KEEN to avoid any more 5am ocean swims, Adelaide defender Ricky Henderson says winning the contested ball has been his club's No.1 focus in the lead-up to Sunday's Showdown with Port Adelaide.

Crows coach Phil Walsh forced his playing group into the sea before the sun rose on Monday morning after they lost the hardball differential to the Western Bulldogs last weekend. 

Henderson said that after also losing the tackle count (71-52) against the Bulldogs, the club would be hell bent on rectifying the issue against the Power.

"Obviously after the weekend one of our big focuses was our ground balls and our tackles, which we didn't win," Henderson said.

"We try and tackle as much as we can at training,without being silly and hurting one another."

Henderson watched the Power's incredible first half against Hawthorn last weekend, which they opened with seven unanswered goals. 

The defender was gobsmacked by the performance.

With the Power boasting such attacking targets as Jay Schulz, Justin Westhoff and Patrick Ryder, Henderson and his teammates in defence will be in for a tough Sunday afternoon. 

"They were unbelievable in that first half, that first quarter especially," Henderson said. 

"[The Bulldogs] kicked a few goals on us … but I think it's not just up to the tall defenders, it's up to everyone to help out. 

"From the midfielders to the forwards getting up the ground and making them (Port) bomb the ball in long, rather than just being able to hit them on a short lead."

Defender Kyle Hartigan rolled his ankle at training on Thursday but was later seen walking around without issue and is fully expected to line up on Sunday.