THEY talked the talk.
They walked the tough road to a Showdown victory.
They won with power, just as Port Adelaide captain Tom Jonas vowed. "We were always going to win for Robbie Gray," he said.
They sang with pride the Port Adelaide team song with pride in how they gave Robbie Gray the winning feeling in his farewell after 16 majestic seasons in AFL company.
The man with five Showdown Medals leaves the game having brought out of his Port Adelaide team-mates their most consistent, most determined and most meaningful win to close a frustrating and disappointing season.
Port Adelaide's assertive 56-point in Showdown LII on Saturday night closes the year with a 10-12 win-loss count - much less than expected at Alberton. It puts the Showdown ledger at 27-25 to mark local superiority while finishing as South Australia's highest-ranked AFL team for the fifth consecutive year.
They stood tough at the start. They were commanding at the end. They even seemed to enjoy it as the opposition faltered under a way of Gray power.
It was the farewell Gray was most entitled to. It was the "Graytest" - passed with flying colours by a team that showed its respect for one of the game's greatest players by it actions.
Not even Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks can say with an incredulous tone that Port Adelaide did not honour Gray where - and when - it matters most.
As there should be, Gray's 271st and final AFL game has its own collection of "Robbie Gray" moments.
Gray finished with 2.2 off 13 disposals. Most notable is he contributed to three team goals and was involved in nine scores.
And there were so many Robbie Gray moments in this farewell.
Put a permanent bookmark on 9 minutes 41 seconds of the second term. Vice-captain Ollie Wines, with a sharp kick, found Gray unmarked at the apex of the 50-metre arc in the south-west pocket. Gray's set shot, with the ball working its way from right to left, mirrors the kick that sunk Carlton from a similar position after the siren at the Gabba in 2020.
The response - with every Port Adelaide rushing to Gray to celebrate - certainly was a repeat of the aftermath from the "clutch" moment in Brisbane.
Gray's goal gave Port Adelaide a 13-point lead - the only time during the first half when there was a double-digit lead.
And 21:11 of the same term when Gray seemed to make the game stop - the Adelaide defenders certainly seemed flat-footed - while he intercepted a rushed play at the Port Adelaide goalfront at the River Torrens end. His kick went higher than the hopes it carried ...
Gray's ability to work taller defenders away from a marking contest gave him his chance to score his second goal with the old scoreboard as the backdrop. In the second minute of the third term, Gray removed Josh Worrell from under Dan Houston's kick from outside 50 to earn his set shot from alongside the behind post. This goal again set up a double-digit lead, this time advancing the five-point gap at half-time to 12.
Five minutes later, Gray found space to be on the end of Travis Boak's pass from outside 50. Even greats miss. As he did in the 17th minute with a shot from 30 metres, directly in front of the northern goal, after finding a leap off his battered knees to take a strong mark in front of a pack.
If he did not score them, Gray assisted - as he did with the handpass that allowed midfielder Karl Amon to unload a customary long kick at goal that gave Port Adelaide its eighth goal - and a 26-point lead - in the 14th minute of the third term.
And for much of the game, Gray danced - jumping in hot spots - to make every defender near him sweat, particularly during the third term. That image of the ball bouncing towards Gray and the master already in motion to attack the Sherrin and move away into unguarded space will be missed by every fan who has admired Gray's masterful touches and plays. Defenders will sleep easier knowing their torment is over.
At the end, such as the dropped mark and an off-target kick midway through the last term, proves nothing - not even Robbie Gray's greatness - can go on forever.
The man who never carried any arrogance always put team before self. Gray made this theme the final memory of his work on Adelaide Oval. Facing a set shot from just outside 50 in the south-east pocket during time-on of the last term, Gray preferred to pass the ball to Marshall (who dutifully put another goal assist to Gray's name).
The 50,090 at the Oval sang in praise of Gray. The Port Adelaide true believers also farewell Gray as he merits.
If anyone questions why Showdowns - even those between two rivals with rankings at 11 and 14 - would draw comparisons with AFL finals reserved for top-eight teams, the answer was there from the start at 7pm. Tension? It is as gut-wrenching as anything that has the label of a "final". Pressure? Real and perceived it is at an extreme, the consequence of every action seems more intense, more costly.
Few Showdowns - certainly very few "dead rubber" derbies - have had such anticipation for the opening. There was no out-of-the-ordinary behaviour from either camp. But there was the nice touch of Gray starting in the midfield rotations, side-by-side with the All-Australian, Rory Laird, who spoke with such admiration and respect towards a feared rival on Monday.
Gray, quite appropriately, was in the chain of play in the first goal scored by Port Adelaide's 2022 leading goalkicker, Todd Marshall, in the second minute. The inside-50 sent to the northern end by Travis Boak was touched before it reached Gray's hands, denying him a mark for the first set shot of the match. Gray's awareness and hands were sharp to put Connor Rozee on a goal assist to Marshall.
The opening did not have "spice" but it had speed. It was there not just in ball movement, but also in the need to act and respond at every contest. The challenge to harass Adelaide when it sought to gain field territory was as demanding as the pressure Port Adelaide had to apply to Sydney at Adelaide Oval in round 14. Where there was space to measure a kick or handpass last week, there was an opponent ready to tackle, block or bump. Showdowns demand such. One of the finest moments of this harassment was in the quick reaction of first-year Port Adelaide defender Jase Burgoyne to cramp Ned McHenry on a shot at goal 20 metres from the southern goal in the 16th minute.
Port Adelaide deputy vice-captain Darcy Byrne-Jones, in his 150th AFL game, had his moment when he ran down Adelaide small forward Lachlan Murphy while he was running towards Taylor Walker's kick to an open goal during the final minutes of the third term.
The first 32 minutes and 22 seconds closed with Port Adelaide midfielder Zak Butters hitting the post at the northern end - this time it was the goal post closer to the old scoreboard - to give Port Adelaide a one-point lead at quarter-time.
The pressure indicators were high from the start - and swung wildly in the first term. Contested football was in Adelaide's favour early, 25-17 in the first 15 minutes. Port Adelaide had this critical number at 22-18 during the latter 15-minute patch of the first quarter, forcing Adelaide into a heavy tackling game. Port Adelaide had cut into more of Adelaide's plays, leading 23-17 on intercepts. And Port Adelaide had certainly proven it could hold the ball for longer with a 73-39 advantage in uncontested football.
Those first 32 minutes did prove the Showdown is "like a final" but unlike any other AFL home-and-away game.
There were just four goals in the first term; five during the second quarter, including Port Adelaide key forward Todd Marshall reaching his career 100th - and a fundamental shift to Port Adelaide during the third term. With greater command of the ball, Port Adelaide took a 28-point lead to the last term off a dominant (but perhaps wasteful) third term by scoring 4.6 while conceding just one goal.
The Showdown had swung to Port Adelaide. It was not swinging back.
The final numbers emphasised how commanding this Gray-inspired victory was - 401 disposals to 287. The contested ball count was square at 146-146. On the uncontested chart, Port Adelaide blitzed Adelaide 236-129.
Port Adelaide had two stress points that did not crack - ruck and in key defensive match-ups against Adelaide's three talls of Taylor Walker, Riley Thilthorpe and the strong-marking Darcy Fogarty.
Makeshift ruckman Jeremy Finlayson, for all his frustration with the umpiring, had to focus his game again on defying the advantages of a dominant ruckman. Adelaide ruckman Rielly O'Brien did dominate on hit-outs. Port Adelaide's midfield was ultimately superior, winning all clearances 45-40 despite O'Brien giving Adelaide the bulk of the hit-outs that finished at 23-59 against Port Adelaide (a disparity that has become quite normal in Port Adelaide games since the loss of specialist ruckman Scott Lycett with a shoulder injury).
Tom Jonas had to deal with Fogarty, who finished with three goals under intense attention from the Port Adelaide captain.
Aliir Aliir worked against Walker and, as match-ups switched depending on rotations, Thilthorpe. His intercept marking - and seven marks in total - again frustrated Adelaide. He did not concede a shot at goal to Walker. The former Adelaide captain's only, in the final minutes, came from a free kick conceded in a marking contest by Dan Houston.
Ryan Burton was forced to work "tall" against Thilthorpe who had no score.
Midfielder Connor Rozee won his first Showdown Medal to complete a year of grand progression to an elite player who can hope he too will one day stand alongside Gray in Port Adelaide's Hall of Fame. His final words in his acceptance speech - "Love ya Robbie" - echoed loudest across Adelaide Oval.
Bye Robbie. And thanks for the entertainment. The memories will last forever.
SHOWDOWN LII
PORT ADELAIDE v ADELAIDE
PORT ADELAIDE 2.4 5.7 9.13 16.15 (111)
ADELAIDE 2.3 4.6 5.9 7.13 (55)
BEST - Port Adelaide: Rozee, Wines, Amon, Marshall, Butters, Farrell, Aliir.
GOALS - Port Adelaide: Marshall 4, Duursma, Gray, McEntee 2, Amon, Butters, Georgiades, Powell-Pepper, Rozee, Wines.
INJURY - Mitch Georgiades (ankle, in the final term).
MEDICAL SUBSTITUTE: Riley Bonner (activated in final term for Georgiades).
CROWD: 50,090 at Adelaide Oval.
SHOWDOWN MEDALLIST: Connor Rozee (Port Adelaide).
