Adelaide Football Club has been surprised by the reaction to its decision to wear the state representative guernsey at the opening Showdown at Adelaide Oval on March 29.

The Crows launched the jumper yesterday sparking a raft of negative reactions from its own past champions, including inaugural captain Chris McDermott.

“It wasn’t meant to be provocative, but it sounds like it’s been provocative,” Crows CEO Steven Trigg said from central Victoria today.

“We expected some comment, but not to the strength of what’s happened.”

The club appears to be sending mixed messages about the away jumper that it will wear for their first appearance at Adelaide Oval.

“We’re not trying to say we’re the state team or that it’s the state jumper,” Trigg said on ABC Radio this morning.

He later admitted, however, that the club had to seek approval from the SANFL to use the design “because they own the jumper”, a reference to the state representative guernsey.

Trigg said it is a “one-off jumper to celebrate our heritage, because we came from all nine SANFL clubs, including Port Adelaide”.

Port weren’t so convinced, issuing a statement blasting the idea.

The Power said the idea is divisive and the state jumper should always be sacrosanct.

“Our clubs current and former SA-born players are disappointed by the Crows decision,” the Power said.

“The Crows have stated they are wearing the guernsey to celebrate SA football.

“Port Adelaide finds this reasoning peculiar given that wearing it in a Showdown will actually divide the state.

“This guernsey is a symbol of SA football unification, not division.”

Port’s President David Koch weighed in this morning telling ABC Radio that while the club was concentrating on winning the game, Adelaide’s decision was poor.

“It’s a dumb idea actually.

“They say its about heritage and the whole nine SANFL clubs, yet on March 29 you’ll get 60 per cent of the crowd barracking against the state guernsey.”