Port Adelaide should be asking as many questions internally as externally in the wake of Showdown 45 loss
IN the aftermath of Saturday night’s Showdown you would hope Port Adelaide is asking as many questions internally as it is externally about the score review system to determine what really cost it the game against the Crows.
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IN THE aftermath of Saturday night’s Showdown you would hope Port Adelaide is asking as many questions internally as externally to determine what really cost it the game against the Crows.
Because when the game was on the line in the final 2 minutes and 38 seconds, Adelaide simply wanted it more.
The Power is 1-3 in the past month and has five days to prepare for West Coast this weekend — a team that sits second on the ladder and has a 4-0 record against it at Adelaide Oval.
After that it’s Collingwood and Essendon in what will decide whether it plays finals.
By Monday, Port Adelaide has far bigger concerns than still worrying about whether Josh Jenkins’ goal — which was one of 27 kicked on the night — hit the post or not.
When the ball went back to the middle after the Jenkins goal, Port Adelaide had almost three minutes to right what it believed was an injustice.
To watch those final three minutes again, the Power tried hard but the Crows were like a pack of wild dogs chasing the footy like a piece of meat.
To break it down:
JORDAN Gallucci was allowed to come off the back of the square and win the all-important clearance. Paddy Ryder and Robbie Gray belted it forward but Gallucci was in space, got it to Sloane and to Jacobs and the Crows went forward. It was not unlike the way Adelaide won the final clearance of Showdown 44 only for Dougal Howard to win a game-changing ball off halfback.
JARED Polec intercepted the Sloane clearance but in two desperate acts, Rory Laird helped save the game. He sprinted to spoil Polec’s pass to Robbie Gray, recovered, and dived to smother Justin Westhoff’s attempt to go inside 50m.
WITH two minutes to go, the Power again cleared the ball from defence but Rory Atkins was allowed to mark unchecked on the wing.
WITH 1:29 to go, Tom Jonas handballed into space in front of Travis Boak on the wing. It wasn’t quite a hospital handpass but Port had to get it moving and it put the skipper on a collision course with Wayne Milera. The two smashed into each other, Milera kept his feet and forced the turnover.
EVEN with 40 seconds to go Jasper Pittard had the chance to clear from defence but he missed Darcy Byrne-Jones with a kick and he was surrounded by three Crows who outnumbered the opposition again.
Ken Hinkley had every right to vent at the system in the immediate aftermath of the loss and did not miss in his press conference in which he said the AFL should be embarrassed about the situation.
But he also made it very clear that in his mind, that was not the reason the Power lost the game.
Port Adelaide also had every right to write to the AFL and seek a detailed explanation for the process that was followed in the 23-second score review. But as Hinkley pointed out in his press conference, it is not going to change anything for them.
What Port should be doing is borrowing the popular line from coaches that we will “control what we can control” and now that is forensically examining Saturday’s game and in particular the final three minutes.
Port Adelaide lost the game because it conceded 69 inside 50s to Adelaide. It lost clearances by 10 despite boasting arguably the strongest midfield in the comp with Wines, Gray and Powell-Pepper. It missed important set shots and crucial passes, and ultimately when the game was on the line at the end, it was outplayed.
reece.homfray@news.com.au
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