Port Adelaide knocked out of AFL finals in extra time as West Coast’s Luke Shuey kicks goal after the siren

PORT Adelaide’s dream of a miraculous run on the long road to the AFL premiership ended in heartbreaking circumstances as Eagle Luke Shuey kicked Port out of the finals.

MICHELANGELO RUCCI

4 min read

September 9, 2017 - 11:06PM

Sunday Mail (SA)

Ken Hinkley and Port must look to 2018. Picture: AAP

Port Adelaide

Don't miss out on the headlines from Port Adelaide. Followed categories will be added to My News.

PORT Adelaide’s dream of a miraculous run on the long road to the AFL premiership ended on the last kick in extra time of a dramatic elimination final against West Coast at Adelaide Oval.

Eagles midfielder Luke Shuey’s 40-metre goal after the siren — from a high-tackle free kick against Power wingman Jared Polec — gave West Coast a remarkable two-point win, 12.6 (78) to 10.16 (76).

RECAP: HOW THE EAGLES ESCAPED

This was the third AFL final forced to extra-time after previous tiebreakers in 1994 (North Melbourne-Hawthorn) and 2007 (West Coast-Collingwood).

It was the most intense of the four finals played from Thursday night when the AFL top-eight series started in Adelaide with a 36-point win by the minor premier Crows. The Power was behind the Eagles until the eighth minute of the last term — an advantage held for just seven minutes as West Coast persisted in a dramatic game.

Robbie Gray reacts to the free kick being given away to Luke Shuey after Jared Polec tackled him too high. Picture: Sarah Reed

Scores were level with three minutes to play after Power captain Travis Boak’s shot at goal hit a goalpost at the Riverbank end.

With scores locked at 60 apiece, neither team could score in the final frantic minutes of regular time before the Power looked to have done enough when Ollie Wines’ goal in the first period of extra time put them 13 points clear.

But Josh Kennedy landed a late blow, and when he nailed another early in the second period of extra time the margin was less than a kick.

Shuey earned a free kick with less than 20 seconds remaining, and coolly slotted the game-winner to put his side into a semi-final with GWS.

“I was nervous, I was nervous,” Shuey said after the siren.

“That’s as good a game as we have ever played in terms of the spectacle for the fans. You don’t want to come out on the wrong side of that one.”

Luke Shuey was the matchwinner. Picture: AAP

Port never gave up, but they lost — and again to a top-order club as has been the script (or saga) of the Power’s season.

And this time it was from a heartbreaking last-minute free kick in extra time to West Coast midfielder Luke Shuey … after Ken Hinkley’s resilient crew blew four scoring chances to ice the game. By painful contrast, the Eagles had three shots in extra time and nailed each one.

Once again, the Power will wonder why it made a game at home so hard for itself. Bad start. Wasteful third term with 1.3 and three out-on-the-full while commanding the ball in its forward half, as was the story when these teams previously played at the Oval in May.

In another world — the SANFL — Port Adelaide often heard, as West Coast did of its midfield in the build-up to this AFL knockout final, that it was “too old, too slow”. And in September the Port Adelaide players would have the last say by proving they also were too good.

West Coast’s “old guard” midfield — in particular the retiring Brownlow Medallists Sam Mitchell and Matt Priddis — can say it was too motivated. It also was too good at the start when the Eagles earned themselves a 19-point start in seven minutes on their favourite ground outside Perth. They commanded the clearances (12-6 at quarter-time) despite the command of the Power’s All-Australian ruckman, Patrick Ryder.

Shattered Port players after the dramatic loss. Picture: Sarah Reed

The long-running story of old legs ultimately exposing West Coast to being overrun by younger, eager (and challenged) opponents did become a tightening noose at halftime. The Eagles were more vulnerable to this trap when Shuey as forced to the medical rooms 10 minutes into the second term — when West Coast led by 31 — for 11 minutes to have an ankle checked and strapped.

And the Power let the Eagles slip out of that noose, particularly when 13 points up early in extra time.

One theme that did change last night was the premise that Power key forward Charlie Dixon does not deliver in big game. The “big man” did all the delivering to the scoreboard in the first quarter and first 16 minutes of the second term when Dixon had all but a behind (Karl Amon) of Port Adelaide’s 3.3 while covering considerable ground to ensure he was not frozen out of the game by a failing midfield.

The point of debate from the armchair critics will focus on “what if Jackson Trengove had played” offering his experience and versatility to working switch-hitting tandems with Justin Westhoff in attack and defence? The relevant question is why the Power’s much-lauded midfield turned up late for a final with no room for error.

Sam Mitchell’s career will go on for at least one more week. Picture: Getty Images

A shattered Charlie Dixon walks off after the loss. Picture Sarah Reed

And mistakes did decide this incredible final. Port Adelaide made too many ... again.

For Hinkley, the result puts his finals record in five seasons at Alberton a 3-3. He has a contract for next season — and was expected to secure a two-year contract extension after this finals series.

There is the question of when Gold Coast, the only AFL club without a senior coach for next year, will ask the question of Hinkley’s willingness to return to Queensland where he was an assistant coach in the Suns’ start-up seasons.

That question is more intriguing by the presence of Gold Coast chief executive Mark Evans at Adelaide Oval — and at the official league pre-game function — last night. Evans explained to the Sunday Mail he was in Adelaide to follow the end of Brownlow Medallist and West Coast midfielder Sam Mitchell’s career. Evans was at Hawthorn, as football manager, when Mitchell was a key player in the Hawks’ premiership dynasty.