PORT ADELAIDE coach Ken Hinkley has praised his side for the resilience and ruthlessness that has seen it become the first side to qualify for a Preliminary Final in 2020.
Hinkley’s men broke away from Geelong with a three-goal to one third quarter to take a 16-point win in a low scoring Qualifying Final at Adelaide Oval on Thursday night.
The 9.4 (58) to 5.12 (42) victory was Port’s first finals win since 2014 when it also made a Preliminary Final.
It was a stunning reaction after Port was well beaten by ten goals by the Cats six weeks ago, and came after a nervous second quarter when the visitors failed to capitalise on their dominance.
“The team hung in there tonight and I think we’ve done that a number of times tonight,” Hinkley said in his post-match press conference.
“I’ve sat in these (press) conferences a number of times and said that we’ve been more resilient.
“They’ve been more predictable to each other and been prepared to play tough and hard and brutal at times to get to the line and it takes a bit of nerve against the quality of opposition we played against tonight.”
The third quarter was where Port really got going, pinning Geelong in its defensive half and piling on ferocious pressure to force three goals.
It set up a game-high 21-point lead which the Cats could not claw back.
“We dominated that quarter in the fashion that Port Adelaide plays, and that was very much a front half game and we were able to get that against Geelong,” Hinkley said.
“In finals that’s a big margin when you get to 14 or 15 points up because you know how hard it is to score.
“We were able to restrict them. They still had a bit of the footy but there weren’t too many times it was quick coming at us too hard and we did a good job to restrict what they could do.”
In that quarter wingman Xavier Duursma put his body on the line and came off second best in a marking contest with Cats’ big man Mark Blicavs, forcing the youngster out of the game with concussion.
But Hinkley said Duursma appeared well after the game and he applauded his courage.
“He’s just a courageous kid, that’s what he’s been since he got here,” Hinkley said.
“You could go look through his highlights and you’ll see him doing that so many times.
“Unfortunately, tonight he got hurt with the landing but talking to him in the rooms he’s pretty good considering.
“I can tell you one thing – the next game he plays, he’ll put himself in the exact same spot because that’s just who it is.”
Forward Todd Marshall also hurt his shoulder after landing awkwardly on it inside the opening ten minutes of the contest.
He returned to the field in the second quarter and saw out the game in some discomfort, even managing to seal the game with a mark and goal in the last term.
“Todd Marshall is a special person, a special player, who just had to hang in there for us tonight,” Hinkley said of the 21-year-old.
“He had a pretty sore shoulder… when he landed really badly and he needed some help and support to get out and stay out there.
“But to get and take that shot, that clutch shot from 45 or 50 metres from goal and be able to finish it because he was still in a fair bit of pain, I’m proud of Todd and I’m sure lots of people would be proud of Todd tonight.”
The game breaker was Steven Motlop, who got Port going with three goals and some clever play in the forward line.
Against his old side, Motlop proved his importance to Port’s premiership hopes.
“I’ve seen that before from Stevie Motlop and I’m just glad he was wearing the right jumper tonight,” Hinkley said, referring to Motlop’s two goals in a Semi Final against Port while wearing the Geelong jumper in 2013.
“That’s pleasing for him. He gets a bit of heat from people but you want someone like Steven Motlop in your team at the right times and tonight was one of them.”
After the ten goal loss earlier this season, Hinkley was pleased to see more energy from his side this time.
Cats forward Tom Hawkins monstered the Port defence in Round 12 with six goals but his five behinds and one out on the full meant his impact was limited this time around.
“I know Hawk missed a lot, he had plenty of opportunities but where did he get his opportunities from? It was really pleasing for us,” Hinkley explained.
“He’s a really good player, a super of the game, and to put him on the boundary a lot in difficult positions to take shots from – there was no doubt he was still a target for them, but Trent (McKenzie) did a great job.
“Trent’s all year stood at full back for us and regardless of the opponent, and tonight he had to stand there for a fair bit… his growth this year, geez he’s an incredible story.”
Hinkley told the AFL world his side was coming way back in February, yet despite sitting top all season there are still external doubts about Port’s premiership credentials.
The win, he said, would not change the mindset within the four walls at Alberton.
“I don’t think it’ll change too much because we’ve had great belief right from the start,” Hinkley said.
“We made some decisions and had great belief in each other and we just knew that sticking together was going to be really important.
“It’s been a challenging season so far and there’s still bigger challenges to come we hope but I think they just stuck together at it.
“We do believe, we believe in us as a football club, we believe in us as a community. We know we’re good enough.
“(The players) know they’ve still got, they still want two more games but they know they can’t get ahead (of themselves).
“They can’t go past the next game and they’ll come competition and they’ll come prepared to play and they’ll play a tough game of football in a couple of weeks’ time.”
Port Adelaide will now have the luxury of a week off to watch the rest of the finals action and prepare for a Preliminary Final in a fortnight.
