PORT ADELAIDE Coach Ken Hinkley has praised his side for its “scrappy, dirty and tough” football late in the nail biting five-point win over Brisbane at Adelaide Oval.
In shades of the 2017 Elimination Final against West Coast, the Power found itself less than a goal in front with less than two minutes to play and the ball deep in Brisbane’s attacking 50.
The home side repeatedly repelled the Lions’ attempts on goal, including a mark on the line to wingman Jared Polec, ultimately holding on for a 14.13.97 to 14.8.92 win.
“I like the resilience at the end,” Hinkley said.
“If I look back six months ago and a back 50 stoppage and see what happened in the end of a big game in a final, you know I thought we set up really well structurally in a back 50 stoppage and the group showed some growth.
“We had to keep going and keep going and there was about a minute 20 on the clock and we just played scrappy, dirty, tough footy to hang on.
“Sometimes as a coach you really do want to duplicate what happened and you want them to be able to get through it but it’s pretty bloody scary waiting for them to get through but I was pleased they did.”
A brave Brisbane led by eleven points at half time before the Power booted seven goals to two in the third term and seemed to be coasting towards victory.
But the Lions refused to lie down and led by ruckman Stefan Martin, who dominated with 30 disposals and 49 hit-outs, they closed to within five points with seven minutes remaining before the Power put on the brakes defensively.
“Maybe we thought we nearly had enough (in the last quarter) and Brisbane kept coming at us and they played a really good game,” Hinkley said.
“They had their Captain (Dayne Beams) not playing and (Daniel) Rich not out there either so I’m sure they’d be very proud of their performance
“I’m really happy to win still because we say week in week out how close the competition is and we know that.”
“To Brisbane’s credit they kept at us all day, there were a couple of times we thought we were going to break them and they just kept coming back.”
The Power trailed most of the statistics including hit-outs (55-22), clearances (41-33), tackles (61-47) and contested possessions (143-137) and Hinkley said he was grateful his side still managed to grind out the win.
“Every club would be happy to be 3-0, and as I said, at the end of the year they’re all going to add up and you’re going to look back on some and not others,” he said.
“You’ve just got to win enough games and to get away to a 3-0 start is really positive.”
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