AFL Finals: All the news and action out of the Qualifying Final clash between Port Adelaide and Geelong
Port Adelaide defeated Geelong in front of 25,000 roaring fans at Adelaide Oval and there are signs they may be able to ‘sneak in’ even more supporters for the preliminary final.
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Port Adelaide chief executive Keith Thomas says he is hopeful of a 30,000 crowd for the Power’s preliminary final at Adelaide Oval.
The capacity at Adelaide Oval for the Power’s thrilling 16-point win over Geelong was set at 25,000 — including corporates — and Thomas said he was hopeful of getting more Port fans into the ground come October 17 against either Richmond or St Kilda.
“I’ve been assuming that it will be much the same (capped at 25,000) but I am hearing that the (State) Government is open to the idea of increasing it slightly, which would be really welcomed from our point of view,” he said on ABC radio.
“I think they analyse every game and the behaviour of every crowd, the systems that are in place to regulate the movement of people and to minimise risk.
“I’m hearing there is a chance there could be more.”
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When asked on Sunday SA Police said if Port Adelaide or the AFL made a request for the capacity at Adelaide Oval to be lifted then it would be looked at.
On Friday Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said the success of the qualifying final was in Port Adelaide’s favour.
“I am sure they (SA Health) will be looking at what this behaviour was like and whether this lends itself to additional crowd capacity or whether we’re at the mark where we can safely manage an event at this point,” he said.
A SA Health spokeswoman said: “We will continue to work with the Adelaide Oval to protect the health and wellbeing of all patrons of events held at the stadium.”
Thomas said getting the capacity at 30,000 for the preliminary final would be excellent.
“I know that our Government has been really quite conservative all the way through and rightly so,” he said.
“If we can get it up to 30,000 it would be a really great result.
“If we can sneak a few more in (at Adelaide Oval), that would be nice.”
It is understood that a crowd approaching 35,000 was part of the unsuccessful pitch for Adelaide Oval to host the Grand Final.
The Gabba, the venue chosen by the AFL, increased its capacity from 16,000 to 25,000 for the qualifying final between Brisbane and Richmond and the elimination final between St Kilda and the Western Bulldogs.
It has raised the possibility of a crowd of more than 30,000 for the October 24 night Grand Final.
Thomas also conceded that the Power’s annual match in Shanghai is “unlikely” to go ahead next year as part of doubts around international travel, but he stressed that China would remain important to Port’s commercial fortunes.
BUTTERS’ MAGIC MOMENTS A WINDOW INTO PORT’S RISE
Zak Butters is one of Port Adelaide’s often-talked-about three top-20 picks from the 2018 draft who have become faces of the club’s reboot from also-ran to preliminary finalist.
He is also an example of how the Power is living coach Ken Hinkley’s old and new catchcries of “we will never give up” and “resilience”.
At halftime of Port’s home qualifying final against Geelong on Thursday night, Butters had just two disposals, both kicks – and one was out on the full.
By his own admission, he was nervous, playing his first final since he was 16 for Darley’s A grade in Bacchus Marsh, and rusty, after serving a two-game rough-conduct ban.
But he bounced back to finish with 14 touches and had three huge second-half moments in Port’s 16-point win: a smother on Jake Kolodjashnij a bump on two Cats before handballing while on the ground to help set up a Peter Ladhams goal, then a composed assist for Todd Marshall’s sealer.
Butters, who was shocked to be named in the All-Australian squad of 40 last week, put his in-game turnaround down to the team’s tight bond.
“I was obviously pretty shattered (to get suspended) – I was in some pretty good form,” Butters told News Corp.
“Obviously, it was a bit of a setback but once again, that’s where resilience comes into play.
“I had a pretty average first half ... was a bit rusty and made a few mistakes but going into the second half I just wanted to give my all.
“I think that’s the strong connection we’ve built – everyone wants to play for each other and that’s what’s so great about playing for this club at the moment.”
Take a bow, Zak Butters 💪 @pafc#AFLFinals pic.twitter.com/zwt9NClTH0
— 7AFL (@7AFL) October 1, 2020
The connection between Hinkley and his squad is obvious.
When they insisted on him celebrating his AFL life membership and the win over GWS by singing the song in the team circle, it was there for all to see.
Just as there was genuine affection between coach and players after the siren on Thursday night.
Yet on February 11, it looked like Hinkley had blind faith.
Port was coming off back-to-back years without finals and he would likely have lost his job if it missed again this season, but he said the memorable line “look out, we’re coming” about the club’s expectations of winning a flag in its 150th year.
The comment was met with some external criticism and sniggers at the time.
Not so today.
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When the Power beat Collingwood to secure the minor premiership last month, Hinkley instantly recalled the date he made the statement, showing how it had stuck with him.
On Thursday night, the players vindicated his pre-season optimism in them.
Butters said Hinkley was emotional in the change rooms post-game, “just so proud of the group and everything we’ve done”.
“This is what he’s said since day one of pre-season – this is what we’re aiming for,” he said.
“There was always belief inside the four walls.
“Ollie Wines was basically a new recruit this year, Charlie Dixon was basically a recruit and they’re crucial.
“We’ve been top of the ladder all year and probably haven’t got the respect we deserve and Kenny said ‘don’t worry about that’.
“The boys really wanted to step up tonight and show everyone what we’re about.
“There was probably times in that game where we could’ve dropped off or we could’ve hung our heads but we kept cracking in.
“That’s what he was proud of – no one gave up.”
“We will never ever give up” was Hinkley’s most commonly used phrase when he arrived at Alberton at the end of 2012 and sought to make long-struggling Port competitive.
In 2020, the theme he speaks of most is “resilience”, in a nod to the myriad challenges of a season like no other, overcoming them and the club’s work with mindfulness group The Resilience Project.
Another of his favourite expressions since joining the Power is “you get what you deserve”.
Right now for Port, that is a week off and home preliminary final.
“We’ll stay in the present, enjoy the next few days and get around each other, and celebrate the win,” Butters said.
“Then we’ll focus on the next few weeks and focus on the next game.”
Next for Geelong is a match it knows all too well – a semi-final.
Since winning the 2011 premiership, the Cats have been in six qualifying finals for a 1-5 record.
Geelong’s only qualifying final win during that span came when the Hawks’ Isaac Smith missed a kick after the siren in 2016.
Losing qualifying finals means adding an extra game in a flag tilt and this week that will either be against St Kilda or the Western Bulldogs.
Geelong beat both this season – the Saints by 59 points in Round 11 and the Dogs by 11 in Round 14 – but it had also thumped Port by 60 in Round 12, and that mattered little on Thursday night.
Although Cats coach Chris Scott has called criticism of his side’s ability to perform in finals a “bit lazy”, that scrutiny will only intensify over the next week.
The good news for Geelong is that it is 3-1 in semi-finals since that 2011 flag.
It will be hoping for more from players such as Gary Ablett (10 disposals against Port) and Gary Rohan (five), and Tom Hawkins will probably never kick that poorly again, given his 0.5 is the most erratic performance in his 273-game career.
In fact, it was Geelong’s second-most wayward showing this season.
The Cats ranked second for accuracy during the minor round, going at 50.7 per cent, but went at 29.4 per cent against Port.
Is that a case of crumbling under pressure?
Scott did not think so and believed his side would bounce back.
And he used one of Hinkley’s most commonly used words while making his point.
“I’ve got a lot of confidence in the resilience and capacity of our players,” Scott said.
“This year we’ve performed well under adversity, we’ve had our patches where we haven’t gone that well and bounced back both post-games and within games.
“I’ve got a lot of faith in the character of our group.”
PORT CLOSER TO FAIRYTALE FLAG
So who doesn’t believe in Port Adelaide now?
The minor premier who no one fancied for the flag is now one game away from the grand final after booking a home preliminary final with a 16-point win over Geelong on Thursday night.
The team that hadn’t won a final in six years and with six players who hadn’t even played in one overwhelmed the Cats — who had the oldest team in VFL/AFL history but continued their flaky finals record which is now 4-12 since their last flag in 2011.
But a hungry and desperate Port Adelaide showed no signs of stage fright.
From Steven Motlop’s brilliance with three goals and a goal assist against his old side to Xavier Duursma and Todd Marshall’s unbelievable courage. From Ollie Wines and Travis Boak’s grunt work in the middle to the collective effort of the backline which was helped by Tom Hawkins’ wayward night in front of goal (0.5), the Power continued to defy the knockers while they just want to party in their 150th year.
Geelong coach Chris Scott said the loss was a “bitter pill to swallow”.
“We probably had control of the game for large periods,” he said.
“We had chances, I wouldn’t say we were dominant I would say it was pretty even and they took their chances.”
HINKLEY: WE DON’T BELIEVE, WE KNOW WE’RE GOOD ENOUGH
Port Adelaide waited six years to taste a finals victory and now their coach Ken Hinkley says they want two more this month.
The Power will play a home preliminary final in a fortnight’s time having sat on top of the AFL ladder all season, desperate for a shot at winning the premiership in their 150th year.
“It’s interesting because I don’t think it (mindset) will change too much, we had strong belief at the start of the year and right through,” Hinkley said.
“We made some decisions and had great belief in each other and we just knew sticking together was going to be important.
“It’s been a challenging season so far and still bigger challenges to come we hope, but we don’t not believe, we do believe, we believe in us as a football club and a community, we know we’re good enough.
“They’ve been waiting a little while — Tom Rockliff has waited for 200-odd games — they know they had to qualify and they want their moment.
“They want two more games but they know they can’t get ahead, they’ll come competitive and ready to play a tough game of football again in a couple of week’s time.”
The Power reversed a 60-point loss to Geelong in Round 12 to win by 16 points at Adelaide Oval in Thursday’s qualifying final.
“They hung in there tonight, they just played tough, and I think we’ve done that a number of times this season,” Hinkley said.
“I’ve said they’ve been more resilient and predictable to each other, and they’ve been prepared to play it tough, hard and brutal at times to get to the line and it takes a bit of nerve against the quality of the opposition we played against tonight.
“We reviewed that game (Round 12 loss to Geelong) really, really closely, and not just as coaches but as players, and there was one overriding thing we thought came out and that was our energy to compete, it just wasn’t where it needed to be.
“Luckily tonight we had a lot more energy for the battle and credit to the boys.”
Hinkley praised Trent McKenzie’s game on Tom Hawkins who kicked a wayward 0.5 but said it was just as much due to the way the team collectively forced Geelong and Hawkins wide to take his shots from the boundary.
He was also full of praise for Xavier Duursma who was knocked out going back with the flight of the ball and Todd Marshall who hurt his shoulder in the first quarter but returned to kick the match-sealing goal.
“He’s (Duursma) just a courageous kid, if you look through his highlights you’ll see him doing that so many times and unfortunately tonight he got hurt,” Hinkley said.
“But I can tell you one thing, the next game he plays he’ll put himself in the same spot because that’s just who he is.
“(And) Todd Marshall is a special person, a special player, he just had to hang in for us tonight, he had a really sore shoulder five minutes into the game and needed some help and support to stay out there, but to take that shot, that clutch shot from 45m and finish it, I’m so proud of Todd to be honest.”
CATS COACH DEFENDS UMPIRE OUTBURST
Geelong coach Chris Scott’s phone may well light up with the contact name “AFL” on Friday, after his outburst about the bouncing of the ball in the Cats’ finals loss to Port Adelaide.
As the bounce came into question on Thursday night, whether Scott faces any need to explain is in the court of the competition’s football department, according to league boss Gillon McLachlan.
The Geelong coach claims he “wasn’t animated” in gesturing for the umpires to throw the ball up rather than bounce it in the centre, where Scott approached the umpiring group at halftime, appearing to directly address field umpire Ray Chamberlain in relation to centre bounces.
The umpires in Thursday night’s qualifying final appeared to favour one side of the centre circle when bouncing the ball, giving one ruckman an advantage.
“You look at the position of where the ball is actually being bounced,” former Essendon skipper Jobe Watson highlighted on Channel 7.
“The idea is you have a centre circle and both players get an even opportunity because the ball is bounced in the middle of that centre circle.
“If you take it to one side, you immediately disadvantage one of the teams.”
Turn down the volume Ray. He is making the right decisions but finals are not about umpires.
— Jon Ralph (@RalphyHeraldSun) October 1, 2020
Scott maintained that he “didn’t have a problem with the game was umpired” and said he had been asking “a genuine question”.
“I’m not just saying this to pump them up, but it’s been a tough year for everyone,” he said.
“They’ve performed under adversity as well. It’s a hostile environment here (at Adelaide Oval) and it was a genuine question that I was asking them. It wasn’t a criticism and I don’t have any criticisms of the way they umpired the game. I don’t think they had an influence, really at all ... you can always look back on it (and there’s some) 50-50s.
“We’ll draw 50 conclusions about the game before we start looking at a decision here or a decision there.”
Scott said he was simply trying to be heard above the raucous Power crowd at Adelaide Oval, but it could see him forced to explain his actions to the league.
“I wasn’t animated – it was loud out there, so it was hard to make yourself heard,” he said after the game
“I was just asking, ‘Who bounces the ball’. What the process there was for centre bounces.”
McLachlan said on Friday morning that Scott’s actions had not come across his desk.
“I haven’t heard that he is (in strife),” McLachlan said on 3AW.
“I didn’t see the incident — I saw it afterwards.
“I’ve had a meeting this morning and it wasn’t raised, but again, I’ll leave that with the footy department if there are any issues. I certainly haven’t heard of any.”
Scott’s actions were questioned by former Richmond and Western Bulldogs coach Terry Wallace, who said he was “really surprised why a coach in a final at halftime would have his focus on how an umpire is bouncing the ball”.
Scott said he considered the umpires to have had “a pretty good night, overall” as the Cats went down by 16 points to face an elimination semi-final next weekend.
COURAGEOUS KIDS
Xavier Duursma’s tears and Todd Marshall’s smile showed exactly what this meant to them.
As the Port Adelaide huddle broke from three-quarter-time Duursma made his way to the bench in tears, clearly having been told he wouldn’t be going back on.
It was a minor miracle he was walking around at all given 20 minutes earlier he lay face down in the turf having been knocked unconscious.
Duursma typified what Port Adelaide was about in the qualifying final. He had eight touches - the second most of any Power player in the first half - then set up a goal early in the third with a brilliant chase-down tackle on Jack Henry.
Then moments later he ran back with the flight of the ball inside 50m and ran straight into Mark Blicavs, hit the ground and did not move before eventually being helped from the ground.
Then there was Marshall who came back from what appeared to be a dislocated shoulder which forced him from the ground in the first term.
He returned with it heavily strapped as Lachie Henderson bumped into it and whispered in his ear. But at every opportunity Marshall forced a contest and his set shot goal in the final term sealed the win.
CAT ATTACK BLUNTED
Tom Hawkins kicked 6.2 against Port Adelaide in Round 12, mostly on Tom Clurey, but we never got the rematch.
Instead Ken Hinkley sent Trent McKenzie to the Coleman Medallist who did everything but assert himself on the scoreboard.
At half-time he’d had four shots on goal for 0.3 including two misses from the scoreboard pocket, then having out-marked McKenzie 20m out he nonchalantly turned onto his left foot and missed the snap around his body.
Hawkins finished with 0.5 and his team an inaccurate 5.12 with Rhys Stanley posing the most dangerous threat and Patrick Dangerfield’s running goal from 70m threatening to drag his team back into it just before three-quarter-time.
But overall Port Adelaide’s undersized defence stood up well with Tom Jonas on Gary Rohan and Clurey on Stanley. But it was thanks to the efforts of their teammates including Ryan Burton and the brilliant Hamish Hartlett who often went second and third man up to help.
COOL HAND SAM
What a final from Sam Powell-Pepper.
When he didn’t have the footy his pressure was immense but when he did have it he moved with manic speed yet didn’t make rushed or poor decisions.
He had five contested possessions and five clearances in the first quarter, had a classy give-and-go with Connor Rozee on the boundary in the second then his biggest moment arrived in the shadows of half-time.
Having just conceded a goal to Joel Selwood with one minute to go, the Power won the clearance and Powell-Pepper took possession at half-forward, shrugged the tackle and got it to Ollie Wines who found Brad Ebert for a morale-lifting goal after the siren.
Even his pressure to force Jake Kolodjashnij to kick out on the full in the final quarter was important in the win.
SCOREBOARD
PORT ADELAIDE 2.1 4.2 7.4 9.4 (58)
GEELONG 1.4 3.7 4.8 5.12 (42)
BEST - Port Adelaide: Hartlett, Powell-Pepper, Wines, Rockliff, Boak, Motlop, Jonas. Geelong: Selwood, Parfitt, Dangerfield, Bews, Guthrie, Duncan.
GOALS - Port Adelaide: Motlop 3, Ebert 2, Dixon, Rozee, Ladhams, Marshall. Geelong: Stanley 2, Tuohy, Selwood, Dangerfield.
INJURIES - Port Adelaide: Duursma (concussion).
At Adelaide Oval.
SCOTT FUMES AT UMPIRES OVER CENTRE BOUNCES
A fuming Chris Scott let his emotions loose at the umpires at half-time.
Scott stormed onto Adelaide Oval and let rip at the whistleblowers about the centre bounces.
Scott indicated he wanted the umpires to throw the ball up as a number of bounces failed to both ruckman an even chance.
“You look at the position of where the ball is actually being bounced, the idea is you have a centre circle and both players get an even opportunity because the ball is bounced in the middle of that centre circle,” Channel 7 commentator Jobe Watson said
“If you take it to one side, you immediately disadvantage one of the teams.”
Chris Scott was fuming at the umpires at half-time over the ball bounce 👀 pic.twitter.com/Ip7CGGFFjk
— 7AFL (@7AFL) October 1, 2020
Patrick Dangerfield is a FREAK 😳🔥 pic.twitter.com/CD2geLPIzu
— 7AFL (@7AFL) October 1, 2020
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