JOSH CARR on Brownlow Medallist Mark Ricciuto. Kane Cornes on another Brownlow Medallist, Simon Black.

And now Willem Drew on could-be Brownlow Medallist Nick Daicos.

The reviews of Port Adelaide's two-point loss in the top-of-the-table clash with AFL leader Collingwood at Adelaide Oval will note Drew's significant role against the league's wunderkind, Daicos.

The tagger - the shadow Collingwood coach Craig McRae has repeatedly dared opposition teams to put on Daicos - is back ... sort of. Sort of.

Drew on Saturday night finished the match with a career-high 16 tackles, five more than his previous bests of 11 (twice). He also completed the game with the highest ranking points. He had defence and attack in balance, rather than a game heavily weighted on suppressing an opponent. He was a reminder of that night at the Gabba in late July 2003 when - in another top-of-the-table clash - Carr went head-to-head with another Brownlow Medallist, Michael Voss at Brisbane.

Voss had 16 disposals, kicked two goals; Carr had 23 and kicked 4.1. Port Adelaide won by one point.

The tagger was more than a defensive weapon. The game once again saw midfielders play to beat each other on the scoreboard rather than on the statisticians' laptops.

"That's the game now. It wasn't completely 'close down' (Nick Daicos)," says Port Adelaide senior coach Ken Hinkley giving an insight on why the all-shadowing tagger fell off the team sheets across the league.

"If it is all defence, simply defence, you are one down.

"We don't want to play simply defence. We want to play team offence, team defence and contest - that is what you have to do. There is a bit of risk in some of that.

"If it is done well, if you concentrate - if you are a great thinker of the game, it helps."

Drew had 16. He kicked 0.2. If only it had been 2.0 or even 1.1 on a night when Port Adelaide again had to lament missed shots on goal.

Daicos had 25. His season average is 33. He kicked 1.0, during the game-turning last term.

The judges' cards score it as a successful night for Drew. But Daicos was in the team circle at the end of the match singing "Good Ol' Collingwood ..."

Port Adelaide won a battle. Collingwood won the points. The saga awaits the decider in September when there is even more at stake in the premiership race.
After the memorable clash with Western Bulldogs playmaker Tom Liberatore at the Docklands late in 2021 and now this moment with Daicos, Drew has established his reputation as an AFL player - and found his most significant role at Port Adelaide after starting on a wing.

"Willem has been pretty solid for two or three years now," Hinkley notes. "As a player, he has been very strong - and a pretty valuable member of our team."
Drew, 24, is in his seventh season at Port Adelaide that made the Victorian the 33rd call in the 2016 AFL national draft and then held faith while injury delayed his league debut until the opening round of the 2019 season.

"I have had a few jobs now," says Drew of his conversion from wingman to the man sitting on the wings of an opposition threat. "No matter who we are coming up against, they will have good players. I take it as a challenge. 

"Some weeks I do a job. Some weeks I don't," reaffirming the game has moved beyond a dedicated tagger. "It is all about what is best for the team.

"When I get my opportunities to push forward ... it is all about reading the play. It is part of my game that I have tried to develop over the years. I feel I still have a bit of improvement to go, but it is definitely getting better.

"I missed a few opportunities tonight; I would have liked to have kicked them."

Hinkley insists his game notes have it as Drew v Daicos all night. He even was bemused that others noted anything different, as did the league's official watchers at Champion Data.

Drew's dance cards on the official statistics read - 57 of 115 minutes devoted to Daicos and the rest of the game in battle with Jordan de Goey (42 minutes), Tom Mitchell (eight) and Scott Pendlebury (three).

"I always look forward to those challenges," says Drew of a night that put him against four of Collingwood's most-damaging players. "But that is not just me; it is the whole midfield group. We all work together. We do a job together. It is a great mix with old and new. I play my part. Be that to do a job ... or try to stop someone. Whichever, I have to bring effort. For me, it is about bringing effort."

The new Port Adelaide midfield is very much about Drew, Connor Rozee, Zak Butters and Jason Horne-Francis.

"They are three very special players," says Drew of the trio that came to Port Adelaide after his drafting in November 2016.

"Super talented, really good people who work hard. And great team-mates as well. They are going to be around for a long time. And they are going to get better."
Two-point results can be pulled apart to find where luck favours and abandons the combatants. Collingwood nailed its difficult shots on goal; Port Adelaide failed to convert on seemingly less demanding opportunities. The torment of goalkicking conversion lingers at Port Adelaide ... as will the image of this game that is labelled the best of the season so far.

"Wow, some sort of game in the end," was Drew's reaction on returning to the rooms through the Geof Motley race. "For us, after being 16 points up at three quarter-time, it is a disappointing loss. It will be one we look back on and reflect on a few things that cost us the game ...

"Not every game will go your way," added Drew who has endured consecutive losses after a 13-game winning streak. "But our effort was absolutely outstanding. We took it right down to the wire."

Challenged by Collingwood defender Brayden Maynard to bring the "A" game against the league's leader, Drew walks away from the litmus test saying: "We're definitely up there. We definitely took it to them. We know our best is good enough. We will use this result to our advantage (starting with the post-match review that will reaffirm Port Adelaide has much right and still the capacity to get better).

"A few errors cost us. And full credit to Collingwood for the nice goals they kicked late. We proved what we can do when we bring our effort and intensity.
"We have built our confidence and belief in our game. When we bring our pressure - with everyone buying in - that is when we play our best footy. Ken has been massive on that. People are rewarded for what they bring to our pressure game. It is a massive part of our game."

ON (P)REVIEW: Remarkably, the AFL premiership table again means nothing in the lead-up to a Showdown. The 54th edition of the derby again is about battle lines in South Australia rather than the national competition itself.

"Another big Showdown," notes Drew of the match that is critical to Port Adelaide keeping a top-two ranking and the right to home-field advantage in September.
"It never gets easier."

Drew came to Alberton from the Victorian fields around Ballarat seven years ago when the local landscape had Port Adelaide in the shadow of its neighbourhood rival - a theme that changed since 2018 on the premiership table. But not on the engraver's markings to the Showdown Shield.

The Showdown ledger has counted in Drew's time at Alberton a total of six wins and six losses in the derbies - and Drew has a 3-3 count in his six Showdowns.

"They are great games that I look forward to playing," Drew said. "When I first came over, I had no idea. But as soon as you get here you are taught the history of our club, the rivalry from the Showdown and how massive this game is.

"We want to win; we want to play our best footy."