The Crows will go into Showdown XLI as warm favourites, but Adelaide captain Taylor Walker is adamant cross-town rivals Port Adelaide will provide the difficult contest they are seeking heading into the finals.
Adelaide has banked big wins over the bottom three teams on the AFL ladder – Essendon, Brisbane Lions and Fremantle – in as many weeks.
In stark contrast, the Power crashed out of finals contention with a 40-point loss to Melbourne and also have to deal with a mounting casualty ward.
But Walker on Monday dismissed any talk of the Crows being able to waltz their way past their nearest neighbours.
"Irrespective of where we are and where they are on the ladder, it's going to be an exciting game," Walker said.
"I'm sure it's going to be physical in the contests.
"That's what we expect and we're going to bring that.
"If Port can match us, it will be on."
Match report: Crows dominate Dockers
Power captain Travis Boak said history showed form lines went out the window once the Showdown rolled around
"Showdowns have shown in the past it doesn't really matter where ladder positions are we," Boak said.
"We know that they are probably the in-form team in the competition and one of the best sides in the competition right now, so we're up against a big challenge.
"But the way we face it, we've just got to bring our best footy.
"It's as simple as that.
"That hasn't been there the last couple of weeks, certainly, but we all love Showdowns and the boys will be excited and up for it, but we've got to bring our best footy and challenge Adelaide."
Walker said suggestions the Crows' soft draw at the end of the season could leave them vulnerable heading into the finals were off the mark.
"Going into finals you just want to be playing the best footy you can," Walker said.
"Irrespective of who the opposition is, we just want to improve and practice what we can get better at."
The Crows had a quick getaway from Perth on Sunday night ahead of back-to-back six-day turnarounds.
"We had about 13 minutes from the final siren, get off, have a shower and get going," Walker said.
"We've got two six-day breaks, so we wanted to get back and get stuck into our recovery back here, sleep in our own bed.
"It was a bit of a different one, but the boys were keen to get home.
"We had recovery this morning, so everyone was there with a big smile on their face.
"The position that we're in there's competition on spots, and that's healthy for our footy club."
