AFL Round 19 Port Adelaide v Collingwood: All the news, action and fallout from top-of-the-table clash
Jamie Elliott and the comeback kings have done it again – this time in the game of the season against Port Adelaide. Here’s how the blockbuster that lived up to its billing unfolded.
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Collingwood remains on top of the AFL world after the comeback kings did it again, Craig McRae’s never-say-day men edging main premiership rival Port Adelaide by two points in an instant classic at Adelaide Oval.
The ladder-leading Pies trailed by 17 points at three-quarter time, but Jamie Elliott kicked two of his three goals in a frantic final term as the visitors rallied to a stunning 13.7 (85) to 12.11 (83) win on Saturday night.
So often an event that has been hyped as much as this clash was fails to live up to the build-up, but fans got everything they wanted and more from the titanic tussle.
Played with finals-like intensity and desperation by both sides, the enthralling contest was all tied up with 10 minutes remaining.
In a thrilling crescendo, Elliott put his side in front from the boundary line with seven minutes left only for Sam Powell-Pepper to hit the ball at speed at the other end a minute later to restore his side’s advantage.
With just over three minutes left in the pulsating affair, Elliott converted another shot from the boundary line to put Collingwood in front for good.
“It’s a pattern of behaviour for Jamie,” Magpies coach Craig McRae said after the win.
“It’s just about moments … and we want to manage those moments better than the opposition.
“We practice it, but you can’t practice kicking a goal from the boundary line from 45m out when you’re down on the scoreboard.”
McRae hailed the resilience and never-say-die spirit of his charges after the Magpies dug deep to break Port hearts with a six-goals-to-three final term.
Collingwood has now won 12 of its past 16 matches when trailing at three-quarter-time.
“They have an enormous will to win,” he said.
“I looked the guys in the eyes at three-quarter time and they know what they needed to do.
“I thought it was an outstanding game, credit to Ken and the boys, I think that was the best game we’ve been involved with this year, maybe even the past couple.
“I loved the build up to it, please don’t squash that, I loved the banter and the theatre of it.
“This was a great game of footy with an incredible outcome really.”
Feverish first
The energy in the stadium was palpable pre-game and reached fever pitch during a high quality first quarter that saw the lead change hands five times.
Powell-Pepper helped set the tone with a bullocking goal after brushing off Nathan Murphy and Darcy Moore, who shared an engrossing duel with Charlie Dixon.
The Power’s vaunted pressure game was on from the outset, with the home side bouncing out to a 10-point lead thanks to the strong play of Zak Butters, who had 13 possessions in the opening term, and back-to-back goals to Connor Rozee.
Rozee’s first was a typically classy effort on the run then he hoisted his second high into the Riverbank Stand from close range after he was released by a superb assist from Dixon.
Collingwood was up to the task, Scott Pendlebury matching the 13 touches of Butters, with a Brody Mihocek goal edging the visitors in front by three points at the first break.
Drew v Daicos
Port gained the ascendancy in the second quarter with the effective tag applied by Willem Drew on Nick Daicos a key factor.
Drew kept the second-year star to 11 disposals in the first half, with his efficiency by foot not to its usual standard thanks to Drew’s tight checking.
The Power midfielder also worried Daicos going the other way with 11 possessions of his own and two shots on goal that he was unable to convert.
The Pies led by eight points after Elliott, who was streaming into an open goal, decided to gift a goal to milestone man Taylor Adams, who was outstanding in his 200th AFL game.
But it was the visitors’ only major of the term, the Power edging in front by seven points at half-time.
Such was Drew’s effectiveness, Daicos started the third quarter on the bench and didn’t come on until the nine-minute mark.
With Jordan De Goey’s influence becoming a problem, Drew was redeployed allowing Daicos to play a key role late in the game.
Maynard mown down
The Power peppered away at goal without making the most of its momentum in the third quarter.
The Pies were hanging in there but struggled to move the ball from their back half in their typical daring manner in the face of Port’s stifling pressure.
Brayden Maynard, installed as the crowd’s villain for having the temerity to suggest Collingwood deserved to be on top of the ladder in the lead-up to the clash, received a hot handball as the Pies attempted to clear their defensive 50 and was mown down by Jason Horne-Francis.
Horne-Francis, one of the five players added to the lineup that fell to Carlton, nailed the resultant free kick to help his side to a 17-point lead at three-quarter time.
Scoreboard
POWER 4.0 6.4 9.9 12.11 (83)
MAGPIES 4.3 5.3 7.4 13.7 (85)
PHELAN’S BEST POWER: Butters, Rozee, Drew, Houston, Burton, Powell-Pepper, Rioli. MAGPIES: Sidebottom, Adams, Pendlebury, Cameron, Murphy, Elliott, N Daicos, Crisp, J Daicos.
GOALS POWER: Dixon 2, Rozee 2, Rioli, Powell-Pepper 2, Marshall, Horne-Francis, Evans, Duursma, Finlayson. MAGPIES: Elliott 3, Mihocek 2, McStay 2, Sidebottom, McCreery, J Daicos, Adams, N Daicos.
INJURIES POWER: Nil. MAGPIES: Nil.
UMPIRES Foot, Stephens, Findlay, Gianfagna
47,965 at ADELAIDE OVAL
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
JASON PHELAN’S VOTES
3 Sidebottom (Coll)
2 Butters (Port)
1 Adams (Coll)
Originally published as AFL Round 19 Port Adelaide v Collingwood: All the news, action and fallout from top-of-the-table clash
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