BRING on the Showdown! Port Adelaide made a "dead rubber" clash on the road to the 14th-ranked Essendon become a meaningful lead-in to next Saturday's derby ... and a re-assuring note for that review still underway at Alberton to explain why a team capable of such an exciting brand of football is not playing in September.
Port Adelaide's 84-point win against Essendon at the Docklands on Sunday evening had so much of all Port Adelaide promised and, frustratingly, did not deliver consistently this season. And there was so much less of the damaging turnover game that has hurt Port Adelaide so often.
A team pressed to reclaim the Showdown Shield "stolen" from it with a kick after the siren on April Fool's Day is suitably primed with confidence - to match purpose - for Saturday night's home derby.
"We have so much to play for," said Port Adelaide midfielder Connor Rozee after the match. "It is disappointing to not play finals. But we want to finish the season strongly. We did that today.
"And we don't need any extra motivation for next week. It's a Showdown."
Despite playing with no recognised ruckman, appearing one short with tall defenders and questionable in the midfield after the stoppage blitz from Richmond a week earlier, Port Adelaide put away many doubts - and built much hope - for how the home-and-away season will end with Showdown LII on Saturday night.
There was an emphatic story on the scoreboard.
Highest score of the season (with a very accurate 23.8).
Equal biggest win of the season (by 84 points that matches the margin chalked up at home against West Coast 16 weeks ago).
Plus a rise on the premiership table to 11th. And while on premiership rankings .... this result has Port Adelaide entering Showdown LII at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night assured of being the highest-ranked South Australian-based AFL team for the fifth consecutive year.
At best, Port Adelaide will finish the 2022 AFL season with a 10-12 win-loss count. At no stage in the past decade has Port Adelaide finished a home-and-away season with less than 10 wins.
This round 22 match was settled by Port Adelaide's commanding seven-goal run during the second term, after a perfect five-goal opening. And it was not just attack - there also was strong team defence. This left Essendon appearing flat-footed and unsure of its options in moving through Port Adelaide's defence, particularly in the well-guarded centre corridor - the highway laneway at Marvel Stadium in west Melbourne.
Essendon was stymied in its goalscoring for almost 45 minutes. From Essendon's third goal in the 26th minute of the first term (from Massimo D'Ambrosio as he paired his first two goals in AFL company) until the fourth in the 11th minute of the third quarter (from Archie Perkins), there was a nine-goal run from Port Adelaide.
Maybe, it was Port Adelaide being free of the pressure of chasing a top-eight berth while carrying the burden of a 0-5 start.
"We cleaned up our turnovers," said Rozee. "And we knew if we could pressure Essendon (as was done with 56 tackles) into their own turnovers we would hurt them on the way back."
Perhaps, it was the clarity delivered for Port Adelaide by senior coach Ken Hinkley having his tenure confirmed for Season 2023.
"Didn't need to be mentioned," said Rozee. "It happens too often that Ken cops it for us not winning more games."
Possibly, it was a proud Port Adelaide team wanting to finally live up to expectation in a season of frustrating disappointment.
"We want to be one of those clubs that turns up every week. We don't want to be known for rolling over to get to the end of the season," said Rozee.
On a Dockland deck that favours and encourages speed, no player enjoyed the task of running - and even taking on opponents with the bounce - more than Port Adelaide midfielder Zak Butters. He was the fastest player on the deck - and not just in his movement. He was quick at intercepting any ball within his reach, such as Essendon defender Mason Redman's kick-in in the seventh minute of the third term. He was quick in shutting down Essendon opponents with his tackling. He was even quick to point to the scoreboard to some hecklers from the Essendon crowd.
Brownlow Medallist and vice-captain Ollie Wines savoured the duels that emerged with Essendon's in-form midfielders Darcy Parish and Dylan Shiel. His 31 disposals were built on 17 contested possessions with a 77 per cent disposal efficiency count that should be noted.
High half-forward Sam Powell-Pepper capped his significant season - in which he was challenged to lift his standards in preparation and on the field - with a career-high four goals off 22 disposals.
The other stand-out player for Port Adelaide was makeshift ruckman and forward Jeremy Finlayson. His eagerness to compete and consistently inject himself into a contest - a question that followed Finlayson from Greater Western Sydney - was answered by his follow-up work in ruck ... and as a key forward. As a ruckman, Finlayson answered the question with four centre clearances and as a forward he proved his eagerness in the ninth minute of the last term when he recovered best in a marking contest with Essendon defender Sam Durham to score Port Adelaide's 16th goal.
"They are like an extra midfielder when the ball hits the ground," said Rozee of the power of Finlayson and Dixon as ruckmen who are not to be measured by their hit-outs (50-9 against Port Adelaide in this game) but the clearance count of which Finlayson contributed four (all at centre) and Dixon two (one at centre).
"As midfielders," added Rozee, "we had to respond to how we were beaten at the contest by Richmond."
Port Adelaide's 12.2 at half-time marks the team's best opening half of Season 2022 - and the first time Port Adelaide has scored 12 goals in the first half since putting up 12.5 against Fremantle at Adelaide Oval in round 11 last year.
The final score is the season’s best, surpassing the 18.9 (117) scored against West Coast at Adelaide Oval in round 6. The last time Port Adelaide scored 20 or more goals in a match was exactly a year ago, in the round 22 clash with Carlton at home.
Port Adelaide left Melbourne with no injury concern. There were some scares, however. And there was the report of Finlayson for his tackle on Essendon midfielder Andrew McGrath in the final six minutes.
Rozee started with his left leg strapped to protect the knee jarred a week earlier during the first half of the clash with Richmond at home. He was hobbling on the right knee after 10 minutes on Sunday and on the bench before finishing the first term back in the action contesting stoppages.
"And it is pretty bloody sore," Rozee said of his right knee. "I get a knock on the knee that is not sore in the first two minutes! I will soldier on ..."
Key forward Todd Marshall was off the field late in the second term for treatment on his right foot. He resumed after half-time - and had Port Adelaide's first shot on goal (with a goal, the 13th) in the opening minute of the third quarter.
Speed was the order of this game from its start.
There was high-octane speed - just 16 seconds - in Port Adelaide opening the scoring with a goal from former captain Travis Boak on the run. Restored as the lead ruckman, Finlayson proved in that opening play that he could - and repeatedly would - frustrate Essendon ruckman Sam Draper on clearances rather than seemingly meaningless hit-outs.
Finlayson also was standing up - and frustrating - Essendon forward Jake Stringer behind the play to spice the backdrop to Port Adelaide's closing of the first term when Sam Powell-Pepper completed a perfect five-goal opening. It was quite a game for Finlayson.
The opening term had 11 inside-50s for Port Adelaide with five shots that finished with goals from five players - Boak, Marshall for his 40th of the season, Mitch Georgiades on the boundary from a contentious out-of-bounds call, Charlie Dixon and Powell-Pepper.
Port Adelaide's biggest challenge at stoppages was not so much Draper driving Essendon to a 13-4 advantage on hit-outs at quarter-time and 21-1 during the one-sided second term. In fact, Port Adelaide was not only winning more centre clearances (with a 2:1 advantage by half-time) but turning this advantage to a scoring source.
The greater task was in field play, understanding when to attack inside the stoppage and when to hold on the outer edge of these contests - a task that became more intriguing when Draper decided to counter Finlayson's superior ground work with long taps at the ruck contest. The adjustment by the Port Adelaide on-ballers was highlighted in time-on of the second term when Dixon led a four-man Port Adelaide unit against seven Essendon rivals at a field bounce at half-forward. It finished with Dixon loading up wingman Karl Amon for the seventh goal in the unchallenged momentum run of the second term.
In the most basic way, Port Adelaide had blitzed Essendon by being assertive at clearances (despite working to a losing ruck) and more manic in their attack on the man and ball, as measured by a stronger tackle count (33-28) during the first half. This is despite Port Adelaide setting the agenda during the seven-goal second term to have almost 50 more disposals than Essendon.
The theme of 100 per cent accuracy in goal conversion ended in the first minute of the second term with Marshall missing a set shot. But there was a different goalscorer with the next two goals - Jed McEntee (off a set shot provided by a not-so beautiful pass from defender Ryan Burton) and Rozee.
The unanswered surge of eight goals - started by Powell-Pepper on the first-quarter siren and finished by Amon in time-on of the second term - took a two-point lead to a commanding 52.
Attack is certainly the best way of defence. With Port Adelaide working just two recognised tall defenders - All-Australian Aliir Aliir against Essendon giant Peter Wright and captain Tom Jonas charging at every aerial contest - the Essendon forwards were starved of opportunity and holding just two marks inside-50 at half-time. By contrast, Port Adelaide had built its 12-goal first half with 10 marks inside-50.
Aliir stopped Wright's rise in the Coleman Medal rankings by repeatedly out marking the 203-centimetre key forward, who started the last term replacing Draper at centre ruck.
The other must-watch match-up in defence was whenever Dan Houston found himself working against Stringer who finished with 0.2. Houston finished with 1.0, scoring his goal from a set shot outside 50 late in the final term. That summed up the game.
ESSENDON v PORT ADELAIDE
PORT ADELAIDE 5.0 12.2 14.6 23.8 (146)
ESSENDON 3.4 3.5 6.5 9.8 (62)
BEST - Port Adelaide: Wines, Butters, Finlayson, Powell-Pepper, Houston, Aliir.
GOALS - Port Adelaide: Powell-Pepper 4, Butters, Georgiades 3, Finlayson, Marshall, McEntee 2, Amon, Bergman, Boak, Dixon, Drew, Houston, Rozee.
INJURY - nil.
MEDICAL SUBSTITUTE: Jackson Mead (not activated).
REPORT: Jeremy Finlayson in last term.
CROWD: 20,568 at Docklands, west Melbourne.
NEXT: Showdown LII v Adelaide at Adelaide Oval, Saturday night
