Question for Port Adelaide fans? On a scale of 1-10 how much did you enjoy the second half of Showdown XLVII on Saturday?
If you didn’t score it a perfect “10” you’re very hard to please because it was Port’s most decisive half of football in Showdown history.
In what amounted to a statistician’s delight, the 54-point advantage in a 9-9 to 1-3 second half was the Power’s biggest in any half in a Showdown.
The Crows’ second half score of nine points represented the Power’s best defensive performance in any half of a Showdown, and it was the first time in Showdown history the Power have doubled the Crows score.
And had Adelaide captain Taylor Walker not kicked the first goal of the second half just 16 seconds after the resumption it would have been the first time the Power had held the Crows goalless in a half.
Still, the last 60 minutes and 52 seconds of Showdown XLVII after the Walker goal was the longest period of time Port have held Adelaide goalless in Showdown history, surpassing 56 minutes and 42 seconds in Showdown XXX in Round 4 2011.
On that occasion, Port held the Crows goalless from 21 minutes and 10 seconds into the second quarter until 14 minutes and 31 seconds into the fourth quarter while kicking 10 goals in a row.
This represents the longest streak of consecutive Port goals in Showdown history.
The Port defence will be well pleased with their effort in holding the Crows goalless in the fourth quarter in Saturday’s Showdown – only the sixth time they’ve done so in 188 quarters of Showdown football.
Significantly, too, Port’s game possession count of 450 on Saturday was the club’s highest in a Showdown, and the third-highest in 522 AFL games.
The club record all-time is 463 possessions in Round 3 2009, when they beat Melbourne 22-15 (147) to 14-6 (90) at Football Park. Peter Burgoyne (35), Steven Salopek (33), Nathan Krakouer (31) and Travis Boak (30) led the count that day.
The club’s second-highest possession is a statistical oddity.
It was when Port, led by Brad Ebert (31) and Boak (30), had 452 possessions to beat Gold Coast 16-14 (110) to 4-14 (38) in China in 2017. Every Port player hit double-figures in the possession count yet the club finished seven possessions down on team totals behind the Suns’ 459.
Showdown XLVII on Saturday was the first Showdown in which four Port players topped 30 possessions thanks to Tom Rockliff (36), Robbie Gray (35), Ollie Wines (34) and a career-best haul from Darcy Byrne-Jones (31).
It was only the third time in club history the Power have had four 30-possession players in the same game, with the other one in Round 4 2002 in a 53-point Football Park win over Carlton when Adam Kingsley (35), Jarrad Schofield (33), Nick Stevens (32) and Josh Francou (30) led the count.
Also, Justin Westhoff’s 16 marks in his return to the AFL side was a career-best and the most by a Port player in a Showdown.
Karl Amon’s three goal assists in his return from suspension was also a career-best, and the equal Port best in a Showdown, alongside David Rodan, Kane Mitchell, Robbie Gray and Jared Polec.
