Media articles & stats: Tigers into GF after outlasting Port in brutal thriller

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Tigers into another GF after outlasting Port in brutal thriller

Richmond is through its third Grand Final in four years after defeating Port Adelaide

By Riley Beveridge
afl.com.au
17 October 2020

PORT ADELAIDE    2.3    3.3    4.4     6.4 (40)
RICHMOND            2.1    3.3    4.6    6.10 (46)

GOALS
Port Adelaide: Rozee 2, Duursma, Lycett, Dixon, Ladhams
Richmond: Martin 2, Lambert 2, Riewoldt, Lynch

BEST
Port Adelaide: Rozee, Duursma, Ebert, Gray, Jonas, Wines
Richmond: Martin, Balta, Cotchin, Vlastuin, Graham, McIntosh

INJURIES
Port Adelaide: Ebert (concussion)
Richmond: Nil

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RICHMOND is one game away from joining the modern AFL greats.

The Tigers roared their way to the 2017 flag and clawed their way back to the top of the mountain again in 2019. Now, they are on the cusp of a continuing a dynasty like no other in a season like no other.

In a gruelling, taxing and absorbing preliminary final on Friday night, Richmond gave itself that chance with a thrilling six-point victory over Port Adelaide.

Remarkably, the margin never stretched beyond 11 points in the favour of either side all evening as the Tigers outlasted a gallant Power outfit 6.10 (46) to 6.4 (40) to ensure they will head to the Gabba for the Grand Final in eight days' time.

But while the venue of this season's premiership decider might be different, the yellow and black colours clad by one of its competitors will provide some familiarity. A third flag in four years could now await Damien Hardwick's men.

Perhaps none will be as deserved as this one, though. A campaign littered with complexities and hurdles to overcome found another daunting one on Friday night in the form of a rampant Port Adelaide side on its home deck.

But Richmond, as it has for years, simply found a way. Dustin Martin (21 disposals, two goals) was again heroic in every facet of the game, while a late rear-guard stand ensured a Grand Final ticket was ultimately booked.

The Tigers held a one-score lead for the final 13 minutes of a pulsating clash, as the Power pushed for that defining kick that could change their fortunes. But a frustrated Ken Hinkley watched on as it never arrived.

Connor Rozee (14 disposals, two goals) had lit the flame for Port Adelaide's early hopes of securing victory, while Xavier Duursma (19 disposals, one goal) battled hard all night. But the hosts fell devastatingly short when it mattered.

It leaves Richmond one game away from another premiership. But for a vibrant and entertaining young Port Adelaide side, it's hard not to believe there won't be more chances to come.

A clash that had pitted the minor premiers against the reigning premiers was never going to be easy, with the teaming rain that drenched the Adelaide Oval and the subsequent wet conditions adding to the intensity.

The first half started with an edgy and aggressive 12-minute stretch without a goal and ended with a 14-minute spell without a single point. But while the long periods of pressure dried the scoring, it certainly didn't stop the controversy.

Port Adelaide ruckman Peter Ladhams was reported for a strike to the midriff of Noah Balta, before Duursma's passionate arrow celebration led to a heated row with the night's pantomime villain Tom Lynch.

But that's not to say there weren't moments of attacking brilliance littered in between. Martin's superb gather and snap broke the early deadlock, before Rozee's effort from deep inside the pocket ensured the scores were tied at half-time.

But the stark evenness between the two sides wasn't just reflected on the scoreboard, as a gripping and trying contest turned into an anxiety-laden finale as Richmond carried a slender two-point lead into the last change.

Charlie Dixon, well held by Balta all night, came to the fore with a strong mark and a finish from beyond 50m that delivered Port Adelaide the lead. Kane Lambert, with a dribbling goal through a scrum of limbs, provided a quick response.

Another from Lambert, courtesy of a deliberate decision against a scrambling Hamish Hartlett, then seemingly gave the Tigers the momentum. But, again, it was just as rapidly wiped out by Ladhams at the other end.

For 13 breathtaking minutes, both teams battled for the final shot on target that could seal passage to the Grand Final.

Sweetly for Richmond, it repelled any opportunity Port Adelaide had to do just that. A six-point win now gives the Tigers yet another opportunity to taste the game's greatest success.

https://www.afl.com.au/news/518221/tigers-book-gf-spot-after-outlasting-power-in-a-slugfest

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Richmond into another grand final after edging valiant Port Adelaide

By Steve Barrett
The Age
October 17, 2020

Richmond staved off a stirring changing-of-the-guard challenge from Port Adelaide to go within touching distance of their third premiership in four years after prevailing in a heart-stopping preliminary final.

The Tigers, the undisputed heavyweight champions of the past four years but forced this season to ply their trade away from their MCG stronghold, had to wait until the last minute to be certain of victory against the valiant Power.

On Friday night at Adelaide Oval, as anticipated, almost nothing separated the two sides.

Richmond did it by inches - turning a two-point quarter-time deficit into a half-time deadlock and a two-point three-quarter-time edge ahead of the gripping fourth term in which neither team blinked.

Tom Lynch narrowly missed a set shot in the first minute of the third before rival spearhead Charlie Dixon bombed from 50m to give Port the edge.

A pair of clever goals to finals specialist Kane Lambert - a clean pick-up and scrambling effort and a free kick against Hamish Hartlett for deliberate out-of-bounds - had the Power, chasing their first grand final since 2017, on the ropes.

The home side's bid was thwarted when brave Brad Ebert, the nephew of Port's greatest champion Russell Ebert, staggered off the ground to a standing ovation late in the fourth after his head slammed into the turf following a brave against-the-flight challenge on Jack Riewoldt.

Despite the blow, Port never stopped, continuing to blaze away and force extra time before big Tiger Toby Nankervis snared the game-saving mark in defence inside the last minute.

The clearances told a story; Port had the edge 20-13 in the first half whereas Richmond had the ascendancy after half-time, 28-9.

The low-scoring arm wrestle had everything - a report against Pete Ladhams for a jab to the outstanding Noah Balta's stomach, crunching tackles and a steadfast refusal to concede.

Port's ascendancy at the contest and in the territory was eventually dragged in and overhauled by the Tigers, who at one stage kept the hosts scoreless for 32 minutes.

Dustin Martin slotted the opening goal, a magnificent evading and snapping effort, before Port hit back through the finishing of Connor Rozee and stirling playmaking of Robbie Gray.

In the second stanza Martin was too strong for Darcy Byrne-Jones in a one-on-one, marking and goaling to level the scores.

The champion Tigers kept grinding away before finally keeping the challengers at bay thanks to the proficient Lambert.

GROWING PAINS

Port fans held their breath when Xavier Duursma copped a solid bump from Riewoldt, a fortnight after the Power youngster was concussed by Mark Blicavs in the qualifying final.

Duursma shook off Riewoldt's hit to generate plenty of forward drive for Port, producing a swag of inside-50s and goaling moments before the quarter-time siren to give the Power the slender edge.

But Duursma had a moment in the second term that he would want back when, spotted up cleverly by Rozee, he spilled a sitter of a mark in attack at a time Port had dried up and desperately need any score.

Rozee, last year's rookie sensation whose second season has been somewhat less spectacular, loomed as the game-breaker when he bagged two first-half goals - equalling his best haul of 2020.

The pair - and Port - will assuredly be back bigger and better in 2021.

JACK HELD IN ATTACK

Tom Hawkins' errant kicking ensured a clean sheet for Trent McKenzie a fortnight ago but this time the Port defender's resoluteness made life hard for long-time Power bogyman Riewoldt.

Riewoldt slotted an early goal thanks to a free against Tom Jonas but otherwise had his colours lowered by McKenzie, in an admittedly tough, drizzly night for the big forwards.

The Richmond talisman was held to just six kicks.

But he won't mind at all.

He has bigger fish to fry next Saturday at the Gabba.

Port Adelaide 2.3 3.3 4.4 6.4 (40)
Richmond      2.1 3.3 4.6 6.10 (46)

GOALS:
Richmond: Martin 2, Lambert 2, Lynch, Riewoldt.
Port Adelaide: Rozee 2, Duursma, Dixon, Lycett, Ladhams

BEST:
Richmond - Martin, Balta, Prestia, Nankervis, Graham, McIntosh.
Port - Wines, Boak, Duursma, Rozee, Ebert, Houston

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/afl-preliminary-final-richmond-tigers-get-the-edge-against-valiant-port-adelaide-20201016-p565x9.html

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Tigers reign in wet to end Port parade

By Greg Baum
The Age
October 17, 2020

The best side of the era beat the best side of the year. You wouldn't have it any other way in a preliminary final. It's a mini-era, it's a modified year, but nothing about this contest was even remotely qualified.

Constant rain reduced it to fundamentals. No one in recent times has mastered those better than Richmond. Conditions and stake made this an ugly game of footy, but there are no style points in a preliminary final. There are for degree of difficulty, and they don’t come more exacting than this.

A kick off the ground often was worth two at a higher elevation. When all the wrenching and wrestling was done, it was a soccer goal from Kane Lambert that regained Richmond the lead early in the last quarter, and another to Lambert, bent from the boundary line shortly after, became a bridge too far for Port.

But Peter Ladhams’ nerveless free kick goal made for a desperate finish. On the scoreboard as on the ground, there was only a kick in it.

So the Richmond era is sustained and its status stands to be burnished with another premiership. But was the Port year a freak? Hardly. Look at Xavier Duursma and Conor Rozee, beginners really, but so far ahead of their ages. What they now know is that it is a long way from the top to the premiership. They won’t forget.

At the final siren, coaches Damien Hardwick and Ken Hinkley embraced. It was a noble touch, a humble touche.

Richmond won this match the way you eat an elephant, bite by bite. They bundled it forward, then kept it there, the way a sheepdog herds its charges, if that is not too many animals. But Port were no less hungry, and the sum of it was ferocious.

The X-factor was the Adelaide Oval crowd, or rather, it was a rare given in a season of unknowns. It was half a crowd, but it was half a crowd more than most this year, this night spilling onto the Adelaide Oval hill for the first time in 2020.

Home has an added layer of meaning this year. This was Port's ninth game there this year, nine instances of familiar faces, hearth and heartiness.

The Tigers, like all Melbourne clubs, have not just played away, but stayed away, for months. At times, the devil has made work for those idle hands and hours, but the Tigers will never be less than single-minded on the ground. Port could and would never win this game by default.

Mizzle turned to drizzle as the game began, making for a slippery opening. It meant neither side could get a grip on the ball or the game initially.

Port were at home geographically, but Richmond were at home climatically. At length, Dustin Martin and Jack Riewoldt – who else? – kicked the Tigers away. But Port, as expected, monopolised the territory – their territory, after all – and at length cashed in on that advantage with goals from Rozee and Duursma.

Duursma made six points with his long-range goal and another to Tom Lynch, jabbing at his chest.

Rozee's second, threaded from a pocket, made it three in a row for Port, Martin's second levelled the contest. To half-time, the encounter was like the rain, proceeding in waves. The motif was simple: get the ball forward and hold it there until a chink opened up. System mattered, of course. But so did hearts and constitutions.

That far, the battle of the big forwards had been a fizzle in the drizzle but a crashing Lynch mark and goal at the start of the third quarter was ominous. A ragged week for him receded, the Tigers edged ahead.

But Port again neutralised the game, then long goals at long intervals from their own talismanic talls Scott Lycett and Charlie Dixon nudged them into the lead.

But the Tigers had the know-how and the wherewithal. Outnumbered in the stadium, they were at home in the circumstances. A couple of flags will do that. Misses counted for small gains on the scoreboard, but might have counted against them ultimately until Lambert – the beneficiary of a tough but fair deliberate out-of-bound free kick – weaved a way through.

At last, Port lost their season-long composure, kicking forward in haste, then repenting ruefully. Richmond ruckman Toby Nankervis was not best-on-ground, but he was best in the last 10 minutes, his hands Port's black hole.

Richmond go on to the grand final and who knows what? Three flags in four years would brook no argument about true greatness. And runners-up have their own place in footy lore, sometimes gallant, sometimes bathetic, but no one remembers preliminary final losers. That will be the burr under Port's saddle in 2021.

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/tigers-reign-in-wet-to-end-port-parade-20201016-p565wu.html