Adelaide forward Josh Rachele has lifted the lid on a “special moment” between him and Senior Coach Matthew Nicks after Showdown 59 at Adelaide Oval last Friday night.

Footage from after the Crows’ heart-stopping one-point win against Port Adelaide shows Nicks grabbing Rachele’s face in celebration, with the pair sharing a few words.

Speaking to AFC Media, Rachele revealed what was said in the emotional post-game chat.

“It was about when Riley (Thilthorpe) kicked his goal and I tapped it in (from the boundary),” Rachele said.

“I just saw an opportunity to keep it in play, instead of letting the ball go out.

“When he (Nicks) first saw I did that, he was freaking out a bit - he was cursing me at first but then when he saw it came off, he was praising me straight away.

“We’ve got a great relationship, and I really respect him when he gives me feedback, but he’s also the first person to pump me up when things are going well. I absolutely love my relationship with Nicksy and it was a special moment between us.”

Thilthorpe’s goal, which followed Rachele’s assist, put the Crows 21 points ahead early in the final term, before the Power mounted a comeback, kicking four unanswered goals.

One of those majors came when Port Adelaide capitalised on a free kick paid against Rachele, who was deemed to have pushed Power defender Logan Evans in the back.

Rachele opened up on his thoughts when the free kick was paid and how he felt when Power forward Joe Berry kicked a goal to put them five points ahead.

“It was a hard one during the stages, but with those decisions, you’ve just got to click into defence mode as quick as you can,” Rachele said.

“I was thinking ‘how quickly can we turn this around if I get an opportunity here?’

“Being in that first Showdown when (Jordan) Dawson kicked that goal after the siren, I’ve always felt that a Showdown can turn at any stage.

“I’ve worked hard to just put things aside and move on quickly, my role from there was ‘how can I score?’ How can I help the team score?’, and we are very fortunate that (Brayden) Cook clutched up in the end.”

The Showdown win has Adelaide sitting on a 4-4 win-loss ledger, ahead of its game against Richmond at the MCG on Sunday afternoon.

The Tigers will enter the match after claiming their first win of the season, and Rachele says he is eyeing off a potential match-up against one of his best mates, Tigers defender, Tom Brown.

“We’ve had a pretty tough start to the year, and we’ve played some quality opposition, but I think we sit here pretty comfortable being 4-4 and understanding that we have a couple of things to work on, but there’s still a lot of positives,” Rachele said.

“We are just starting to embrace that challenge now and I think we are starting to hit some form.

“It is pretty exciting. I have a couple of mates who play there (at Richmond), so I am looking forward to hopefully lining up on one of my good mates - Tom Brown. He’s from Mooroopna, so we played a lot of juniors together. 

“They’ve got some exciting players, so I think it’s going to be a great game this weekend.”

The Crows face the Tigers at the MCG in a Mother’s Day match on Sunday at 2.45pm (ASCT).

Fans can catch the game live on Channel 7 Adelaide, Fox Footy and Kayo.