Port Adelaide’s grinding win against battling Carlton last week is another sign it is on track for the top four
NOT every win needs to be a work of art and the Power’s “ugly” win over the struggling Blues last week has kept it in the race for a high ladder position at the end of the home-and-away series, says Warren Tredrea
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WINNING ugly - good teams do it and those who don’t suffer the consequences.
It’s what helps the top teams sew up a top-four berth and double chance, while it can also decide the final eight.
While much of the football narrative is about the current look of the game, we’re foolishly ignoring teams’ abilities to win ugly and claim a valuable four points when they’re not at their best.
Every premiership team has had times of struggle, especially staying on edge for contests against lesser opposition throughout the year.
It wasn’t so long ago the all-conquering Hawks faced questions from outside their club about their ability to back up after claiming premiership success.
At times they looked a shadow of their best but somehow they were able to fight out games and get the result by playing ugly football.
And while they claimed three premierships on the trot playing ruthless, high-scoring, disciplined football, they wouldn’t have been in the position to win all three flags if they hadn’t ground out ugly wins over the journey.
Winning a game of football when you have every right to lose builds belief. And history is littered with teams which fell short and lost to opponents who executed better on the day.
Last Saturday Port Adelaide was a team under the pump. Facing the rebuilding Blues, it wasn’t a highly emotive build-up to the game, rather it was a danger game where there was more to lose than gain.
Throw in the fact that the Blues were playing a milestone match for Kade Simpson’s 300th at home on the MCG and with skipper Marc Murphy returning from injury, they were up for the contest.
And while rising superstar Charlie Curnow did his best to turn the game on its head, history tells us Port was able to answer any of the challenges the Blues threw at them, winning an ugly contest by 21 points.
Later that night in Adelaide, the Crows also found a way to win.
And while the Crows looked dead and buried on their home deck after the Eagles went 27 points up late in the third term, their ability to knuckle down and turn the midfield battle on its head broke the game open kicking seven of the last nine goals to run away 10-point winners.
It was a huge turnaround in their effort from a fortnight earlier against the Hawks where they were labelled uncompetitive.
In both games the leaders and senior players stood up and delivered, showing the way for others to follow.
The recipe is simple; players need to be willing to roll their sleeves up and work harder than their opposition when the stakes are at their highest. The team which hangs in the longest breaks the game open.
This year Port has turned the tables in games decided by under two goals, once a weakness in its game it has quickly become a strength.
In 2016 and 2017 the Power was atrocious in the nail biting games decided by under two goals with a win loss record of one win and seven losses.
In 2018 the Power has dominated winning three out of four matches - wins against Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne by five, five and 10 points respectively tells the story while a three-point loss to Hawthorn after being dominated for the final three quarters, shows they found a way to somehow stay in touch.
In the wins there were times when they looked to have lost their grip on the game only to rise to the challenge and turn the tables.
While at Adelaide nail biting losses to Port (five points), Essendon (12) and Fremantle (three) were costly, they’ve also claimed impressive hard-fought wins against Sydney and West Coast both by 10 points.
What is obvious is how close the season is, and a team’s ability to the wrestle back control of the game when its slipping away is worth its weight in gold.
This week Port face the struggling Saints fresh of a buoyant win over Melbourne while the Crows face reigning premiers Richmond in red hot form on the MCG.
And while both teams face vastly different fixtures, both must be willing to win ugly to claim the four points.
No one really remembers how you win, as long as you do.
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