Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley has backed the decision to award Connor Rozee with the Showdown Medal despite the Power losing the contest by five points on Saturday night.
Rozee starred across all facets of the game and all across the ground, collecting 32 disposals, a goal, seven score involvements and a team-high 684 metres gained.
His goal handed the Power the lead in the third term, and he was a force until the final siren, where Port Adelaide ultimately fell short of a Showdown upset.
Adelaide's Riley Thilthorpe was arguably best on ground too however, scoring an equal-game-high three goals and game-high 10 score involvements, but Hinkley was quick to praise Rozee for his efforts on the night.
"He's had a great year. I think he was the best player on the ground, I don't necessarily like the losing side getting that (the Showdown Medal), but he kind of deserved it tonight," Hinkley said.
"He's an outstanding player. I thought he was a player that played a full four quarters of footy.
"I'm pretty proud of him, pretty happy that he's our captain."
Hinkley also provided an update on the headspace of absent star Willie Rioli, who decided to take leave from Round 9's clash after a week of controversy followed the surfacing of his threats directed at Bailey Dale and also said on-field to opponents in Round 3, 2025 and Round 9, 2024.
"He'll be fine," Hinkley said.
"We'll look after him, we'll make some decisions and make sure he's okay.
"Our major focus is to make sure Willie is okay and he has got our care and he always will have. We'll look after him and make sure hopefully if he's okay and he's available - he might've been handy tonight, mightn't he?"
Rioli was not in attendance at Adelaide Oval for the Showdown rivalry, which Hinkley agreed was the correct decision to take to ensure Rioli was mentally refreshed.
"He had the choice ... I thought the right option for him was not to be here," Hinkley said.
"He just needed some time and I made sure he got that time.
"And we will move on and hopefully we can leave all this stuff behind us and we can get on with playing footy."
The Power can take positives out of their slim loss but now sit with a losing record of 4-5, and will host Geelong at home next week with a chance to avenge their 84-point trouncing in last year's qualifying final.
