When Adelaide legend Mark Ricciuto strolls around the boundary at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night, he is bracing for the barbs that will come his way ahead of the Showdown between the Crows and Port Adelaide.
The Fox Footy favourite, who on Thursday received a retrospective Showdown Medal for his deeds in the fourth marquee fixture against the Power, still loves the theatre that goes with the great rivalry, which includes the ardent atmosphere in the stands of the famous ground.
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Much is riding on the 57th Showdown, with Adelaide looking to consolidate a spot in the eight after a bright start and the Power looking to rebound from a shocker against the Western Bulldogs and edge ahead in the win-loss ledger.
The most recent Showdown clinched by the Power was particularly spiteful, with Dan Houston’s bump on Izak Rankine stirring emotions in the middle and in the stands, which led to an exchange of words between rival coaches Ken Hinkley and Matthew Nicks afterwards.
According to Ricciuto, who will provide expert analysis for a Showdown featuring as part of Fox’s exclusive Super Saturday Live on Kayo Sports, the fireworks of last August have added an edge to the rivalry which sits squared at 28 wins apiece.
“It is an incredible atmosphere, because you are right on the boundary line and there is well north of 50,000 there,” he told foxsports.com.au on Thursday.
“It’s a big game this week for both clubs. You can feel it. And you can the tension in the fans from the boundary. You can feel it walking in (and you just) wait for someone to say something pretty silly on the way through, because people are on edge.
“There’s no doubt about it, people are on edge before the game, and then nervy and on edge during the game. Last year, when Rankine got knocked out, that just took the Showdown to a whole new level.”
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The retrospective honour issued to Ricciuto on Thursday for the fourth match elevates the 2003 Brownlow Medallist to his fourth Showdown Medal following best afield efforts in 2000, 2004 and 2005.
It moves Ricciuto to outright second in terms of the overall honours behind five-time Showdown Medallist Robbie Gray along with Josh Francou, who was also honoured retrospectively at Adelaide Oval on Thursday.
Adelaide’s dual-premiership skipper Mark Bickley and Darren Mead, who was Port Adelaide’s inaugural John Cahill Medallist, were also awarded Showdown Medals for their deeds in games in the late 1990s.
“You can measure the success of a player by how well they play in big games and what they do in big moments. You always want to play well on those occasions,” Ricciuto said.
“Everyone loves playing well in finals and in Showdowns and games like that. It’s a good attribute to have. I still love them. I’m still excited about the weekend, all the fun and the hype that goes with it.
“It’s just an awesome week. It’s a great build up. It’s that experience you have with your mates and position. It’s just a good vibe. It’s one of the great things about footing, the rivalry. It’s awesome.”
Taylor Walker, who won a Showdown Medal in 2023 when kicking seven goals, said he is pleased the move has been made to honour stars dating back to the first match in the rivalry which was claimed by Port Adelaide in 1997.
“I was a bit annoyed that we never did it from day one because it is an obvious thing to do,” he said.
“But I think it is great, and I have said this about the Brownlow Medal as well, but to be able to re-engage with past greats of our game is the best thing we can ever do. So being able to do this is amazing. We don’t want to let past players just float off into the sunset.”
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Ricciuto no longer rides the bumps on the field but said he still receives plenty of jibes in his role broadcasting the Showdown, be it from Port Adelaide fans or his co-commentators.
While joking it is “not the easiest thing” to chat with a Port Adelaide player if they have won the Showdown Medal, he believes he is “pretty good at having an unbiased opinion”.
“It is not the easiest thing to do, but I’ve been doing it for that long, commentating for Fox Footy and Triple M since I retired, so that’s 18 years or whatever,” he said.
“On Saturday night I’m working with Shaun Burgoyne, the Port Adelaide champion, and I have worked with Gav Wanganeen in the past, and in the Showdowns, they actually want a little bit of banter between us anyway, which is good fun. But look, there will be something that happens in this game that fires everyone up as well.”
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