Adelaide has put a dent in Port Adelaide's top four hopes, beating them comfortably in the Showdown.
Port will be kicking themselves after finishing with 18 behinds in the 78-48 loss and knowing they were still a shot early in the fourth term. Bad kicking is bad footy.
The Crows have had a few chances on the big stage to start 2024, but against their crosstown rivals they stepped up.
Adelaide's stars stood up, their backline was mighty and for the Power, there are some big questions to ask.
We've graded every player below.
Adelaide
Jake Soligo – A
Emerging as one of the rising star midfielders of the competition. Matthew Nicks turning the midfield over to him was an excellent call. Worthy of the Showdown Medal.
Izak Rankine – A
Three goals and two goal assists from a dozen or so disposals. All impact.
Mark Keane – A-
Adelaide's defensive unit was excellent all night. Port had no answers for their extra man and hard running midfield. Keane certainly did his job locking down Charlie Dixon and attacking contests where he could.
Matt Crouch – A-
Eight score involvements, six clearances and was a beast early on at the contest.
Max Michalanney – A-
An absolute blanket in defence once again. Completely shut out Willie Rioli. One of the best lockdown small defenders in the league now.
Lachlan Sholl – B+
A lively night on the wing, kicked a goal and gave one away in the goal square.
Josh Rachele – B+
Had three goal assists and was rightly rewarded with a freebie goal in the square by Sholl late in the game.
Jordon Butts – B
Spent most of the night on Todd Marshall. Would be very happy with his performance and the team defence overall.
Rory Laird – B
Had an enormous third quarter to help break the game open after a quiet start.
Mitchell Hinge B
Reilly O'Brien – B
Took full advantage of facing the Port backup. Clearly the better of the rucks.
Taylor Walker – B-
Could've had a bigger night, but kicked his two goals. A good sign that the Crows didn't need him to dominate.
Josh Worrell – B
Ned McHenry – C+
Had an impact early, but faded out of the game.
Luke Nankervis – C+
Jordan Dawson – C+
Found a bit of the footy, but wasn't his impactful self by foot.
Darcy Fogarty – C+
A team-high eight marks. Two early goals to his name, but quiet after that.
Brayden Cook – C
Ben Keays – C
Took a few chances running hard forward, which worked on occasion.
Chayce Jones – C
Elliott Himmelberg – C-
Daniel Curtin – D+
What a great stage to debut in. He will learn a tonne from it.
Brodie Smith – N/A
Subbed on to start the fourth quarter. Seemed like a strange call, unless he's a bit underdone coming off the injury.
Port Adelaide
Zak Butters – A
Not only won plenty of the footy, but took the game on and refused to settle. Can hold his head high.
Jason Horne-Francis – A-
Just makes things happen. Kicked two important goals to keep Port alive and used his pace and skill to set up others. Wait until he gets a few more pre-seasons under his belt.
Miles Bergman – A-
Developing into an outstanding rebound defender. Takes territory, takes intercept marks and had a big impact under fire tonight.
Ollie Wines – B+
Had a big second half. Particularly good once Rozee was off the ground.
Dan Houston – B-
Wasn't his usual influential self. Probably should have been moved on-ball when Rozee went off.
Kane Farrell – C+
Didn't get a heap of the footy, but when he gets in space there are few better kicks.
Charlie Dixon – C+
Worked hard to create opportunities, but Adelaide's backline was tough to crack tonight. Took an incredible one-handed contest mark.
Ryan Burton – C+
Darcy Byrne-Jones – C+
Crashed in hard. Did what he could. Unsure if his role really suits him, though.
Brandon Zerk-Thatcher – C+
Fought hard across the night. Made a few good calls to work off his man and impact the contest.
Lachie Jones – C
Conceded two goals to Darcy Fogarty early and just looked a touch off the pace in the first half.
Travis Boak – C
A few classy touches early in the game, but is he still in the club's best 22?
Dylan Williams – C
Mitch Georgiades – C-
None of Port's key forwards had much of a chance tonight against Adelaide's spare defender and the Power's poor ball use forward.
Jase Burgoyne – C-
Got the talent to be anything as we saw last week against the Saints. Very quiet tonight, however.
Willie Rioli – C-
Had his arm stepped on early, which can't be nice. Well held by Max Michalanney generally.
Todd Marshall – C-
Willem Drew – C-
Has had a career-best 2024 so far, but had a very quiet evening.
Esava Ratugolea – C-
Looked like he missed Aliir Aliir's influence and organisation tonight.
Jed McEntee – C-
Jordon Sweet C-
Well beaten by Reilly O'Brien and made a few sloppy errors across the evening. Will likely remain behind Ivan Soldo on the depth chart.
Connor Rozee – D
Get a harsh grade after making the call to play through the hammy injury. He never looked right, used the ball poorly early and was subbed out at three quarter time with hamstring tightness. Poor all-round.
Jackson Mead – N/A
Subbed in at three quarter time. Probably should have been injected sooner.
