How the Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide have strengthened their claims for a top-four AFL finish

ONLY a supreme optimist would have tipped the Crows and Power to both win at the weekend. Now only a fool would ignore their top-four claims writes Malcolm Blight.

Jared Polec of the Power celebrates kicking a goal with teammates.

WHO likes to be proven wrong?

Go on, admit it - you got it horribly wrong. I will. Only a supreme optimist would have tipped both the Crows and Port Adelaide to come out of the Easter weekend with wins.

And in defying the odds that were heavily stacked against them, Adelaide and the Power has created new enthusiasm for the SA-based AFL clubs to both rank in the top four for the first time since 2002.

Some of us already believed (even if we backed Richmond and Sydney on a rather sad tipping sheet). Now there should be greater belief - and credibility - to the Crows and Power being serious contenders for top-four finishes.

Jared Polec celebrates kicking a goal with Justin Westhoff and Sam Powell-Pepper.

In dismissing significant doubts at the weekend - such as Port Adelaide proving it can win without All-Australian ruckman Patrick Ryder - both SA teams have done far more than proving most of us informed pundits (and devoted tipsters) wrong. More importantly, they have reaffirmed within their own camps that they are doing things - important things - right.

Adelaide’s six-goal win against Richmond in the grand final rematch at Adelaide Oval on Thursday night was more than just the perfect response to what happened at the MCG six months earlier. It dealt with more immediate concerns - three in particular.

First, there was the off-field noise from the questions that linger from the Crows’ pre-season camp on the Gold Coast in late January. Captain Taylor Walker defused by the initial concerns by declaring he would endorse the camp to his family and friends. More importantly, “Tex” had his team put aside the fall-out of the mind-training program until after the game - and the player meeting at West Lakes this week will be a telling moment in his captaincy.

Paul Seedsman and Rory Sloane of the Crows celebrate a goal against Richmond.

Coach Don Pyke making no apology for seeking to improve his players was perfect. That is the role of a coach. And there is no crime in trying something different.

Clearly there is still some talking to be done internally, particularly about the aspect of the camp that involved a smaller group of Crows players. But perhaps there would not have been the threat of a distraction last week had there been less secrecy - and more endorsement - in Adelaide’s public commentary of the camp eight weeks ago.

Second - and ironic considering the camp was about improving the players’ minds - is the doubt that would have been creeping into the Crows’ mindset with their second-half disappearing acts in the pre-season and the last-quarter collapse to Essendon in the opening round.

Third, Adelaide - after being so “lucky” with minimal injuries and the record of fielding just 29 players in 2016 and 31 last season - had to deal with significant change at selection. Missing from the best team on offer from last season or the first-choice players for this season were nine: Jake Lever and Charlie Cameron as defectors to AFL rivals; Brodie Smith, Brad Crouch, Curtly Hampton, Riley Knight, Tom Lynch and Alex Keath to injury and Richard Douglas to suspension.

Josh Jenkins and Taylor Walker celebrate during the win against Richmond.

This became a test of Pyke. At a time when he is criticised for being inflexible, he was compelled to change. And he found necessity does indeed create pleasant surprises - such as the best-ever performances from Hugh Greenwood and Cam Ellis-Yolmen in the midfield and the rise of young guns Tom Doedee, Wayne Milera, Darcy Fogarty and that ever cheeky opportunist at the goalfront, Lachlan Murphy.

There were three reasons not to tip the Crows. Now there are more reasons to believe they are a top-four contender.

Port Adelaide was not supposed to win - not against Sydney, not at the SCG, not without Ryder and certainly not after being completely outplayed at half-time. And there is one reason why this was all wrong - the boldness of the Power defenders.

Under pressure - and against the real threat of Lance “Buddy” Franklin having a night out - Nathan Bassett’s seven-man group in the back half kept getting better and never retreating form the contest.

They believed in themselves. The Power defenders still played the game. They still went after the ball. Everyone will admire Dougal Howard’s calmness in seeing out the full game against “Buddy” and the bold way Darcy Byrne-Jones and Riley Bonner go for the ball rather than seek to play shutdown roles.

But there needs to be greater credit given to Tom Jonas. He is athletic, he leaves nothing in reserve and he wants to win the ball. There is a reminder of Power coach Ken Hinkley when he was playing at Geelong as I sat in the coach’s box. Ken could be loose at times, but he always wanted to get the ball. He has passed on that trait to his half-backs at Alberton.

Getting two tips wrong at the weekend is no big deal. But don’t make any mistake on where these two SA teams are tracking in the premiership chase.