Adelaide v Port Adelaide: Jordan Dawson sinks Power after the siren in Showdown epic

The coincidence in Adelaide’s after-the-siren dagger that sank the Power was not lost on coach Ken Hinkley.

Showdown Medallist Jordan Dawson was confident he would nail his goal after the siren, even though the way the shot swung late from right to left was unintentional.

The 24-year-old fulfilled a boyhood dream on Friday night, sealing Adelaide’s come-from-behind Showdown win in epic fashion with a kick he was not initially supposed to take.

Teammate Lachlan Murphy had been awarded a free for high contact in the dying seconds, but was hurt, came off and Dawson received the footy, having almost had his hand on it when the umpire’s whistle blew.

Dawson said first-year Crows forward Josh Rachele quickly swooped on the ball, hoping to take the shot, before it was given to him.

JORDAN DAWSON IS THE NEW KING OF ADELAIDE!

AFTER THE SIREN AND HOW'S THE REVERSE SWING???#AFLCrowsPowerpic.twitter.com/bkypMz6mwT

— AFL (@AFL) April 1, 2022

Jordan Dawson won the game off his own boot after the siren. Picture: Getty Images

Considered one of the best kicks in the competition, Dawson said it was not one of his best.

“It wasn’t going through my head to do that (swing it from right to left),” Dawson said.

“But obviously you train for a reason and I put myself in situations where I take set shots from everywhere.

“That was how it came off and I was confident before I kicked it.

“It came back late, which was nice.

“Lucky you don’t have to draw pictures.”

The coincidence that it was Dawson that took the free kick was not lost on Power coach Ken Hinkley, who called it “remarkable, weird”.

Both SA clubs tried to recruit the ex-Sydney Swan during last year’s trade period, only for him to choose the Crows.

Adelaide traded a 2022 first-round draft pick tied to Melbourne to secure him.

Dawson also kicked a goal in the second term and finished the game with 24 disposals.

He was swamped by teammates after his matchwinning kick sailed through as the Crows home crowd went wild.

The Robe product, who was playing his third game in the tricolours, described it as a great night for the club.

Dawson chose the Crows over Port Adelaide. Picture: Getty Images

“It was pretty crazy,” he said.

“I’m still digesting it.

“Obviously growing up I loved watching the Showdowns and that extra bit of heat in the contest.”

Dawson could sense on the ground the angst of both clubs being 0-2, chasing their first win.

“The crowd and my teammates have had a tough couple of weeks … and to come out in the first one and win the first one for a few at least (since May 2019), it was pretty special,” he said.

Dawson polled 12 votes to claim the Showdown Medal ahead of Port Adelaide duo Travis Boak (nine) and Todd Marshall (seven).

The Crows planned to assess Murphy, who was playing his first game since recovering from neck surgery, in coming days.

Coach Matthew Nicks told SEN on Saturday that Murphy was OK after a “stinger”.

“Speaking to him initially, he was really concerned,” Nicks said.

“But after the game in the rooms later, we were chatting and he was smiling so that is really good signs.”

‘You get what you deserve’: Crows silence critics in epic

Adelaide has come from the clouds to stun Port Adelaide in a Showdown classic, Jordan Dawson the hero with a goal after the siren to hand the Crows a pulsating four-point win on Friday night.

Port led by as much as 23 points in the second half but couldn’t put away the brave Crows, who booted the last four goals of the epic contest to score a 15.6 (96) to 13.14 (92) win at Adelaide Oval.

Lachie Murphy was felled by Sam Mayes in the dying seconds after Elliott Himmelberg kicked two of his four goals to draw his side within striking distance.

Stream every match of every round of the 2022 Toyota AFL Premiership Season Live & Ad-Break Free In-Play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-Days Free Now >

Murphy left the field clutching his neck with Dawson handed the free kick.

The former Swan, usually a beautiful kick, won the game with a wobbly shot that went right then veered left inside the right goal post at the Cathedral End to send the home fans into raptures and keep the Power winless.

Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks said Dawson’s after-the-siren matchwinner was emblemmatic of his side’s performance on Friday night.

“It didn’t need to be pretty, it didn’t need to be special, even Dawse’s kick for goal wasn’t that pretty off the boot,” Nicks told reporters post-match.

“I think we were all packing our computers up and starting to walk away.

“But you do the work, you get what you deserve and our boys deserved it tonight.

“That’s what makes you so proud of the group.

“I knew they’d fight right to the end and then the footy gods looked after us.”

Nicks had a grin in the coaches box when Dawson took the shot from about 45m near the boundary after the recipient of the free kick, Lachlan Murphy, had come off the ground hurt.

“I don’t know why I was smiling at the end, I guess you just have feelings sometimes,” he said.

Players swamp Dawson after he came up clutch. Picture: Getty Images

Nicks said Murphy conceded post-match that he was glad “that one stung me because I’m not sure I’d kick that one”.

“I’d be lying if I said I’d rather Murph kick that shot than Dawse,” Nicks said.

“But he puts his head over the ball and this is a kid that’s come off an operation on his spine.”

Leading up to the game Crows football director Mark Ricciuto criticised the team, saying

their skills had been shocking and it was underachieving after two losses to start the year.

Adelaide sustained a gut-wrenching one-point loss at home to Fremantle in its season-opener a fortnight ago and was well beaten by Collingwood at the MCG last week.

Nicks said the win would give his players tremendous belief.

“It’s hard to sit with the players after Round 1 and talk about believing,” he said.

“It’s one kick that makes the difference in a game and we get over the line but there’s no doubt there’s (contrasting) emotions.

“My emotions in the rooms compared to Round 1, it’s like I’m a different man.

“But I believed in them after Round 1 and after last week, but for them (the players) though, this is big.”

Adelaide snapped a four-game Showdown losing streak dating back to May 2019 and gave Nicks his first victory in the fixture as Crows coach.

“We just smiled in the rooms before and had a photo around the shield and they all know it’s off the back of them trusting each other and playing their roles for the team,” he said.

Nicks said Murphy was in good spirits but the club would have to keep an eye on him in coming days.

It was Dawson’s second goal in a polished 25-possession performance that landed him the Showdown Medal, with Ben Keays also prominent and Himmelberg and Gollant each booting four goals.

In his 27th Showdown, equalling the record jointly held by Kane Cornes and Andrew McLeod, Travis Boak was outstanding for the Power with 28 touches and 10 clearances, while Todd Marshall kicked a career-high five majors.

BOAK BLITZ

All seven goals in the first quarter were scored from stoppages, so it figured Port led by 19 points at the first break given its ascendancy around the ball where Boak, Willem Drew and Ollie Wines held sway.

The Power rattled home with the last three goals of the first quarter, but it was Adelaide’s turn to get on a roll with the first three majors of the second, Himmelberg with two.

The Crows’ poor skills in their opening two losses earned them a very public spray from football director and club legend Mark Ricciuto and, as good as their pressure game was, they undid some of their good work in the second quarter.

Two 50m penalties for running through the protected area gifted the Power goals, a couple of ill-timed fumbles and missed kicks blotting their copy book.

Todd Marshall kicked five goals. Picture: Getty Images

FORWARDS FIRE

Port’s woes going into an attack missing Charlie Dixon, Robbie Gray and Orazio Fantasia have been well-documented, but Marshall and Mitch Georgiades fired up in a reworked forward line.

Mayes, in for dropped recruit Jeremy Finlayson, was effective as a third tall, plucked a strong contested mark in a crowd and kicked the opening goal of the second half and finished with two.

There were just as many question marks around Adelaide’s misfiring forward line, but Matthew Nicks might have found an answer in Gollant.

In just his third game, the 191cm forward had a presence that belied his inexperience with his mid-air effort in the third quarter a highlight.

Up next, Adelaide will take on Essendon at Marvel Stadium, with Port facing reigning premiers Melbourne at Adelaide Oval on Thursday night.

SCOREBOARD

CROWS 2.1 7.3 10.5 15.6 (96)

POWER 5.2 9.7 11.12 13.14 (92)

PHELAN’S BEST

CROWS: Dawson, Gollant, Keays, Laird, Crouch, Schoenberg.

POWER: Boak, Marshall, Lycett, Wines, Burton, Amon.

GOALS

CROWS: Gollant 4, Himmelberg 4, Dawson 2, Cook, Rachele, Sholl, Schoenberg, McHenry. POWER: Marshall 5, Georgiades 2, Mayes 2, Drew, Lycett, Motlop, Frederick.

INJURIES CROWS: Murphy (neck). POWER: Skinner (leg).

UMPIRES Rosebury, Gavine, Williamson.

ADELAIDE OVAL

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

JASON PHELAN’S VOTES

3 J.Dawson (Adel)

2 T.Boak (PA)

1 T.Marshall (PA)

Power, Hinkley under-siege as top-four in tatters

An after the siren winner by Jordan Dawson has poured a world of pain on Port Adelaide and senior coach Ken Hinkley after Adelaide stole a thrilling Showdown.

Preliminary finalists for the last two-years the Power are now 0-3 and face a rampant Melbourne outfit next before taking on a resurgent Carlton effort.

In the wake of the 64-point loss to Hawthorn in Round 2, Port Adelaide chairman David Koch said there was “intense pressure” on Hinkley in South Australia - which people in Victoria found surprising.

This is only set to increase on Hinkley, who is contracted to the end of 2023, from the increasingly unhappy Port Adelaide fanbase after a stunning finish to the 51st Showdown.

After declaring their were still in the mix to win the premiership the Power’s top four chances are now in tatters as they went 0-3 for the first time since 2011.

After Sam Mayes caught Lachie Murphy with a head high hit, with Murphy unable to take the free-kick, Dawson stepped up and kicked the goal to steal a thrilling Showdown for the Crows.

It was Matthew Nicks’ first as senior coach and the first time the Crows have beaten the Power since 2019.

It comes after the Crows were savaged by football director Mark Ricciuto following their Round 2 loss to Collingwood.

Lachlan Gollant slotted four majors in just his third game. Picture: Getty Images

Fans had also begun to question the direction of the rebuild on social media.

But after facing a long winning streak of their own, the Crows now have a lot of optimism and it isn’t just because of the win.

Last year’s leading goalkicker Taylor Walker is back next week after serving his six game ban for racial vilification.

Rory Sloane should also be back after the Crows captain wasn’t able to take on the Power.

The Crows also had Lachlan Gollant and Elliott Himmelberg step up with four goals each.

The Crows forward line has come in for a lot of criticism so far this season but the two talls showed plenty against the Power.

And to cap off the good feeling for the Crows it was the gun recruit, who chose Adelaide ahead of the Power when he came back to SA from Sydney, who won them the game over their fierce rivals.

Originally published as Adelaide v Port Adelaide: Jordan Dawson sinks Power after the siren in Showdown epic