The West Coast Eagles have defeated Port Adelaide by two points, after one of the most dramatic, scarcely believable and tumultuous games of recent years.
» Click here to read the full match report
Final score
Port Adelaide Power 10.16.76
West Coast Eagles 12.6.78
Finals footy returns to the City of Churches for the second time in as many days, with Port Adelaide Power hosting the West Coast Eagles in a massive Saturday night at Adelaide Oval. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog from 7:50pm (AEST).
If you ever wanted to know what it feels like to achieve something as massive as qualifying for AFL finals in the very last minute, ask the Eagles.
It took them until the last Sunday in August – really, the last ten minutes of their game – to scrape their way into the eight, and break the hearts of the Demons.
West Coast will be out to make the most of this series, especially after losing their last two finals games: 2016’s elimination final against the Bulldogs, and 2015’s grand final against Hawthorn.
Their opponents, though, were firmly encased in the top eight for much of the season, but have gained a bit of unwanted notoriety as ‘flat trackers’: out of their 14 wins, just two were against current finalists.
The good news is that one of those wins was against the Eagles. The bad news is that win was in Perth. West Coast are actually bloody good at Adelaide Oval – they’ve won five of six games total, and all three of their past three games against Port.
But in the finals, history matters for naught. The selected teams, though, certainly do count.
The Eagles have made no changes from the side that beat the Crows in Round 23 – meaning all the essentials (the awesome Josh Kennedy, Luke Shuey, Andrew Gath and Elliot Yeo – to name but a few) are all in, but Nic Naitanui is still out.
Port have made just the sole change, dropping first-year player Aidyn Johnson for the more experienced Jarman Impey. Defenders Tom Jonas (untimely suspension) and Jack Hombisch (hip ailment) both remain out of the side, which is unfortunate for Port’s defensive unit.
Port Adelaide have been the second highest-scoring attacking force in the competition this year, while the Eagles aren’t far behind. That should make for a high-scoring game, weather permitting.
Prediction
Port did win three straight games to finish off their season, but West Coast are an ominous force and they had to work harder for their finals opportunity, so they won’t let this one slip.
The Eagles to win by a small margin. A very small margin.
West Coast by 4 points.
Simon D.
Guest
Good report of the action Docker! I like the way it (the article) is screen or PC friendly. It was easy to scroll down...no worries...
Haydos
Guest
I really think the Q5 and Q6 on this page should be ET1 and ET2 just to nitpick.
Ron Wilderson
Guest
Amazing game to watch and arguably one of the best in last 10 years. Felt the Wingard awarded goal with McGoverns fingers bent back a bit over the top and to the young man who nearly ripped off poor Shueys head at the end there... well that was just down right outrageous. Should send him a apology and seek some counselling. God bless
Philip humphries
Guest
I felt very upset and really disheartened by the game. I felt betrayed and feel that West coast was only wanted to win to stick it to Port and they decided to play longer witch was like tormented to all the players. The fans broke down and the umpires should watch the replay and see what they did wrong.
dontknowmuchaboutfootball
Guest
Port are bluddy useless.
Birdman
Guest
Hear hear - belated thanks for your great work tonight AD. You picked a classic to blog
Joel Erickson
Roar Guru
What kind of short arms do you have?
Mattician6x6
Guest
Shrugged his shoulder and forced a arm to move from waist to neck? Bio mechanics isn't a strong suit aye.
Joel Erickson
Roar Guru
Shocking logic Perry. Regardless of the misses, the umpires have still cost Port Adelaide the game. It's that simple.
Perry Bridge
Guest
Shuey didn't drop - the only argument is the shoulder shrug (and Shuey has form on this front) - however, the tackle DID start very close to the shoulder and that's dangerous, it slipped high and the sense of a shoulder shrug is not quite as obvious as some (not a clear J.Selwood one) and the bigger issue is Shuey grabbing the hand to lock it in and ensure the high contact around the neck. But in real time that's hard for the umpire to spot. Quite simply though - it should never have got to that. Dixon and Boak should've iced it by then.
Perry Bridge
Guest
Frees were 25 to Port and 17 to West Coast. Shuey probably should have got a high free his way a few mins earlier when the 2nd Port tackler came in high but that one went to Port. I'm still trying to work out how Hartlett got a free (was that Schmidt #17) for running into Petrie's arms as he was reaching for the ball - that's just incidental contact (and then Port fans were booing Petrie - that's just poor form). Then there was the out deliberate call by umpire Donlon (#1), tell me that wasn't swayed by the noise of the crowd - 2 mins out in regular time, thankfully that didn't play a key part. Granted the ruck free against Ryder was wrong (#11 didn't look 360 degrees - no final next week for you #11!) - and thankfully the shot only earned a behind (but a valuable point).
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
Thanks, XI.
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
Good stuff buddy. Have a good one yourself.
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
Thanks so much for your thoughts, Tom. Sensational game to blog.
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
Fair enough.
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
» Click here to read the full match report Thank you absolutely everyone who contributed in this live blog. I loved chatting with you all. An extraordinary night. Comfortably the best game I've live blogged, and one of the most dramatic I've ever seen. Good night, and have a great weekend everybody!
Perry Bridge
Guest
If it had started around the waist there would have been no issue. It is the classic Joel Selwood arm/shoulder shrug - and if the player is good enough to do it - and doesn't drop his knees - then it's fair enough.
Joel Erickson
Roar Guru
You can make more than a case Rick. There's no alternative, it's an incorrect decision that has ended a team's season.
TomC
Roar Guru
This is stupid. Soderstrem isn't smart enough or subtle enough to do this sort of interview with Wines.
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
I think in slow motion you could make a case. In real time, it looked like a free. It’s a tough break, but at face value, it looked more right than wrong.