LESSONS learned from Adelaide's disastrous first-half performance against Collingwood will help spur the Crows in Sunday's Showdown, utility Andy Otten says.
After he kicked two goals in the last quarter to help the Crows salvage a last-gasp draw against Collingwood, the 28-year-old told AFL MEDIA attention would quickly turn to the huge clash with Port Adelaide.
Adelaide sits a game and percentage clear on top, and is 10 points ahead of Port Adelaide, which is just four points shy of the top four but possessing the competition's second-best percentage.
The match will see the most attacking team in the competition in Adelaide up against the most defensively sound in Port Adelaide.
"It's going to be hot early," Otten said after the Collingwood clash.
He said the team would learn plenty of lessons from their poor start against the Pies, which saw the Crows fall 50 points behind early in the third term after being 38 points adrift at half-time.
The Crows were "almost embarrassed" at their performance in the first half, Otten said.
"That's not acceptable the way we played, but to be able to address it at half-time, swing a few changes around and then come out and play the way we played, shows a bit of maturity in the group," he said.
"The wording out there (against Collingwood) was just, 'Keep going … come on, we've got this, we've got this, we're going to win', Otten said.
"We believed we were going to win the whole game.
"We are where we are for a reason. We're a really good football side and if we play to the (right) level we can beat anyone, but if we don't we get shown up.”
The Crows have won the past four Showdowns to square the ledger at 21 wins since the crosstown rivalry began in 1997.
It has developed into one of the biggest rivalries in Australian sport.
Otten said both teams had lucky escapes in Round 19 and would be primed for the challenge.
"I think we will take a lot of confidence from the way we played in the second half," Otten said.
