PORT Adelaide onballer Danyle Pearce says the rivalry between SA's two AFL teams is as fierce as ever ahead of Saturday night's Showdown XXVI.

The showpiece event, which once attracted sell-out crowds of 50,000-plus, drew just 31,662 fans to AAMI Stadium in round 16 last year.

But Pearce said the novelty of the bi-annual event had far from worn off on the Power players.

"You can definitely feel the atmosphere pick-up across South Australia in Showdown week," Pearce said on Tuesday.

 "Some people would say it divides the state and it's a game all the boys look forward to. There's just a great rivalry between the two sides.

"You really want to walk around in your home state proud, with your head held high and the boys always come out and give it everything they've got."

The clash between the two sides in round three last year turned into a fiery affair when Bernie Vince and ex-Crows Nathan Bassett and Luke Jericho all had to be helped from the field after separate, legitimate incidents.

The Power have already had six players charged by the AFL Match Review Panel this season and Pearce said his side was committed to keeping within the laws of the game this week.

"We want to make our presence known early, but we want that to be fair," he said.

"You've got to find that real fine balance. Every team wants to come out and be hard and tough, but you can have a few instances where you step over that line. You have to be careful with how you approach that toughness.

"If you go out head hunting you're going to be found out and reported, but if your main objective is the ball then you can still be a tough player and not get reported."

Coach Mark Williams identified tackling as an issue after the 66-point loss to St Kilda on Friday night.

Williams also said his side needed a greater spread of contributors on game day to be successful.

One player singled out after the dismal performance against the Saints was former premiership hero Josh Carr.

Williams described the gritty onballer's form as patchy since arriving back at Alberton, but Pearce said Carr was looking forward to turning that around against the Crows this week.

"We have all the faith in the world in Carry," Pearce said.

"He's a premiership player and he's one of our leaders. I have 100 per cent faith that he'll bounce back and play a good game."