Mark Williams has left no doubt about Port Adelaide's serious approach to the NAB Cup competition as he continues to plan for the Power's clash with Geelong or Richmond in Darwin next Saturday night.

"Next week is an important game - obviously there's a lot more money on each game and we look forward to seeing if we can collect as much as we can," Williams said after Port's thrilling three-point win against Adelaide at AAMI Stadium on Friday night.

Port will play the winner of Sunday's Geelong-Richmond match at Skilled Stadium.

"We haven't won the first round of the NAB Cup for a while now (Port beat Adelaide by 15 points in the first round of 2005) so we look forward to playing next week," Williams said.

"Any time we play the Crows, it's always a tight game, and we're really pleased to get the result.

"I thought we went inside 50 lots and lots of times (49 to Adelaide's 31). We turned-over the ball lots of times. I think most of it was to do with our poor disposal rather than anything else, but it kept everyone excited right to the end and we're happy to move on.

"It was good to play some young players and see them move on from last year. It was great to have (Daniel) Motlop and (Nathan) Lonie and Peter Burgoyne coming back from injuries from last year and getting them through the game.

"We'll look forward to just building up some game time with them and hopefully (they will) be ready for a big crack at the start of the season."

Williams said Port 'did a lot of things right' against the Crows, while stressing that the club would be 'continually developing the players and putting them in those (tough) situations over the next two or three years'.

"A lot of things we worked on, we got a lot of great results and players got a lot of confidence out of them," he said.

"The last part of the puzzle (the forward set-up) was the thing we felt we didn't complete, but we look forward to working on that through the next four or five weeks.

"It was an outstanding position to be in, in the last three or four minutes of the game, just to see how people handle those (pressure situations) - when they've got the ball in their hands and what decisions they make and how we work as a team. We've still got some work to do in it."

Of the ruck and midfield set-up, Williams said: "Early, I thought (Adelaide's Ben) Hudson did a pretty good job. We started to break clear and we got some centre-clearance goals and that was important for us, as well.

"Having Peter (Burgoyne) back in the mix, with (David) Rodan and (Tom) Logan, and just adding a few more numbers there to help out, I think, is important."

And the defence?

"We're happy with it but we look forward to (Brad) Symes, (Jacob) Surjan, (Matt) Thomas and those sort of blokes to be available, as well, so that we've got some good options there," Williams said. "Those who are getting the games now need to make the most of their opportunities."

The new rules and interpretations?

"In general terms it was pretty good," Williams said. "There weren't too many frees for touching in the back - probably only one or two for the game.

"The 20-metre rule … I'm not sure who's got the tape measure some times but that's just how it goes … I'm sure it's hard."