A week after only scoring five majors in a 66-point defeat to St Kilda, the Power dominated cross-town rival Adelaide in Showdown XXVI at AAMI Stadium, running out 26-point winners and booting some cracking goals in the process.
Williams’ side was slammed after losing to the Saints, but he said the players showed great resolve to bounce back the way they did and give the club a 4-2 win-loss record for the season.
“Each week we will be judged on the last week’s performance,” he said after Saturday’s victory.
“You get the paper this morning and you see it’s all about us and you think this club needs some solidarity from the playing group all the way through to the administration.
“We as a club are fully understanding of where we started last year. We were zero and four and we finished up 13th.”
Williams said the Power’s improvement was ongoing, with planning starting at the beginning of pre-season.
“You have to keep working at your game and that’s what we’ve spent six months on,” he said.
“We spent a long time over pre-season trying to work out how to be better and we spent some time last week trying to make some little changes and I thought they were quite significant tonight.
“We are trying to work towards that perfect game plan, but it’s never there, and next week there’ll be something else we have to work on.”
The Power received good value from forwards Warren Tredrea and Daniel Motlop, but the foundation for the win was built on dominance in the midfield, indicated by a 42-22 clearance count.
“Matt Primus (ruck coach) does a terrific job with Tony McGuinness (assistant coach) and they spend hours and hours investigating and trying to work out what to do,” Williams said.
Small forward Brett Ebert and flying midfielder David Rodan were two players who copped plenty in the press during the week, but Williams said both responded with impressive performances against the Crows.
“I thought that David played a major role today, which was his best game for the year without any doubt,” he said.
“Brett was quite often caught with two people around him and had to bring the ball to the ground.
“He had to chase and dive in and under and I thought he was outstanding. I have no idea if he kicked a goal or not and I couldn’t care less and I don’t think he will either.”
Williams also praised Showdown medallist Dean Brogan who was dominant in the ruck winning 27 hit-outs, 10 more than Adelaide’s total.
“It (his performance) was pretty good. Dean brings the jump, but he also brings the hunt of the ball and causes spillage in the middle, which helps other people.
“That’s how we probably mark him rather than winning taps.”
