ADELAIDE midfielder Bernie Vince has dedicated the club's 32-point win over Port Adelaide in Showdown XXXI at AAMI Stadium on Sunday to long-serving former coach Neil Craig.

The embattled Craig announced his resignation last week, ending months of speculation over his future.

Craig's sudden departure shocked the players, some of whom "felt responsible" for the results that had contributed to his demise including the disastrous 103-point loss to St Kilda in round 18, Craig's last game in charge.

The club had little choice but to move on quickly under caretaker coach Mark Bickley with the game against the Power only a few days away, but Vince said he'd taken time out to speak with Craig prior to the match.

"I spoke to 'Craigy' during the week and let him know we were doing it for him," Vince said after the win against Port Adelaide.

"He said he would be home watching the game, sitting on the edge of the couch probably losing it at the TV.

"I think we owed that one [win] to him and, hopefully, he can have some sort of role at the club in the future."

Bickley said the gritty win over Port Adelaide was the result of a weight of numbers from his team.

In the loss to St Kilda, the Crows had too many poor performers, including Vince and rebounding defender Graham Johncock.

Vince was kept to a season-low 13 possessions by Saints tagger Sean Dempster, while Johncock had a 200th game to forget, conceding eight goals to livewire Stephen Milne.

Stung by the events of the week, the pair responded against the Power, playing starring roles in the Crows' fifth victory of the season.

Vince worked hard to break the tag of Tom Logan, accumulating 30 possessions and an equal game-high eight clearances to finish two votes (eight) behind captain Nathan van Berlo (10) in the voting for the Showdown Medal.

Johncock also polled eight votes for his influential performance, which included 17 disposals, six rebound 50s and a strong show of aggression.

"A lot of the boys had poor games against the Saints," Vince said.

"I felt it was important for me to respond, personally. You see the good players get tagged every week and do it well.

"I had a down week last week, but was able to respond with a tag again this week."

Prior to Sunday, Vince had only played under one AFL coach in Craig, and said it had been a different experience listening to Bickley at the breaks.

"It was fresh, I suppose," he said of Bickley's message.

"You could see in 'Bicks'' eyes (that) he really wanted to get this one under his belt, so it was good for the guys to be able to respond."

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