Lessons learned: Port bully and bruise their way to Showdown win
Sometimes the footy gods bless you, and things just fall into your lap.
I wasn’t supposed to be reviewing this game tonight. I was supposed to be taking a week off from the Mongrel rounds, kicking my feet up, while my fellow contributor Matt Bryker-Oman covered this one.
After all, it made sense that the world’s biggest Zak Butters fan be on deck for his favourite player’s crowning moment, especially given he’s our South Aussie extraordinaire.
But alas, family commitments got the better of the man (what a loser, right?), and I stepped up to the plate for Showdown 60… and thank god for that, because this was a fantastic watch.
Now that might sound slightly odd when discussing a game decided by 26 points with a largely irrelevant fourth quarter, but in all sincerity, Port Adelaide were a joy to watch tonight.
Their bruising, bullocking, get-out-of-my-way brand of footy was spectacular, and it was this off-the-charts physicality that put the heavily favoured Adelaide Crows on the back foot and saw them secure an upset win.
In the end, the 13.19 (97) to 11.5 (71) scoreline flattered the Crows. Being truthful, Port Adelaide’s inaccuracy cost them a 10-goal win, which isn’t something the Power will lose sleep over, but it goes to show just how electrifying they were in this one.
Butters was almighty, as was running mate Jason Horne-Francis, and together they set the tone and teammates followed suit as they exposed Adelaide’s inability to cope under heat.
This was especially true in the third term, where after a back-and-forth opening half, the “home side” gathered steam and began taking more of their chances to put the game out of reach.
But while the superstar midfield duo will (deservedly) receive plenty of plaudits, the Power were also buoyed by big time performances from a bunch of their less heralded players.
The likes of Corey Durdin, Joe Richards, Mitch Zadow and Josh Lai were all impressive, and we’ll certainly be giving them their flowers in this review.
All in all, after what was a sub-par Saturday of footy leading up to the Showdown (there might be a new name in that for Fox), Port Adelaide were our unlikely saving grace.
They put forward an excellent brand of footy tonight, so without wasting more of your time, let’s get into some things that caught my eye.
This is the style of footy Josh Carr wants his side to be known for
Physical, powerful, and unrelenting. Port Adelaide took no prisoners tonight, playing a brand of footy that perfectly encapsulated their coach himself.
Josh Carr embodied what it was to be tough. He made a career out of putting his head over the footy, making sure his opponents felt every bump and nudge, and thus living rent free in their heads whenever he was around the ball.
Tonight, his boys followed suit.
I’ve already flagged above that it was Butters and Horne-Francis leading the way with this, so let’s start there.
The pair made light work of opponents like Izak Rankine, Josh Rachele, Dan Curtin and Jake Soligo. In fact, outside of inspiring skipper Jordan Dawson, not one Adelaide midfielder wanted a bar of them tonight.
But I’d like to highlight a few other boys here who were outstanding in this area too.
Zadow (from my neck of the woods in Pinjarra, no less!) might have only accumulated four disposals, but his willingness to throw his body into the fray gave more talented Crows players plenty to think about.
He was rewarded with his first AFL goal coming from a ground ball in the third term, which he quickly followed up with an assist to Durdin.
Speaking of Durdin, he had his own signature moment when he courageously went back with the flight to mark the ball in front of Rachele (who, as we’ve seen before, hesitated) and stymie a Crows inside 50m midway through the second term. He was rewarded with a goal at the other end just moments later.
On top of that, Mitch Georgiades gave an awesome chase to pressure Max Michalanney into a poor kick and create a goal for Jase Burgoyne, Lai threw himself into the air to collect a heap of intercept marks, and Jordan Sweet’s brutish play gave Adelaide ruck Lachie McAndrew headaches.
All in all, this was a tale of one team simply being prepared to go harder and tougher at the footy.
This is the Josh Carr brand. This is the culture he wants to instill.
Now his job is just to make sure his boys bring it more consistently.
On the flip side…
Not a great look for the Adelaide Crows when a team with less talent simply bullies you into submission.
The Crows had won six of their past seven matches coming into this one, including three on the trot, and they looked like a team that expected to simply roll out and collect the chocolates tonight.
To be frank, they looked soft, and what we saw from them tonight is a level of footy that simply won’t stack up in September. It certainly didn’t last year.
Put simply, Adelaide had too many blokes underperforming tonight.
Josh Rachele bagged a ripper goal midway through the first term, dribbling it in from the boundary with an effort worthy of the World Cup. He gave another World Cup worthy effort later in the fourth, putting his name forward for flop of the year when he went down like he’d been shot after a slight nudge from Horne-Francis.
Rachele was unsighted for two straight quarters after his goal (and that’s no exaggeration, he literally didn’t touch the footy from halfway through the first term to halfway through the third), but he wasn’t alone in underwhelming.
Rankine was hurt early on after a crunching tackle, so I’ll give him some slight grace, but guys like Curtin, Brayden Cook, and Isaac Cumming were all nowhere to be seen.
These are pivotal players for the Crows, and they gave them nothing in a game that would have seen them move into the top four.
Outside of a select few such as Dawson, Josh Worrell, Sam Berry and Darcy Fogarty, not too many Crows players will be looking forward to the review this week.
Why I’m sad about Zak Butters
A fairly raw and honest post-game interview gave us an insight that this is very likely to have been Zak Butters’ final Showdown. He remains unsigned, and appears set for a move east this off-season.
I was surprised at how emotional he seemed when talking about the win. He flagged it as among the best of his career, and talked about his deep love for his teammates.
But this isn’t exactly what’s made me sad tonight.
The reason I’m down in the dumps is that we’re never going to get the full experience of what a Butters and Horne-Francis combo could grow into.
They were absolutely outstanding tonight, and while Butters took home the Showdown medal, I feel you can’t talk about one without mentioning the other in the same breath.
Butters finished his night with 37 disposals, 13 clearances, four marks, seven tackles, and nine score involvements.
Horne-Francis tallied 29 disposals, 10 clearances, five marks and two tackles.
So, to stretch my brain with some pretty basic math, they combined for a whopping 66 disposals, 23 clearances (Twenty-three!), nine marks and nine tackles.
It was an absolutely blinding performance from two genuinely elite midfielders, and it made me want to see more of it.
Horne-Francis is still young and is yet to reach the peak of his powers, and while Port Adelaide fans will no doubt enjoy him for many years to come, it’s a shame it likely won’t be with Butters running by his side.
Fogarty’s fifer
Alright, I think I’ve given the Crows sufficient whacking, so let’s talk about the positives.
Darcy Fogarty found some form tonight, making the most of a match-up against Brandon Zerk-Thatcher (who replaced the injured Esava Ratugolea), with a five-goal bag.
He also took four marks and gathered 16 disposals, providing an outlet up the line for his defenders.
It’s not quite been his year, but Fogarty finding some rhythm will certainly help the Crows as the season rolls on.
Let’s finish off with a bit of rapid fire
- Love love LOVE Josh Lai’s game tonight. Blanketed Rachele when he was on him, and his aerial ability really supported Aliir Aliir in defence.
- Speaking of Aliir, what a player this guy is. Rock solid in defence.
- Josh Worrell returned to the Crows line-up and looked at home. Their back six might not have had their best nights, but I certainly don’t lay the blame for this loss at their feet.
- Mitch Georgiades is a freak. Took a spectacular hang in this one and was a force up front all night. Wish he converted more, though, a bag of six went begging and he finished with three goals on the night. Took 11 marks.
- The Jordan Sweet / Dante Visentini combination worked a treat for the Power tonight.
- Not sure the Crows are putting much fear into the hearts of their fellow finals aspirants after this one.
Alright, that’s enough gasbagging outta me. Hooroo!
