The Australian political order changed on Saturday night and so too did the football order.
Collingwood, a pre-season flag fancy, is done and dusted for 2013 after losing by 24 points to Port Adelaide in a stunning elimination final result at the MCG.
Believe it or not, the Power will face Geelong in a knock-out semi-final at the MCG on Friday night after their 12.15 (87) to 9.9 (63) victory.
Port led at every change, but after Dayne Beams and Travis Cloke goaled in the opening five minutes of the final quarter, Collingwood had the lead and with the pro-Magpie crowd in full voice, all the momentum.
But that was the last shot Collingwood would fire for the year. As has been their wont, the super-fit Power put on their skates, started to run and they finished all over the Magpies. Last year's preliminary final appearance was quickly made to seem a distant memory for Nathan Buckley's men.
Skipper Travis Boak soccered through a goal to give Port back the lead, first-year midfielder Ollie Wines snapped one from deep in a pack, Chad Wingard ran into an open goal and then Jay Schulz marked strongly and goaled and the upset was complete.
Wingard kicked three goals to confirm his budding superstar status, while Schulz also finished with three goals in his first, and long overdue, final.
Port had stars everywhere: midfielders Kane Cornes (28 possessions) and Brad Ebert (24), Tom Jonas and Alipate Carlisle down back, Matthew Lobbe in the ruck. And in Wingard and Wines, the Power have two future superstars of the AFL who showed they belong on the MCG in September. There can be no finer praise.
Port led a tight first quarter by a goal and then jumped to a four-goal lead in the opening three quarters of the second term, one of which included a relayed free after an ill-disciplined Heath Shaw threw his opponent to the ground in full view of the umpire.
Port surrendered the lead in the third term and again in the last, but new coach Ken Hinkley has his team fit and has injected grit into the side and they kept on coming.
Collingwood was poor for most of the night. Dane Swan can be excused – his herculean display in the third term, primarily as a marking forward, singlehandedly got his side back in the game.
Steele Sidebottom and Dayne Beams won a fair bit of the ball, but weren't damaging with their possessions and Cloke was disappointing with just two goals. Sorting out the forward line will be a big priority for Pies coach Buckley this summer.
And what about Hinkley, who has reinvigorated Port in just 12 months? On this election night, he might just about have sealed the vote for coach of the year.
The colour of choice around Collingwood is not a colour at all. It is black and it summed up the funereal mood among all at Collingwood on Saturday night as they attempted to come to grips with a premature exit from the finals.
Mouths agape, hands in pockets and barely speaking even in a whisper, Collingwood's inner sanctum, all wearing the club's corporate black, stood in the bowels of the MCG and pondered the abrupt end to a finals campaign that was supposed to at least continue through to a winnable clash with Geelong on Friday night.
"It's a feeling of shock," said skipper Nick Maxwell as he reeled off a number of key stats such as clearances and contested possessions that the Pies won handsomely, yet made no difference in a match in which his side ended 24 points in arrears.
"You don't come to an elimination final expecting to be in this position. In the end they just overran us."
Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley couldn't hide his disappointment as he spoke post-game. "We didn't believe that our season was going to end here but it just shows how tough this competition is," he said.
And he forewarned of a frank couple of days at the Westpac Centre as the club digests what to make of a season that fell well short of expectations. The only madness to expect around Collingwood on Monday will be from a coaching staff that will have steam coming from their collective ears.
"We'll spend the next couple of days with the players, reviewing individually, reviewing our season and making sure we understand before we go away on our off-season, which has started prematurely in our belief, what we need to improve on," he said.
He was asked whether the disappointment this time around was greater than a bit less than 12 months ago, when the Pies lost to the Sydney Swans in the elimination final.
"Losing the preliminary final last year wasn't great. We lose an elimination final this year and it doesn't feel great," Buckley said.
"Anyone who finishes the season without doing a lap of this ground is disappointed in some shape or form and we've clearly got a lot of work to do still."
Buckley refused to comment on what list changes might take place at Collingwood next month, saying that list management discussions remain ongoing.
But he hinted that there might be a tough approach to who stays and who leaves and said the result against Port Adelaide should suggest once and for all that the 2010 flag is now ancient history.
"The club has got to ask itself questions. You've got to ask if we're making the right decisions in regard to culture and in regards to environment, personnel, game-plan and coaching staff," he said.
"If we have any person or anyone or have any thoughts at all that we need to cling onto what we've had, well then this is what lets that go and you need to keep evolving.
"You need to keep getting better, you need to be hungry and hard on each other and be prepared to continually improve whether you finish first or you finish last."
But with 40 players used over the season, the unveiling of a bunch of talented young players and wins over Geelong and the Sydney Swans, the season hasn't been a complete write-off.
"Tonight didn't show it, but you know over the course of the last 12 months in particular, we're getting momentum in the right direction," he said.
Who sizzled?
Port Adelaide's backline, and specifically Tom Jonas and Alipate Carlile, who between them rendered Collingwood's key forwards Travis Cloke and Ben Reid largely ineffectual in the air. Carlile was Cloke's direct opponent, holding the big Magpie to only two goals – neither of them coming from marks. He was superbly assisted by Jonas, who showed an ability to read the play, leave his man and help as a third man up.
Who fizzled?
Heath Shaw had a forgettable night. The Magpies defender was dragged deep by Angus Monfries, and never really provided any of his trademark drive. What's more, he cost his team a goal in the second quarter when he jumper-punched Monfries at the top of the goalsquare after the Power had just kicked a goal. The umpire awarded another free kick, giving the visitors a double goal.
The moment
Power forward Jay Schulz evoked memories of St Kilda's Brendon Goddard from the drawn 2010 Grand Final when he soared over Magpie Nathan Brown and took one of the great finals marks during the second quarter. The former Tiger coolly converted the resulting set shot from 45m out, giving Port Adelaide a four-goal lead.
The stat
Eight. The number of marks taken inside forward 50 by Collingwood's Dane Swan, who threatened to win the game for his team with a brilliant burst in the third quarter. He finished with three goals and22 disposals, and didn't deserve any of the blame for the Magpies' defeat.
3-2-1
One vote: Chad WingardHuge game for the young star in his first career final, collecting 19 disposals and booting three important goals.
Two votes: Dane SwanA clear standout for the Magpies, but didn't have enough helpers.
Three votes: Tom JonasSo important down back, flying for spoils, chopping off Collingwood kicks and leading a backline that held the normally free-scoring Magpies to just 63 points.
Turning point
Port Adelaide had weathered an early fourth-quarter Collingwood onslaught and wrested back some momentum, but had been unable to hit the scoreboard. Enter Travis Boak. The Power skipper had worn a tight tag from Brent Macaffer all night and hadn't had one of his biggest games, but he soccered an opportunistic goal at just the right time to give his team a three-point lead and, importantly, belief. From there it was all one-way traffic as the visitors stormed home..
The replay they won't want to see
For the Magpies, simply, the whole game. Heavily favoured to win and even talked up as the most likely team to challenge for the premiership from outside the top four, Nathan Buckley's men were well below their best. They were out-run and out-worked, and turned the ball over at a frightening rate – particularly when kicking into forward 50.
The quote
"It was so loud, especially when the national anthem finished, and then when the siren sounded. It's so special. You loved it as a kid. You looked at it and looked forward to playing in it, and now I've been lucky enough to experience it. So it's really special and I'm really soaking it up at the moment." – young Power midfielder Ollie Wines reflects on his first AFL final, in which he collected 18 disposals, won five clearances, and booted two clutch goals.
"The club has got to ask itself
questions. We've got to ask if we're making the right decisions in
regards to culture and environment, personnel, game plan, coaching
staff etc."
Nathan Buckley
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Despite having won an AFL premiership, Port Adelaide has been a club that in the past few years has often struggled for identity. Not now.
Saturday night's stunning 24-point eclipse of Collingwood is the sort of victory on which a team can build an entire era. Surely the only Power victory that could even come close for legendary status is the 2004 grand final it won.
It wasn't just the size of the upset over the Magpies, it was the way it was achieved. Port three times looked set to buckle under the weight of Collingwood pressure and its own relative experience. And three times it answered the challenge. Emphatically.
The heroes for the underdog were both young and old. There was the non-stop running of Kane Cornes and Brad Ebert. The smarts, grunt and sheer gumption of Chad Wingard and Ollie Wines. The doggedness of Tom Logan and Alipate Carlile in defence. But this entire Port line-up just simply kept on coming, finally breaking Collingwood's resistance.
Collingwood looked more assured in the opening few minutes, Port turning the ball over several times by foot. But a wonderful individual effort by Justin Westhoff kick-started what became a very encouraging first quarter. The mobile big man marked well out, played on, did the give-and-get with ruckman Matthew Lobbe, then curled a left foot snap through from a tightish angle. From then, the Power played without fear, and certainly with no favour.
After a couple of misses, key forward Jay Schulz kicked the second after a strong mark. Collingwood missed a couple of opportunities, before it, too, was steadied momentarily by some individual heroics, Heath Shaw beating Angus Monfries in a one-on-one then landing the ball on Dane Swan's chest, the Brownlow medallist converting.
The Pies had enjoyed 17-10 inside 50 entries, more tackles, more contested possession and as many clearances. But Port's use of what ball it won was far superior, at one stage up over 80 per cent efficiency while Collingwood languished in the 60s. And things looked more dire immediately the second quarter began after a very costly lapse in discipline.
Within a minute of the restart after quarter-time, Port skipper Travis Boak ran into an open goal. As he ran off to celebrate, Monfries and Shaw conducted their own little slanging match. It was Shaw whose control lapsed first. He grabbed Monfries by the throat and conceded a free kick in the goal square before the ball had been bounced again.
All of a sudden, Port led by 18 points. And if the Magpies hordes' hearts began to beat a little faster, they must have been racing when only another two minutes on, Schulz soared on the back of opponent Nathan Brown to take a huge grab, one of the best handful of marks taken this season. Without batting an eyelid, he then dobbed the shot, and it was out to four goals.
It wasn't one of Collingwood's old hands who landed the counterpunch, but a far rawer customer in running defender Marley Williams, who sneaked forward to get on the end of a handball from Paul Seedsman. But the Pies still weren't helping themselves, still making too many mistakes, and failing to capitalise on Port Adelaide's as well.
Like when Matthew Broadbent chipped the ball across goals inside his defensive 50, Jamie Elliott taking an intercept mark. But Elliott returned the favour, an attempted chip pass spoiled and another opportunity lost.
The Magpies finally began to hit their mark when within two minutes into time-on, Travis Cloke turned on to his left foot and snapped truly. Then Brent Macaffer, performing an effective lockdown role on Boak, turned on to his right and did the same thing. It was back to a goal, the pro-Collingwood crowd finding its full voice, and a critical few minutes before half-time still to play.
But, as it has all season, Port Adelaide simply kept plugging away. And it was rewarded when Brad Ebert went long out of traffic, to find Chad Wingard inexplicably left completely unattended in the goal square, the likely All-Australian marking and strolling into an open goal. The Power was clearly not planning to go quietly. And as if to underline the point, it produced exactly the same climb from the metaphorical canvas after half-time.
Collingwood came out after the long break a completely different team. It was harder, hungrier, and finally hitting the scoreboard. Lachie Keeffe, unusually playing in attack, had the first after a strong mark just 15 metres out. Then Swan, already holding his own, decided to put his stamp on proceedings.
Standing forward, he marked a clever centring kick by Sam Dwyer and ran into an open goal. A few minutes later he marked, turned, and repeated the dose, the Pies now with a seven-point lead. The Pies looked ready to steamroll Port. After 15 minutes of play, Collingwood had trebled the Power's tackle count and had racked up a dozen inside 50s to just two.
But again Port held its nerve. A smart pick-up from Tom Logan off his toes landed with Wingard, who did the job from 50 metres. Then Wines repeated the dose, the Power with the initiative again.
And yes, it happened yet again in the last. Dayne Beams had the Pies' first. Under five minutes in, Cloke had the second. Collingwood led by five points, the 51,000-strong crowd was going berserk, substitute Alan Didak in everything and looking likely to play a pivotal role in another emotional Magpie win. Incredibly, though, Cloke's goal would be Collingwood's final shot of the season.
From there, Port not only bounced back, but completely dominated, four goals within nine minutes turning a cliffhanger into a steamroller job by the underdog. Boak soccered the first to restore the lead. Wines snapped beautifully around his body. And the point of no return had symbolism written all over it, a long ball to the square from Jasper Pittard greeted by three Magpie defenders flying together and the brilliant Wingard casually waiting at the back for the spoils.
And for Port Adelaide, a glorious new chapter of its history.
A SHAW IMPLOSION
Heath Shaw's dash and talent is offset on occasion by his tendency
to lose the plot. This happened in a spectacular - and costly - moment
in the opening minutes of the second quarter after Travis Boak had
booted Port's third goal. Shaw became involved in a wrestle with his
opponent Angus Monfries and pulled at the Port forward's jumper,
getting him high in what looked a jumper punch. The umpire paid a free
on the spot - the top of the goal square - handing the Power a 12-point
play.
SCHULZ SCREAMER
Moments after the Shaw incident, a long, high ball was sent to
about 35 metres from the Port attacking goal (Punt Road end). Jay
Schulz had the run from the back and has a knack for a speccie. He
launched from well back and got the ride in a pack, taking a screamer
that at least gives Jeremy Howe some competition for mark of the year.
POWERING ON AT THE 'G
Port Adelaide hadn't played at the MCG since round one of this
season, when it thrashed Melbourne, its first victory at the ground
since early 2009. Far more amazingly, it hadn't played a night game at
the ground since round 21 of the 2004 season, when it beat Collingwood.
The Power will certainly be hoping that is an omen, given what
happened only five weeks later that year.
COLLINGWOOD
coach Nathan Buckley says the Pies' worst performance of the year
will lead to an internal examination of the club's culture.
Buckley,
who slammed his side's ball use as "deplorable" after Collingwood was
sent packing from the finals by Port Adelaide, admitted the club
needed to have look at itself.
"The club has got to ask itself
questions. We've got to ask if we're making the right decisions in
regards to culture and environment, personnel, game plan, coaching
staff etc," Buckley said.
"You've got to consistently ask yourself
those questions and when you're coming off a performance like that it
gets asked pretty strongly."
Buckley also said everyone
connected with Collingwood needed to forget about recent successes or
it would continue to get left behind by a new breed of hungry rivals.
"If
we have any person or anyone or any thoughts at all that we need to
cling on to what we've had well then this is the last blow that lets
that go," he said.
"You need to keep evolving, getting better, be
hungry, be hard on each other and be prepared to continually improve
whether you finish first or last. You need improvement or the
competition goes past you.
"You've got to be better than you
were yesterday. We've got three months to stew over it ... get our
plans right for next year, but it doesn't make it any easier to handle
right now.
"The game changes really quickly so you need to
adapt and evolve to what the best teams are doing and if you want to
be one of those teams you need to be doing it particularly well."
Buckley
was left stone-faced after Collingwood butchered the ball in a
24-point loss to the Power. Port kicked 4.6 to 2.2 in the last term to
record its first finals win since 2007.
"Twenty-seven of our kicks were marked directly by them. That will be some sort of world record," he said.
"Our
use by hand and foot was deplorable and that's as bad as we've been
all year. I didn't see that coming. We're very disappointed. We didn't
believe our season was going to end here and it just shows you how
tough this competition is.''
Collingwood's key forwards Travis
Cloke, Lachie Keefe and Ben Reid were all well beaten, with Buckley
saying the trio showed a "lack of competitiveness" in marking
contests.
"We just didn't compete hard enough in those areas. We
went in 58 times and only scored 18 times so I couldn't tell you that
our forward line functioned this evening," Buckley said.
Asked if
it was the lowest point of his coaching career, he said: "I haven't
been around for that lomg. Obviously losing the preliminary last year
wasn't great. We lose an elimination final this year and it doesn't
feel great.
"Anyone that finishes the season without doing a lap of this ground is disappointed and has fallen down in some shape or form.
"Clearly we've got a lot of work to do still."
Buckley wouldn't discuss the future of Alan Didak, saying it wasn't the time or place.
Skipper Nick Maxwell said he and his teammates were experiencing "a feeling of shock" in what had been a failed season.
"We've
got to sit back and watch the next three weeks. You don't come to an
elimination final expecting to be in this position. In the end they
overran us," Maxwell said.
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