GWS Giants have to learn from Port Adelaide’s 2007 grand final disaster
Port Adelaide failed to properly review its humiliating 2007 grand final performance, starting a poisonous culture of blame that tore the club apart. Greater Western Sydney’s coaches can’t afford to make the same mistake, writes Kane Cornes.
Kane Cornes
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Port Adelaide’s 119-point loss to Geelong in the 2007 grand final tore the club apart and set it on a downward spiral that took years to correct itself.
It wasn’t until two coaches were moved aside and the playing list completely rebuilt before the Power returned to the finals six years later in 2013.
Greater Western Sydney’s 89-point nightmare loss to Richmond in Saturday’s grand final threatens to have the same devastating effect as it did to the 2007 Port Adelaide squad if it isn’t addressed adequately.
It may be the last game of the season and the players are effectively on holidays, but the internal game review must be as thorough as it would be for an opening round defeat.
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As coach Leon Cameron is ultimately responsible for what transpired on Saturday- why did his system completely break down? However, he must also hold his players to account for the meek display.
Cameron must try to tap into the mind of his players and get an explanation on why they delivered their worst performance of the year on the biggest stage.
How did they let themselves be completely engulfed by a ravenous and hungry Richmond outfit that feasted off the Giants inability to move the ball with any system for they must have known what to expect.
When Cameron sits down to review the game vision it will be hard to watch. There were some dark times in the early days at the Giants but this was its darkest.
Their final score of 25 points is the club’s lowest ever score and the lowest tally by any team in a grand final since 1960.
There can be no hiding from it.
Scrappy turnovers, embarrassing skills errors, undisciplined off-the-ball free kicks, allowing Richmond’s spare defenders to intercept the aerial ball, missed tackles and untidy ball handling in the contest will show up repeatedly on the tape.
Sitting through Saturday’s replay will be Cameron’s darkest time as a coach.
In 2007, at Port Adelaide there was no such review. The players and coaches weren’t held accountable, the humiliating performance was swept under the carpet.
This inaction bred a selfish culture of blame within the club and individuals shifted the responsibility away from themselves. It was the ultimate sin in a team sport.
It is a defining time for Cameron and his shell-shocked players.
How he addresses the grand final humiliation in the coming days will shape the future success of his side.