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Thanks so much for following the live blog tonight as Port Adelaide Power locked in a place in a preliminary final.
That's all I have for you, but we will be back with another live blog for tomorrow night's elimination final. Please join us then and keep visiting our sport pages for more stories and reaction to the AFL finals.
Have a great evening and enjoy the rest of the weekend!
A better team than a 17 and a game plan that would stand up to finals. Which bit of it was more impressive, the team or the game plan?
Oh the team. The team's no doubt the most impressive, the way they hung in there tonight. They just played tough. I think we've done that a number of times throughout the season. I've said regularly this year we've been more resilient. They've been more predictable to each other. They've been prepared to play it tough and hard and brutal at times to get to the line. And it takes a bit of nerve. Against the quality of the opposition we played tonight.
What impressed you most, then, and also, what sort of cracked it open in that third quarter?
We were pretty ruthless in the third quarter, was it, I can't even remember, sorry but when we got a little bit of a gap on them and we dominated that quarter in a fashion that Port Adelaide play and that was very much a front-half game and we were able to get that against Geelong and finals, it's a small margin, then that's a big margin when you get to 14 or 15 points up because you know how hard it is to score.
You seemed to stifle their ball movement pretty much all night.
Clearly not like they did the last time we played them, which was obvious, and yeah, we were able to restrict them a little bit. They still had a fair bit of the footy but it wasn't too many times where it was too quick coming at us too hard and we did a good job to restrict what they could do.
On Duursma's courage.
He's just a courageous kid. If you look through his highlight, he does that so many times. Unfortunately tonight he got hurt with the landing, the force of the landing but he's pretty good, talking to him in the rooms. The next game when he plays he will put himself in exactly the same spot because that's exactly who he is.
Toddy, hurting his shoulder early, to come back and give a contest. How big a performance was that?
Marshall is a special person a special player who didn't - he just had to hang in for us tonight. He had to hang in for us tonight. He had a really, really sore shoulder five minutes into the game when he landed really badly and he needed some help and support to get through the game but to stay out there and then to take that shot, that clutch shot from 45 or 50m from goal and to be able to finish t because he was still in a fair bit of pain, and so proud of Todd to be honest and I'm sure a lot of people would be proud of Todd tonight.
Steven Motlop, three goals. Built for this moment?
That's Steve. He's done that, I've seen that before from Stevie Motlop, unfortunately, and I'm just glad he was wearing the right jumper tonight and that was really pleasing for him. Because again he gets a bit of heat from a lot of people, and you want someone like Steven Motlop in your team at the right times and tonight was one of them.
What do you think you changed most from the last game?
Against Geelong, you mean? There's lots, there was lots. I mean I think the biggest thing for us and we talked about that straight after the game, we did review that game really, really closely, and not just as coaches, as players we went through it pretty clearly but that was one overriding thing we thought came out and that was our energy to compete. Just wasn't where it needed to be. And Geelong are fierce in the contest, they're well drilled, well structured, and if you're a little bit off with energy, they will do that to you, and luckily tonight, we had a lot more energy for the battle, and credit to the boys.
How do you think Trent McKenzie went against Tom Hawkins tonight?
Did Hawk get a goal? I know he missed a lot. He had plenty of opportunities. But where he got his opportunities from was really pleasing for him. To put him into difficult positions to take shots from, there's no doubt he was still a target for them but Trent did a great job. Trent all year basically stood at fullback for us and regardless of the opponent and tonight he had to stand there for a bit and hold his nerve. And he did. He did a good job.
Why McKenzie?
I think the key thing to that is Trent stood in that spot all year for us. We rarely wanted to disrupt the way we play it, and with Trent there, it makes familiar things happen around him and that's what's really important for him, and his growth this year, and it's and his growth this year, and it's an incredible story.
You have more scoring options or more ways to score through different players?
I think we look dangerous sometimes and we look dangerous in different ways. Teams have to defend different options with us at times. I know we get a lot of Charlie heat and too many times we're going Charlie but that's one of the ways that thank we go to goal. Some of the other ways is through ball movement, it's through creativity, it's through hardness. Sometimes you just gotta make a score happen. And we did that a few times.
Was it more deliberate in the third term to aim for the corridor, to push fast or hard through the corridor?
No, I think we try to shape the ground to give us that opportunity when it comes. But that's the composure of a footy team. You have to know when that moment is. In the third quarter, we tried to hit a couple of dangerous ones that opened us up a little bit. We right time, right moment. We gave the boys the freedom to play what they say. I have to trust them and I do.
What does this do for the belief of the team or the team's reputation for what you can achieve now We've done it to death, you hadn't won a final for six years before tonight.
Did you say you 've done it to best? A few times! What will do it for the guys' mindset now that you're into a home preliminary final? It's interesting. I don't think it will change too much. I think they had strong belief. We had strong believe as a club at the start of the year right through. We made some decisions and we've had great belief in each other. We just knew that sticking together was going to be really important. It's been a challenging season so far. Still to be bigger challenges to come we hope. I think they just stuck together at it. We, we don't not believe. We do believe. We believe in us. We believe in us as a Football Club. We believe in us as a community. We know we're good enough.
Hamish Hartlett. He roadblocked all through that third quarter.
He was good, strong and he had a really good quarter, that's what I think really important for us to reflect on. We don't need no heroes. We just want people that can do their job whenever it's their turn and that was Hammer's moments tonight where he stood up in the third quarter. We just need them to play their role when they're needed. They're going to need each other at different points out there tonight and they were going to need each other right to the end and they stayed there for each other.
All the senior fellas were more than solid, weren't they?
They were. I think that's back to point, they've been waiting for a little while and Tom's, Rockliff's waited for 206 or 2077 games. They've been waiting for a while to play a game like this. They know they have to qualify and they've done that. Now they want their moment, I think. I think that's really important.
You have to keep a lid on it now or are you confident this group is mature enough to handle that success and then realise that it's just one step?
They know. They know they still have - they want two more games. They know that but they know they can't get ahead, they can't go past the next game. They'll come competitive and ready to play and play a tough game again in a couple of weeks' time.
On the game.
We won't go away thinking we are off the pace.
On Hawkins and his goal-kicking.
He's pretty good with those snap shots. The gettable chances they took, our gettable chances we missed.
I think he took more marks inside 50 than Port did combined. He looked good when we gave him half a chance.
The Ebert goal on half time was big for them. It would be superficial to say we were unlucky, we didn't play well enough.
Comparing this loss with Geelong's win over Port during the season.
It can be fraught do that but last time they were uncharacteristically beaten around the contest. Tonight they weren't.
On Selwood's finger.
I think he just dislocated a finger. I'm not sure.
On what he said to the umpires at half time.
It was loud out there. I was simply asking what the procedure was to who was bouncing the ball.
I thought they had a good night. The fans thought they were terrible.
It's been a tough year for everyone and I think the umpires have performed very well.
It was a question. I don't have any criticisms of them.
We will draw 50 conclusions from the game before we look at any umpiring decisions.
On what didn't work for the Cats.
My gut feel was that it was a high-pressure game and they were just a little bit better than us on the night.
On Geelong in the finals.
Are we comparing 2014 to now? I didn't think we crumbled under the pressure or look at the way we played that there were fundamental problems with our side. It's a privilege to play under that sort of pressure
I think those criticisms are lazy. We want to win more finals.
I have a lot of faith in the character and strength of will in this group. I have a lot of confidence in the resilience and capacity of our players.
On finals records
I'll take the most superficial. If you take out Richmond, not many teams have very good finals records because they are so hard to win. It helps if you play finals one year and miss the next three.
Do you get to chose your venue [for the semi final next week]?
That's my understanding but we haven't made that decision and I wouldn't like to speculate at the moment.
Port Adelaide turned on their famed afterburners and made Geelong pay the ultimate price for persistent poor finishing by booking their first preliminary final berth since 2014.
Top of the ladder since round one, the Power, fittingly, are the first team to progress to the penultimate week of the season after impressively absorbing everything the Cats could throw at them.
Xavier Duursma of the Power and Mark Blicavs of the Cats collide.Credit:Getty Images
Port led at every change, but it wasn't until their dominant third quarter that they really looked on top, after a first-half arm wrestle between two teams desperate to shake off a long tale of recent finals woes.
For those of you who keep an eye on social media, you may have seen Port Power fans tweeting emojis of a pear or writing The Pear when talking about The Power.
Thanks to SMH scribe Vince Rugari who filled me in, it turns out that if you say 'The Power' with a bogan accent, it sounds like 'The Pear' hence some Power fans have adopted the pear name and emoji for their side.
You learn something new every day.
Just describe the finals intensity?
What an atmosphere! A little bit slow to get going. I don't even know if I touched it in the first quarter. But once we got our game going, credit to the boys, we hung tough. Geelong were probably on top, particularly in the second quarter. We got a rev at half-time from Kenny. But after that, as a midfield group we fought really hard. Started to get on top around clearance then finished the job in the last quarter.
Ollie Wines and Lachie Henderson battle for the ball on Thursday night.Credit:Getty Images
I thought you were the most consistent Port player all night. I didn't think you were that quiet in the first quarter. What did Kenny say to the group at half-time?
He just gave us both barrels the midfield group. He said, "Footy is won in contested ball. Finals footy. We weren't going to done." We were minus 14 at half-time. We went to work that second half. I think we really lifted as a team, as a midfield group. Got the footy in our front half and gave our forwards an opportunity. Our defence was really strong all night. Danger got that goal away in the third quarter, but we felt like they were pretty lucky to get that. We probably should've marked that. But finals footy we know the tat moss fear and the pressure is high. I think you've looked after me, giving me that one!
You had the ball in your forward half for most of the night. That was because you were able to defensively transition really quickly, and get into your spots?
I think the last time we played 'em, we weren't able to do it in round 12, they just transitioned from their back half to their front half too quick and we couldn't catch up. So tonight we had an emphasis on making sure we set up really well behind the ball and kept it in our front half and we were able to do that, as I said after half-time, and, yeah, it was a pleasing effort from everyone. And we still feel like there's a little bit of improvement left in us. Looking forward to the week off now. We'll review it. Enjoy tonight, obviously. They don't come around too often. As I know it's taken 12 years, but we've got there, and it's all been worth it.
I know it's been your first foray into the finals but also for a couple of the young players. I thought they really stood up in crucial moments. A couple of Butters' efforts, Duursma going back with the flight. It must be pleasing to see the young kids in your side with that commitment in your side with that commitment in a finals game?
Absolutely. We know they bring so much energy for us, the younger boys. They put their head over it. They're as hard as anyone in the team. It's a pretty big effort when you're about 50 kilos to go the way Butters does about it. He attacks the footy hard and he normally hurts bodies on the way through. So Xavier going back with the flier, there were some contests all night. Even Trent McKenzie, his first final. He was outstanding back down all night. We have so much confidence in each other at the moment. We have to continue to push on. We'll watch the finals over the weekend and do our homework on whatever we get in the next time.
You're captain of a team now that's got your way into a preliminary and done it really well.
They make my job so easy. I love running out with these boys every week. Tonight's effort made me so proud. But we have unfinished business. We're not done yet.
We talked a lot about your young kids but the toughness today of Butters and Duursma was remarkable.
They do it every week. Duursma going back with a flyer. Butters is as hard as they come. Like I said, I go to war with these boys. They're unbelievable.
Tom Jonas and Ryan Burton celebrate on the siren.Credit:Getty Images
Travis Boak, have a listen to this. You're puffing. You need the week off, you just said!
I reckon after that! That's why we way footy. It was hard all night. It was a contest all night. Geelong are one of the best teams in the comp. Contest the ball. We knew what it would be like as well in the final. It's great to play in front of fans.
Travis Boak is chased by Tom Guthrie on Thursday night.Credit:Getty Images
I have to say, at half-time when Ken came out, he was really composed. He said "I back my boys to win that back."
He might've been composed on camera but he gave us a rev-up in the room. That second quarter they got on top, contested balls around our contest. And the midfield group, I thought we got better in the second half. That got us over the line.
You've seen tough times at this place. You've seen times when you've looked really good. How does it feel in the club right now with this group?
It's special. We've got a connection. It's more than just footy for us. It's a real connection within the group. It's a family-like atmosphere. We've been building on it for a while. It's starting to connect really well. We love our footy.
The Power have done it and done it in consummate style to take down Geelong by 16 points at Adelaide Oval.
It's their first preliminary final since 2014.
Port 9.4 (58) to Geelong 5.12 (42).
This young Power side really does look to have the endurance and versatility to go the distance, what was just as impressive tonight was their ability to defend under pressure and convert their chances at goal.
But whoever they face in the preliminary final will ask them even tougher questions.
For now, they can celebrate and give themselves a week to rest.
You have to feel a bit for Hawkins, he has kicked five behinds but all of them have either deep in the pocket or on the boundary.
He just took a mark on the boundary, looked to have kicked the perfect snap kick but it cannoned into the post.
Story of his night. Power will win this one.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMigQFodHRwczovL3d3dy50aGVhZ2UuY29tLmF1L3Nwb3J0L2FmbC9hZmwtZmluYWxzLWFzLWl0LWhhcHBlbmVkLXBvcnQtYWRlbGFpZGUtdnMtZ2VlbG9uZy1jYXRzLWF0LWFkZWxhaWRlLW92YWwtMjAyMDEwMDEtcDU2MTR1Lmh0bWzSAYEBaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAudGhlYWdlLmNvbS5hdS9zcG9ydC9hZmwvYWZsLWZpbmFscy1hcy1pdC1oYXBwZW5lZC1wb3J0LWFkZWxhaWRlLXZzLWdlZWxvbmctY2F0cy1hdC1hZGVsYWlkZS1vdmFsLTIwMjAxMDAxLXA1NjE0dS5odG1s?oc=5
2020-10-01 13:17:00Z
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