The Monfries bounce, the Jenkins post, the Motlop goal and the Phil Walsh tribute – the best Showdowns of the decade
It’s the best rivalry in the AFL and it’s produced some of the best finishes across the competition this decade. Here are the 10 best Showdowns from the 2010s.
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It’s the best rivalry in the AFL and that fact is the only thing Crows and Power fans agree on.
It has off-field history surrounding both clubs entries into the AFL and throughout the 2010s we saw the absolute best of the Showdown.
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Of the 20 clashes across the decade, the Crows won 11 and the Power won nine.
Here are the best 10 from the 2010s:
10. Showdown 28 (Round 6, 2010)
Port Adelaide 14.13 (97) d Adelaide 10.14 (74)
The Power were in the top eight after beating a flag fancy in St Kilda, while the Crows were winless after five, having been belted by Fremantle, Sydney, Carlton and the Western Bulldogs.
Despite the previous results, the Crows led at every break, but they were blown away in the final quarter by Showdown specialist Robbie Gray, who booted five.
It was the first of his five Showdown Medals.
In the stands, the Power fans were celebrating their rivals’ horrendous start, with some supporters waving wooden spoons at their counterparts.
Just two weeks later, the Power began a nine-game losing streak which saw coach Mark Williams sacked.
9. Showdown 36 (Round 2, 2014)
Port Adelaide 19.14 (128) d Adelaide 11.7 (73)
A historic Showdown, the first chance to stamp your foot in the ground at Adelaide Oval.
The Power came into the season with renewed optimism after making the finals in 2013, while the Crows got to show off their new star recruit Eddie Betts.
After Port stormed away early, the Crows came surging back, largely thanks to Betts and hit the lead during the third quarter.
However, Jay Schulz, Chad Wingard and the substitute Matt White had other plans, with the Power running away with a mammoth 55-point win.
8. Showdown 38 (Round 5, 2015)
Port Adelaide 18.7 (115) d Adelaide 13.13 (91)
The Power came into this game was favourite after a stellar 2014 campaign saw them finish as preliminary finalist, but the Crows had recruited former Port assistant Phil Walsh as its senior coach.
It was a good old fashioned shootout for the forwards, with Betts down one end and Schulz the other.
Port broke away with a 16-point lead early and the two sides went back and forth for the rest of the game, with the Crows wasting chances in the second term with 2.5.
Robbie Gray secured his second Showdown Medal with 32 touches, 11 clearances and a goal despite Betts and Schulz finishing with five goals each.
7. Showdown 41 (Round 22, 2016)
Adelaide 15.19 (109) d Port Adelaide 14.10 (94)
For Port Adelaide, this game was a dead rubber, but the Crows were gunning for a top four finish and the minor premiership.
The Power’s season was dead and buried the week before after they were thumped by Melbourne, while the Crows were sitting pretty in third after belting Fremantle in Perth.
It was the epitome of Showdown, the Power led by one point at the first break, then the Crows went ahead by 13 points at the half before it was cut back to one at the final change.
Eddie Betts was the clutch superstar, who buried the Power with a mammoth goal from nowhere and celebrated in style.
Matt Crouch won the Showdown Medal, but if Betts was to ever win one (which he didn’t), then it should’ve been this one.
6. Showdown 34 (Round 3, 2013)
Port Adelaide 17.16 (118) d Adelaide 16.13 (109)
Showdown 34 is constantly overshadowed by its successor, but it was an absolute classic.
The Power had started 2-0, but had only beaten cellar dwellers Melbourne and GWS, so the 2012 preliminary finalists were set to pose a real challenge.
In Ken Hinkley’s first Showdown, the Power trailed by four goals midway through the third quarter before mounting a mammoth comeback to draw level at three-quarter-time.
Travis Boak and third-gamer Ollie Wines were massive as the Power pushed away to stun the Crows and start a season 3-0.
Then-Power captain Boak would take out the Showdown Medal.
5. Showdown 42 (Round 3, 2017)
Adelaide 15.10 (100) d Port Adelaide 12.11 (83)
For the first time ever, the two South Australian clubs entered a Showdown as 1 v 2 on the AFL ladder.
Port had stunned Sydney in Sydney and smoked Fremantle by 15 goals, while the Crows had belted GWS and shocked Hawthorn at the MCG.
Both sides full of optimism, a ruck battle ready to wow between Sam Jacobs and Paddy Ryder, Robbie Gray versus Eddie Betts at other ends and so much more.
The Power led by nine points at quarter-time, but had booted 4.6, wasting plenty of opportunities in front of goal.
The crowd was massive, Brett Eddy had been scooped up from South Adelaide by the Power, and after kicking a major, the Power fans began their own ‘Eddy’ chant around the Adelaide Oval.
However, the Crows rose to the top and kicked four goals to three to go 3-0.
4. Showdown 45 (Round 20, 2018)
Adelaide 13.18 (96) d Port Adelaide 14.9 (93)
The equal closest Showdown of all time and one of the most controversial due to the winning goal.
The Power had begun a decline after sitting in fourth spot in round 16, while the Crows had suffered a horrendous season just 12 months after making a grand final.
After a shootout in the first quarter which left scores tied, the Power led at each break, including by one at the final break.
With the game in their grasps, Ollie Wines marked the ball on an angle, opted to try a snap to bury the game and instead buried it into the stands.
Betts goaled and Josh Jenkins would seal a winner which could’ve been deemed to hit the post, all but ending the Power’s season.
Robbie Gray kicked four and had 20 touches to win another Showdown Medal, while Chad Wingard had four in his final Showdown.
3. Showdown 44 (Round 8, 2018)
Port Adelaide 14.11 (95) d Adelaide 14.6 (90)
For the first time since 2000, the Adelaide Crows held the Showdown ledger.
The Power had fallen to their rivals five times in a row, which was a record, surpassing four in the mid-2000s.
The Crows had just easily beaten Carlton, while Port was insipid against West Coast in Perth, going down by seven goals.
It looked as if Adelaide would extend its winning streak against the Power to six as it led by 21 points at halftime.
Enter Robbie Gray.
The Power champion kicked five goals and Wingard booted two as Port kicked seven goals to two to snatch a 12-point lead at the final break.
Ryder goalled just minutes into the last quarter, before Betts responded.
Sam Powell-Pepper put the Power 18 points up and it looked as if it were done and dusted.
Betts kicked one, before Tex Walker launched a bomb from 50 to bring the game within five points.
Mitch McGovern would mark and convert with just seconds remaining on the clock, with the agony spreading throughout the Power supporters.
Dougal Howard produced one of the clearances of the year, McGovern and Richard Douglas collided and Steven Motlop composed himself to kick the winning goal and snap the losing streak.
2. Showdown 39 (Round 16, 2015)
Adelaide 18.8 (116) d Port Adelaide 17.11 (113)
It was an eerie feeling when the two sides ran out onto Adelaide Oval, it wasn’t like any other Showdown, it was a united front.
Only weeks earlier, Crows coach and former Power assistant Phil Walsh was murdered, sending shockwaves through the football community.
Teams had come together to support one another through the tragedy, including the Power and Crows players and supporters.
With no team songs prior to the match, it was a different atmosphere, but once the siren blew, it was all on the line.
The Crows dominated most of the game and led by five goals at the final break.
Wingard had goalled early in the final quarter, but Justin Westhoff and Angus Monfries missed opportunities, and it looked too little, too late for the Power.
Within seven minutes, Matthew Lobbe, Boak and Robbie Gray had scored to get the margin back to three points.
The Crows held on for the final moments, sealing a memorable and emotional victory.
Scott Thompson received the Phil Walsh Medal, which replaced the Showdown Medal for the match.
1. Showdown 35 (Round 19, 2013)
Port Adelaide 17.5 (107) d Adelaide 15.13 (103)
The final Showdown at Football Park and arguably the rebirth of the game’s greatest rivalry after years in the wilderness.
The Power had won a classic earlier in the year, coming from four goals down to stun their rivals, and they were now on the verge of a finals berth.
The Crows needed a win to keep their slim finals hopes alive, while the Power were almost in September if they won.
The Crows took control in the first quarter after the Power kicked the first two.
The Power kicked seven goals to two in the second quarter and the Crows returned serve in the third quarter to lead by two goals at three-quarter-time.
Wingard and Sam Colquhoun kicked majors to bring it back to a point early in the final quarter, but the Crows were composed.
Lewis Johnston, Patrick Dangerfield and Ricky Henderson put goals away to make it 20 points with minutes remaining.
Adelaide had a chance to ice the game, but Johnston burned Dangerfield in the square, with the ball going out of play.
Robbie Gray started the return, countering from that play, before Wingard brought it back to eight points.
Angus Monfries then duelled with Daniel Talia, punted the ball into the square, where it bounced at right angles (right angles, Tim!) through the goals.
With just moments remaining, Angus Monfries centred the ball where Wingard marked and converted, completing a comeback and sealing a finals berth.