Showdown 44 delivers value for the game, the sport ... and Port Adelaide’s trade plays

ANOTHER classic Showdown that will change the debate on the look of the game ... and Port Adelaide’s big plays in the AFL market.

After scoring the matchwinner in Showdown 44, Port Adelaide forward Steven Motlop cannot wait to play in another Power-Crows derby. Picture: Sarah Reed.

• Kane Cornes: A tale of two Showdown halves
• Port steals Showdown with insane finish

HOW much is Steven Motlop’s winning goal with 21 seconds to play in Showdown 44 at Adelaide Oval worth?

At least $500,000.

To Port Adelaide, putting half a million and an extra season on the table — to hand Motlop a four-year contract at Alberton and beat away the rival offers from five other AFL clubs, including Adelaide — before the Geelong free-agent forward in October is now a great investment.

So is the promise of former Brisbane captain Tom Rockliff, another of the big gains the Power made in the AFL free-agency market last year.

To the image-fearing AFL, those last two minutes from Showdown 44 — with the Crows’ dramatic comeback from a 17-point deficit to a one-point lead with 42 seconds to play — are to drive away so much negative commentary on the state of top-level Australian football.

The “look of Showdown 44” is the best response to the deep-running debate on where the AFL has gone wrong with the “world’s greatest game”.

The 44th derby was dramatic, insane and true to its image of delivering the best rivalry outside the longstanding Victorian grudge matches from the old VFL. The 21-year-old Showdown counter is now at 22-22 with the average margin in Showdowns at 27 points.

Motlop’s goal denied the record books scoring the first-ever one-point margin in a Showdown. But the video library will forever be lending out the time-on period of Showdown 44 to fire up the debate on the greatest Showdown finish.

The Lazarus theme to Showdown 39 in 2013 — the last played at Football Park with Port Adelaide forward Angus Monfries’ freakish off-break goal at the northern end — now has serious competition.

Of the 44 derbies played since SA football was reshaped in 1997, seven have been decided by a goal or less — including Saturday’s five-point win that ended Adelaide’s recent five-derby dominance that clearly was annoying Hinkley.

Almost half (21) of the 44 Showdowns have been decided by three goals or less — seven by 1-6 points; nine by 7-12 points and five by 13-18. That is some record of drama.

And Motlop not only delivered the matchwinning goal and a classic celebration image, but also a great promotional line after playing in his first derby after experiencing some big-time football moments in eight years at Geelong and on the MCG.

“If that is what a Showdown is about, I am looking forward to plenty more,” Motlop told the Sunday Mail in the post-match euphoria.

Motlop, after waiting more than a decade to wear his favourite club’s AFL jumper, only has to count down 80 days for Showdown 45.

Hinkley’s heart might be back to a normal rhythm then.