Port Adelaide's heartbeat Chad Cornes delayed much-needed surgery to his aching shoulder and knee to play a part in the Power's AFL showdown victory over Adelaide.

With mission accomplished, Cornes will not play again this season as he undergoes surgery to repair both damaged joints, content he played a part in seriously damaging the finals aspirations of the Crows.

Though quiet for much of the day, he won a crucial one-on-one duel with Adelaide backman Nathan Bassett late in the contest, which ultimately led to Danyle Pearce's match-sealing goal.

Power coach Mark Williams said it was Cornes' call to continue playing some weeks after it had become obvious surgery was imminent.

"Chad said `I reckon I've got one more game in me'," Williams said.

"For weeks we've been battling as to whether to pick Chad or not and he keeps wanting to put up his hand - that just shows you the quality of the guy and leader he is.

"He wants to play and he wants to make a difference, but his body probably didn't allow him to do anything near what he's capable of doing.

"You can see how many times Chad's fumbled the ball of late and you think, what the hell is going on here? And he didn't take off for a couple of marks where you think he'd probably be sitting on someone's head.

"But he had a good impact on our game ... he wasn't best on ground, but he played his role and the forward line was pretty effective.

"He brings so much emotion and attitude to our group that it's great to have him out there and I can't wait for him to get back to what we all know is All-Australian form."

The combined recovery time for the shoulder and knee operations is likely to be around eight weeks, meaning Cornes will be ready in time to complete a full pre-season ahead of 2009.

"It was always making sure you count back for how many weeks he might be out, then add a couple more so he's 100 per cent right for pre-season and we're on the right track for where he might be next year," he said.

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