Port Adelaide vs Adelaide

2022 - 8 - 20

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Image courtesy of "The Canberra Times"

Port thrash Crows in Gray's AFL swansong (The Canberra Times)

Port Adelaide great Robbie Gray has kicked two goals in a 56-point trouncing of arch foes Adelaide to...

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. "It was a nice game to finish on," Gray said. 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.

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Image courtesy of "AFL"

Power send retiring star off in style with big Showdown win (AFL)

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.

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Image courtesy of "Fox Sports"

Port put on 'absolute clinic' to send retiring great out with Showdown ... (Fox Sports)

Port put on 'absolute clinic' to send retiring great out with Showdown win: 3-2-1.

The ball easily rebounded out of defence and ended in a Port goal. It’s 8-2 to the Adelaide Crows. “They’ve just got to find a way of neutralising this right now Port Adelaide – O’Brien’s clearance work. “You can’t question their effort, they started really well … He had a hand in goals in the second term before he kicked his first for the night to bring the crowd to their feet. The issue was highlighted in the second term when Jordon Butts streamed inside 50 and kicked it to a one on three – with the three Port defenders. But as Port struggled to put the Crows away, with Gray responsible for two of those four behinds, Charlie Dixon hobbled to the sideline after copping an accidental knee to the back of his leg in a marking contest. Gray kicked his second for the night before assisting McEntee to give the Power the biggest lead of the night. Fogarty had taken the grab inside 50, but his set shot became a certainty when Finlayson “mouthed off” to an umpire in the centre of the ground. Gray slotted his first for the night in his final match as Port had a 13-point lead. Robbie Gray was almost off to the perfect start in his final match, as he appeared to take a mark inside 50. Rory Laird slotted the goal and absolutely gave it to the crowd as his teammates ran in to celebrate.

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Image courtesy of "Port Adelaide Football Club"

Match report: The Graytest farewell for Robbie (Port Adelaide Football Club)

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.

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