said.

"I'm not one to shy away or back away from that sort of stuff. I'm always there to stick up for a teammate."

In making his debut, Riley became the first person from Wollongong to play in the AFL.

The uncompromising midfielder's family was on hand to present him with his No.43 jumper prior to the match, but his younger brother Connor was short on encouragement for his sibling.

"My brother had his country championship baseball grand final on the same day as my debut, but my family boycotted that to come over and watch me play," Riley said.

"My brother's words to me when he was shaking my hand before the game were, 'you'd better do something good' … so I hope I did him proud."

The challenge for the Crows now will be to reproduce their Showdown performance - without the external stimulus of losing a coach - against the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba on Sunday.

Forward Kurt Tippett, who missed the win over Port Adelaide with a hamstring strain, has already been ruled out of the clash with the Lions.

Tippett, midfielder Richard Douglas (ankle) and mature-age recruit Ian Callinan (hamstring) are unlikely to be available before the game against Gold Coast in round 22.

Brad Symes will miss the rest of the season after having surgery to repair a fractured jaw, while defender Matt Jaensch is waiting on a specialist report to determine whether he requires an operation on his injured shoulder.

Katrina Gill covers Adelaide news for afl.com.au. Follow her on Twitter: @AFL_KatrinaGill