Port Adelaide

Connor Rozee was brilliant for the Power, winning the Showdown Medal after spearheading his team's dominance from the midfield with 34 disposals, 11 inside 50s ...

A massive crowd of 50,090 turned out for the Showdown, knowing it was Gray's last game but also maybe inspired by the theatrics of the week. In his 271st and final game, Robbie Gray started in the centre square as he often did in his prime as a midfielder/forward. His highlight was a strong contested mark on Tom Jonas, using all his strength to hold off his man and then gripping the ball like a vice before a typically accurate set shot. O'Brien was the Crows' best with a massive 50 hitouts and seven clearances, while Fogarty's three goals in the first half kept his team in touch. If all the talk during the week achieved nothing else, it ensured a packed Adelaide Oval for what was essentially a dead rubber game. After their leaders described the Crows as "arrogant and entitled" during a spicy build-up, it was on the Power to deliver in their club great's farewell game, and they were up to the challenge.

Port Adelaide have thrashed arch-rivals Adelaide by 56 points to send club great Robbie Gray into AFL retirement on a triumphant note.

And after leading by 28 points at three quarter-time, Port ran amok in the last term with seven goals to two as the Crows' season ended with barely a whimper. In the second stanza, Gray threaded a 45-metre set shot from a tight angle to delight the pro-Power crowd. Port led by one-point at quarter-time, 2.4 to 2.3, with Gray having a hand in both his side's goals - handballs in the scoring chains. But the Crows, after trailing by seven points at halftime, were swamped in the second half when the Power kicked 11 goals to three. Gray also had a hand in four other goals - and missed two regulation set shots - in Port's 16.15 (111) to 7.13 (55) win at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night. Port Adelaide great Robbie Gray has kicked two goals in a 56-point trouncing of arch foes Adelaide to finish his decorated AFL career on a triumphant note.

The Crows capitalised with early goals to Darcy Fogarty and Rory Laird, before a goalless deadlock of almost 20 minutes followed as the Power lifted and both ...

Adelaide: Ben Davis (replaced Mitch Hinge in the fourth quarter). Port Adelaide: Riley Bonner (replaced Mitch Georgiades in the fourth quarter) Port Adelaide: Dixon (corked leg), Georgiades (ankle), Finlayson (knee). Adelaide: Hinge (calf). Laird (26 and six clearances) and Sam Berry (21 and six) fought hard at the coalface. The Crows were defeated 16.15 (111) to 7.13 (55) at Adelaide Oval in the final match for 2022.

Power star Connor Rozee claimed a perfect sweep of votes to take out his first Showdown medal.

- Rozee 2.

Robbie Gray's farewell was perfect - he entertained, Port Adelaide won the Showdown by a commanding 56 points and the season closes with new hope for 2023.

The challenge to harass Adelaide when it sought to gain field territory was as demanding as the pressure Port Adelaide had to apply to Sydney at Adelaide Oval in round 14. The former Adelaide captain's only, in the final minutes, came from a free kick conceded in a marking contest by Dan Houston. Port Adelaide's midfield was ultimately superior, winning all clearances 45-40 despite O'Brien giving Adelaide the bulk of the hit-outs that finished at 23-59 against Port Adelaide (a disparity that has become quite normal in Port Adelaide games since the loss of specialist ruckman Scott Lycett with a shoulder injury). With greater command of the ball, Port Adelaide took a 28-point lead to the last term off a dominant (but perhaps wasteful) third term by scoring 4.6 while conceding just one goal. One of the finest moments of this harassment was in the quick reaction of first-year Port Adelaide defender Jase Burgoyne to cramp Ned McHenry on a shot at goal 20 metres from the southern goal in the 16th minute. Gray, quite appropriately, was in the chain of play in the first goal scored by Port Adelaide's 2022 leading goalkicker, Todd Marshall, in the second minute. It is as gut-wrenching as anything that has the label of a "final". As he did in the 17th minute with a shot from 30 metres, directly in front of the northern goal, after finding a leap off his battered knees to take a strong mark in front of a pack. And for much of the game, Gray danced - jumping in hot spots - to make every defender near him sweat, particularly during the third term. The Port Adelaide true believers also farewell Gray as he merits. Gray's set shot, with the ball working its way from right to left, mirrors the kick that sunk Carlton from a similar position after the siren at the Gabba in 2020. Port Adelaide's assertive 56-point in Showdown LII on Saturday night closes the year with a 10-12 win-loss count - much less than expected at Alberton.