AFL Round 7, Carlton v Port Adelaide: Robbie Gray goals after the siren to give Power thrilling victory
Carlton coach David Teague had a sinking feeling in his stomach when Port Adelaide’s Robbie Gray marked the footy on the boundary with 20 seconds to go and the Power down three. What happened next would have made him sick.
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By his lofty standards, Robbie Gray had done stuff-all in six games this season and almost threw the game against Carlton away with one minute to go on Sunday.
But there’s a reason you can buy a T-shirt with ‘The Goat’ and Gray’s face on it and it’s because of what happened next.
With 20 seconds to go against Carlton at the Gabba, and with the Power trailing by three points, Gray marked the footy on the boundary and went back after the siren and slotted the shot with a drop punt that most players in the competition could only dream of kicking.
Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley praised his side’s mental and physical toughness – and marvelled at game-winning superstar Gray – after the win.
For the second week in a row the Power was on a pre-dawn flight to Queensland and at the Gabba on Sunday they played the final quarter two men down, but found a way thanks to Gray’s after-the-siren goal.
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“It’s just incredibly brave, the way we fought it out as a footy team, there’s something about the team at the moment and the boys’ belief in themselves and their resilience,” Hinkley said.
“We’re two men down, back to back travel games, up at 5am and on the plane in 25 degrees, there were a few things going against us and then ... Robbie Gray.”
What else is there left to possibly say about Gray who continues to do the seemingly impossible?
“He’s just been such a great player for us as a footy club and me as a coach, you never underestimate what the champs of the game will do and normally the bigger the moment the bigger they get,” Hinkley said.
“I’ve been lucky to be around a lot of great players and Rob fits in that category of players, no doubt about that. I don’t know if I thought he would kick it, but I was bloody pleased he did.”
Speaking to Fox Footy after the match, key forward Charlie Dixon – who booted 3.4 for the afternoon, but missed a shot late after clunking a big contested mark that would’ve levelled the scores – praised Gray for his execution under pressure.
“I think Rob saved my arse there with the amount of goals I missed today, it was a good scrappy win,” he said.
“We were able to get a little bit more structure around who is flying and a couple of one-on-one contests where I was able to get some good position and get a chance to fly on the ball.”
The Power lost Ryan Burton (quad) and Steven Motlop (ankle) in the last quarter and Connor Rozee finished the game, but had his right foot in a moon boot post-match after appearing to hurt it in the first half.
There is still some doubt over ruckman Scott Lycett for next week after he missed the win over Carlton with a knee injury, but his replacement Peter Ladhams starred with 21 disposals and four clearances.
“He (Ladhams) got a lot of the footy for a ruckman, that’s what he brings, another midfielder at ground level, and Pete’s great weapon is he can do a fair bit of that,” Hinkley said.
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“Scott’s a big part of what we’re trying to do and Pete stepped up – I don’t know when he last played to be honest – but I think there’s some depth underneath and we have a couple of players still to be seen.
“He (Lycett) is some risk for next week, no doubt about that, his scan we’re not sure of the actual results (yet) but he trained on Friday, he did a bit of running so it’s not too bad.
“But it’s enough that he couldn’t go to top gear so we didn’t take a risk.”
Hinkley said Dixon was “enormous” and Marshall played the supporting role “really well” after they combined for seven contested marks and three goals in the win over the Blues.
At the other end, he was just as high in praise for his back half led by captain Tom Jonas.
“He’s been fantastic all year, just a great leader and they play like him as much as they can which is really pleasing,” Hinkley said.
TEAGUE PREDICTED GRAY MATCHWINNER
Carlton coach David Teague had a sinking feeling in his stomach when Port Adelaide’s Robbie Gray marked the footy on the boundary with 20 seconds to go.
“I thought ‘he’s due, he’ll probably hit this one’. He’s obviously been a great player for a long time,” he said.
But even after Gray’s game-winning heroics, Teague had perspective on the three-point loss at the Gabba.
“It was disappointing, but they (Port) had their chances to be honest, they had three or four chances late which were gettable,” Teague said.
“In hindsight I wished they had’ve kicked one earlier and it might have sped our ball use up and we might have taken the game on a bit more.
“But I thought our effort and intent was really good, we were off in a few areas and that was the disappointing thing, our ball use was a bit off and our defence we probably sat back a little bit too much.
“To the guys’ credit their effort and way they competed kept us in the game and even late they were hanging tough, but to Port’s credit they just kept coming at us and kicked the winner after the siren.”
Gray kicked the winning goal but Charlie Dixon was the most dangerous forward on the ground and kicked 3.4 on Liam Jones, however Teague said the decision to stick with the match-up for the four quarters was due to overall balance.
“We did talk about it, if the game was getting out of hand we probably would have changed it but I thought our other match-ups with Jacob Weitering and Lachie Plowman were doing quite a good job,” he said.
“The scoreboard was staying intact, there was discussion around it but in the end we didn’t go that way.”
The Blues are now 3-4 after Round 7 but are no longer relying on Patrick Cripps to carry them across the line in games.
“That’s what we want, that’s where our growth is going to be, obviously Patrick is a great player and he was good for us again but we need other guys to step up and that’s what we’ve seen this year,” Teague said.
“Pat is still playing good football for us but we’re not relying on him, it’s a team brand of footy and even our scoring we want to spread the load.”
Number one draft pick Sam Walsh is one who stepped up big-time on Sunday including taking a courageous mark going back with the flight of the footy.
“Early signs I thought he was our best player, I haven’t watched the game back closely but I thought he played the way we wanted to,” Teague said.
“And that mark behind the ball, this season is building nicely for him, he’s understanding his role, playing a bit more on the wing than the midfield and that can be a tough position.
“What I’m loving is his teammates are really understanding the importance of his role and he’s not measuring his game by possessions, but by the way he’s getting his job done.”
BIG MEN REIGN
Gray was the hero but Port Adelaide’s big men reigned supreme – at both ends of the ground.
Tom Jonas lost one one-on-one contest against Harry McKay and didn’t put another foot wrong for the rest of the game and it was his and Trent McKenzie’s intercept marking and spoiling that saved the game from getting away from them.
Despite nearly throwing the game away, Todd Marshall sprung to life after a quiet month with crucial lead-up play and pinpoint passes; Charlie Dixon dominated Liam Jones, kicked 3.4 and was the dominant forward on the ground; and Peter Ladhams outplayed Marc Pittonet to suggest he may keep his spot when Scott Lycett recovers.
The exception was Justin Westhoff who couldn’t get into the game with just one handball in three quarters, but some important moments in the last.
FAST FOOTY BLUES
It was a heartbreaking end for Carlton, but not a big picture disaster.
After blowing the Bulldogs away last week, they had to slug it out for three quarters just to stay with Port Adelaide and when Patrick Cripps stood up, at long last he didn’t have to do it on his own.
Sam Walsh and Sam Docherty both took courageous marks going back with the flight of the ball in defence and Walsh kicked an important goal, Michael Gibbons and Ed Curnow provided midfield support, Harry McKay kicked three goals and Jacob Weitering was awesome in defence.
The Blues played fast, play-on-at-all-costs type footy and this should be the norm now.
Four goals from four inside 50s in the first term was a sign of good things to come.
They just needed to do it for 30 seconds longer.
YEAH THE BACKS
Port Adelaide won this game in defence. The run of Darcy Byrne-Jones who comes off the square like a fourth midfielder at centre bounce, Hamish Hartlett and Ryan Burton, and the rock solid Jonas and McKenzie.
McKenzie stopped a certain goal by leaving his man at an important time in the third quarter and Zak Butters’ workrate to get back and mark the footy on the goal line was another sign of Port’s desperation.
Butters is arguably the smartest player on Port’s list now. His ball use and creativity set them up and he ran all day.
SCOREBOARD
CARLTON 4.2 5.4 6.6 9.7 (61)
lost to
PORT ADELAIDE 4.1 6.4 7.6 9.10 (64)
BEST
Carlton: Cripps, Walsh, Weitering, McKay, Curnow, Kennedy
Port Adelaide: Dixon, Jonas, Marshall, Byrne-Jones, McKenzie, Ladhams, Butters
GOALS
Carlton: McKay 3, Walsh 2, Gibbons, Martin, Betts, Newnes
Port Adelaide: Dixon 3, Farrell 2, Boak, Motlop, Butters, Gray
VOTES
3 — Charlie Dixon (Port)
2 — Tom Jonas (Port)
1 — Patrick Cripps (Carlton).
INJURIES
Carlton: NIL
Port Adelaide: Motlop, Burton
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Originally published as AFL Round 7, Carlton v Port Adelaide: Robbie Gray goals after the siren to give Power thrilling victory