Robbie Gray turns on a masterclass as Port Adelaide Power downs Collingwood in their AFL clash at the MCG
ROBBIE Gray has completed the transition from great midfielder-forward to great specialist forward after parading his full repertoire of tricks in Port Adelaide’s comfortable win against Collingwood.
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ROBBIE Gray has completed the transition from great midfielder-forward to great specialist forward after parading his full repertoire of tricks in Port Adelaide’s comfortable win against Collingwood at the MCG on Saturday.
His five-goal contribution was worth the price of admission on its own.
Gray mixed crisp set shots with drop punts, banana kicks and goals on the run.
That went with his blocks, setting up teammates’ goals and shepherding in one goal when others would have flown for the mark.
His marking included the full variety, too.
He shook his opponent to take it on the lead, wrestled it down in a contest and took one pass from Charlie Dixon like a cricketer takes a diving slips catch.
The on-field understanding between Gray and Dixon should not be underplayed but as good as Dixon has been of late, Saturday was Gray’s day, as he racked up 146 SuperCoach points.
Others were imposing too as the Power dominated from the opening quarter of the match.
Port’s tackling, pressure and ability to lock the ball inside its forward 50 was led by players such as Gray, Ollie Wines, Brad Ebert and Sam Powell-Pepper.
Paddy Ryder, playing in his 200th AFL game, had the better of Brodie Grundy in the ruck as two of the competition’s heavyweights went at one another and Ryder also had the rare ability to rove his own ruckwork.
The goal that sealed the match half way through the final quarter summed it up: Ryder won the tap, found the ball with his second contest and banged it forward to Dixon, who marked it and finished his work.
As for the two players who returned to the side, Matt White and Jasper Pittard, both had their moments when they used their speed to burst away, even though both of them were in and out of the game.
Had the Power not missed so many sitters — at least four from less than 35m — the game would have been over by half time.
But Port is now back at the stage which it covets.
It is back to being an uncomfortable side to play against.
The Magpies had a pig of a time trying to get the ball out of the backline and the Power kept forcing turnovers that gave the visitors chances to build on the buffer they had created in the first quarter.
Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury was impressive in putting up a resistance — he had 20 touches by half time — and there are few players in the game who seem to have so much time and grace Pendlebury when he’s got the ball in his hands.
Jeremy Howe treated the audience to a couple of his signature hangers although it was teammate Grundy who took the biggest grab of the day.
But Collingwood had several issues.
Its handball-to-kick ration was out of whack because of the Power’s pressure.
The Pies continually ignored the chance to move the ball forward quickly and instead handpassed themselves into more and more trouble until the inevitable turnover happened.
The forward line also looked dysfunctional, with only Alex Fasolo looking like a serious threat. Darcy Moore finished with three goals but never looked like imposing himself on the game.
The Magpies had their moments. As much as the Power held them up, they continued to run and play on and play the ground well.
The width of the MCG makes it a greater challenge to defend and gives you more space when you attack and Collingwood knew how to open it up once they managed to get it out of the backline.
But the match was — as coach Ken Hinkley had predicted — won by defence.
Port Adelaide’s ability to contain and frustrate the opposition with accountancy was back to its best, even though some of its kicking for goal left a little to wish for.
CHRIS McDERMOTT’S PORT ADELAIDE FAST 5
1. Missed opportunities can hurt you and Port butchered at least three shots on goal in the first term and misses such as that could have and will eventually prove costly. Kicking efficiency has been and continues to be a problem that must be fixed.
2. Matty White was back and adds something special to this team. In fact he adds plenty of it. Speed, speed and more speed. It is still one of the greatest assets any team can have. White is a must in the Power’s 22 for the rest of this year ... but he must stay fit.
3. Robbie Gray! Robbie Gray! Robbie Gray! What more can I say? Robbie Gray! That was special.
4. Kicking goals has not been a problem this year and wasn’t a problem against Collingwood but relying on smalls only to kick them must be watched. Charlie Dixon kicked just the one and he was the only goalscorer of the Power talls. It is something to note and something to watch.
5. Can we please throw the ball up in the centre square? It’s officially embarrassing now. People want to eliminate jumper punches and irrelevant issues in our game but one of the biggest blights on it remains ignored. When a solution is simple, we must question why it is being ignored.
SCOREBOARD
PORT ADELAIDE 4.3 6.8 11.11 13.15 (93)
COLLINGWOOD 1.0 4.3 6.7 9.8 (62)
BEST — Port: R. Gray, Wines, Ryder, Jonas, S. Gray, White. Collingwood:
Pendlebury, Sidebottom, Howe, Fasolo, Treloar, Adams.
GOALS — Port Adelaide: R. Gray 5, S. Gray 2, Impey, Neade, White, Wingard, Wines, Dixon. Collingwood: Moore 3, Fasolo 2, Brown, De Goey, Crocker, Reid
INJURIES, REPORTS — Nil
UMPIRES: Dalgleish, S. Ryan, B. Ryan
CROWD: 35,933 at the MCG
Originally published as Robbie Gray turns on a masterclass as Port Adelaide Power downs Collingwood in their AFL clash at the MCG
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