Mark Robinson: Port consigned to week of ridicule after 84-point loss to Geelong
It was Port Adelaide’s biggest game of the year, and they choked, writes Mark Robinson. And with either the Bulldogs or Hawks waiting, it’s going to be a long week for Ken Hinkley.
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A choke on the most important night of the year for Port Adelaide has consigned coach Ken Hinkley and his team to a week of ridicule and fearmongering.
The ridicule is deserved.
A hammering of this magnitude at home in a qualifying final – it was by 84 points – cannot be dismissed as unfortunate or unlucky.
The fearmongering will centre on Hinkley’s future.
A loss next weekend would mean a second consecutive straight-sets departure from September and, if that happened, it remains to be seen if the Port powerbrokers would deem it ultimately unfortunate for Hinkley.
That’s high-stakes finals footy and its fallout.
As Hinkley ponders what happened on a horrid night, and begins the process to re-group, Geelong coach Chris Scott can take in his stride one of his team’s most commanding finals wins.
It’s a walk he knows so well.
The win marches Scott into his ninth preliminary final in 14 years.
In a competition designed for equality, that’s outstanding and astounding. Ask Essendon fans just how much so.
It was a brilliant and clinical performance and tops an incredible season.
If you said at the start of the season that Tom Hawkins would be injured and not play past round 15, that Patrick Dangerfield would miss nine games, Cam Guthrie would play only four games, Sam De Koning wouldn’t get a game come September, and Tom Stewart would miss the qualifying final, and the Cats would still win their way into a preliminary final, well, you’d win the internet as they say.
It’s those circumstances that further enhance Scott’s standing as a coach and propels his group of players front and centre into the premiership discussion.
Pick a Cats player and we can tell you a wonderful story.
Pick a component of Thursday night’s game and there’s a Geelong story to tell.
The role players were prominent.
Jack Bowes in the middle.
Lawson Humphries in defence.
Mark Blicavs on three-possessions Charlie Dixon.
And all of the front-half players, particularly Shaun Mannagh, who was the highest-rated player on the ground.
What a story Mannagh is. He had 528m gained for a high half-forward, 13 score involvements and three goals.
Dangerfield was supreme. He touched it 24 times, mostly with menace, and 12 of them were score involvements.
Max Holmes, who should win the best-and-fairest, had 28 disposals and 668m gained.
The victory easily could’ve been 100-plus.
Geelong didn’t get bang for buck in the first quarter, kicking 3.7 from 17 entries opposed to Port’s 3.4 from 14 entries.
Three posters were unlucky, but also sloppy because two of them were front straight in front of goals.
The Cats were imposing. Jeremy Cameron spooked Aliir Aliir with his class and he sparked the game with a special high-curling goal from the wrong pocket.
Few players have that capability.
The pre-match discussion was about whether Port’s midfield could dominate and go from there, or whether Geelong’s small forwards could torment
It was the latter.
For a fierce game, too many Cats forwards found space.
Sometimes a couple of metres, sometimes 10 metres. And not for inaccuracy, which was supposed to be Port’s achilles heel, this game was over at half-time.
Geelong was far cleaner in chaos and at ground level, and the fact that Port was able to take 14 intercept marks in the first half saved them from an almighty trouncing.
The game separated in the second quarter in the most important KPI – the scoreboard. Five goals were shared in the first 10 minutes.
Certainly, it was a high class game and was pleasing to watch, but the low-level accountability had to displease the coaches.
Hinkey’s displeasure would’ve been compounded by disbelief over the next 10 minutes. The Cats kicked five unanswered goals, the best coming after a blistering end-to-end play which Tyson Stengle got on the end of.
At that point, Holmes was running rampant – he had 16 possessions at the half and 487m gained – Tom Atkins, Dangerfield and Bowes were the muscle between the arcs, and Stengle, Jack Henry and Jeremy Cameron had the smarts in the forward 50m.
Geelong kicked seven goals within 30m from goal in the first half.
All up, they kicked 14 of their 20 goals came from inside 30m.
That’s schoolboy defence. Shambolic and unaccountable.
Cameron, Stengle, Miers and Mannagh all kicked three or more goals.
Port’s gun midfielders were non-factors. Connor Rozee was disappointing, Jason Horne-Francis had moments, but was subdued by Oisin Mullin when he was forward, and Atkins and Brunn when in the middle.
With Dan Houston, Kane Farrell and now probably Zak Butters who was subbed at half-time with injury, we’re not sure Port Adelaide can recover from this.
They will now play the winner of the two hottest teams in the game, Hawthorn or the Bulldogs, which doesn’t make Hinkley’s week any way easier.
For Kenny and his coaching department, this was their worst nightmare.
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