McPhee, an integral member of a back six that has conceded the second fewest points in the AFL this season behind only Sydney, can’t wait to set the record straight on Friday night at AAMI Stadium.
“It’s probably given us more determination to fix up some areas where we know that they got us,” he said.
“Obviously, their key targets were able to kick a number of goals against us, so that will be a focus for our key defenders and our defence in general.”
McPhee said the Crows, under former Geelong assistant Brenton Sanderson, played a lot like the Cats.
“They’re really a sling-shot type of team who try and take you up and beat you back towards goal with their smalls,” he said.
Freo choked the life out of Geelong last Saturday and McPhee said it would take a similar defensive effort to topple the Crows - and it will start in attack.
“There’s a big focus for the team defence all over the ground,” he said.
“It will start from when we enter forward 50 and how we organise our team defence from there.
“Us defenders will be doing our absolute best to make sure we don’t give them an inch.”
McPhee lifted for one of the best games of his Freo career against the Cats, but he said the fact Luke McPharlin was missing didn’t factor into his performance.
“It was certainly in the back of my mind that we had two other guys that were capable of playing on the talls, being Zac Dawson and Alex Silvagni,” he said.
“My focus was just to be able to play my role again, and if that meant coming back and helping out the talls when the opportunity arose, that was certainly part of my game, which it has been all year.”
McPhee expects to play on one of Adelaide’s dangerous small forwards on Friday night.
“I had (Ian) Callinan last time and also (Graeme) Johncock,” he said.
“It might be a similar type of player on Friday, but I’m just setting myself to play on anyone.
“There might even be some flips through their midfield, so I might end up taking a dangerous midfielder who’s resting forward at times.”
The 29-year-old McPhee has played in finals and blockbuster matches during his time at Essendon and Fremantle, and he’s shared that experience with some of the younger players in the squad.
“I spoke to a couple of our guys who hadn’t played a lot of AFL football,” he said.
“I’ve been in the game a long time, and even though I haven’t played a lot of finals, I have played in some really big games with Essendon, like Anzac Day.”
One player McPhee has given some big-game advice to is Lee Spurr, who broke into the team in round 16 and has become a fixture in the back six since.
“I had some quiet words with Lee about executing his role and being able to calm his nerves early in the game,” McPhee said of the mature-age recruit, who has impressed him greatly.
“I thought Lee’s slotted into the team beautifully and there were times when he’s really held his composure and never looked like he was out of place.”
