Can we top last year’s classic matches between Adelaide and Port Adelaide in Showdown 46?
They were two of the best Showdowns ever. We look back on the classic 2018 matches and what they mean for Port Adelaide and Adelaide for the latest edition of the match that captivates the state.
Reece Homfray
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They were two of the best of all time.
Reece Homfray looks back on the classic 2018 Showdowns and what they mean for Port Adelaide and Adelaide in edition 46 of the match that captivates the state.
SHOWDOWN 44
ROUND 8, 2018
Port Adelaide 14.11 (95)
Adelaide 14.6 (90)
WHAT HAPPENED?
The Power ended a five-game losing streak to the Crows in the most dramatic of finishes when Steven Motlop kicked a goal from a centre bounce with 21 seconds left on the clock. Port Adelaide came from 23 points down midway through the second quarter to finish over the top of the Crows and the five-point win moved them back inside the top eight. Motlop might have been given the credit for the game-winner but Robbie Gray won the Showdown Medal after kicking an incredible five goals in the third quarter.
STEVIE MOTLOP'S THE HERO! #AFLPowerCrows pic.twitter.com/P7rWPH3rvx
— AFL (@AFL) May 12, 2018
WHY IT MATTERED?
Apart from the fact Port finally got one back on their hometown rival and levelled the Showdown ledger at 22-22, the Power got on a roll and went on to win seven of their next eight games and the only loss was by three points to Hawthorn. The fact it was Steven Motlop who kicked the winning goal also marked his most significant moment as a Port Adelaide player having been traded from Geelong in the off-season.
THE MOMENT
The game took several dramatic twists including two goals in the last two minutes to put Adelaide in front. But in the end it was Motlop who snatched the lead back for the Power. The Crows led by five points with 35 seconds remaining at the centre bounce when Hugh Greenwood won the clearance and kicked it forward. But Port was well set up behind the footy, Dougal Howard took possession at half-back and kicked it forward. Two Crows collided heavily — Richard Douglas and Mitch McGovern — allowing Motlop to swoop on a loose ball, dance around his opponents and kick the goal from 40m on the run.
THE AFTERMATH
Besides Motlop’s goal, Showdown 44 will be remembered for Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley’s carry-on in the box after the final siren. While his assistants were high-fiving all around him in the box, Hinkley stood up and motioned 1-0 with his hands and screamed the words to signal the head-to-head counter being reset.
WHAT THEY SAID
Ken Hinkley: “You look back on it now and think ‘what were you thinking?’ ... But that’s what footy does to you, that’s the emotion of the game, that’s how much these players put in and how hard they work and we’d been struggling to get over Adelaide for a period of time.”
Don Pyke: “Sometimes when you lose by under a goal, it’s a bit like the old saying, sometimes you’re the bug and sometimes you’re the windshield, tonight we ended up being the bug’.”
SHOWDOWN 45
ROUND 20, 2018
Adelaide 13.18 (96)
Port Adelaide 14.9 (93)
WHAT HAPPENED?
Adelaide snatched a thrilling albeit controversial victory in a high-scoring Showdown 45 when Josh Jenkins’ shot was deemed a goal despite going agonisingly close to the left-hand goal post with two minutes remaining. Scores were locked at 33-33 at quarter-time and the Crows trailed by four points with 2:38 left on the clock when Jenkins swooped and stole victory.
WHY IT MATTERED?
We didn’t know it at the time but Port Adelaide sat fourth on the ladder and would eventually miss finals by one win. And this game would have seen them play in September. The Crows meanwhile were simply trying to keep their season alive as they went into the Showdown two games outside the top eight. They would have also felt like they owed Port Adelaide one after Steven Motlop’s amazing goal in Showdown 44, and the win took them ahead in the head-to-head battle 23-22.
Josh Jenkins was awarded a goal late in the Showdown after a review.#AFLCrowsPower pic.twitter.com/ghS8YJzjMd
— AFL (@AFL) August 4, 2018
THE MOMENT
The Crows trailed 89-93 with 2:28 to go when Jenkins led out from 50m and kept the ball alive. As he and Eddie Betts rushed towards the loose ball in the pocket, Jenkins picked it up. dodged his opponent and kicked around his body for a snap on goal. The crowd said goal, the players weren’t so sure and Adelaide started setting up in preparation for a Port Adelaide kick-in. The score review took 23 seconds when it was deemed a goal and the Crows would eventually hang on for victory.
THE AFTERMATH
An honest Jenkins admitted on live TV straight after the game that he thought his shot missed. “My grandma raised me not to tell fibs, I think it hit the post,” Jenkins said on Fox Footy. The AFL later investigated audio goalpost technology, similar to cricket’s ‘snicko’ system which can tell whether the ball hits the bat at the crease. Dubbed ‘AFL Edge’ the technology uses hawk-eye with microphones to determine whether or not the ball hits the post.
WHAT THEY SAID
Ken Hinkley: “Let me be really clear from the start, Adelaide deserved to win, they were the better team in a really close game ... but to deal with that last moment where the player acknowledged it’s hit the post and the AFL, in a billion dollar industry, can wreck seasons for football clubs that work too hard. If I was the AFL I would be embarrassed and disappointed.”
Don Pyke: “It’s a fantastic win for the footy club, we knew the importance of tonight, we can keep progressing in the season. Having done that, we move on to next week.”
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