Port defeated in preliminary final

by MICHAEL STEVEN

COLLINGWOOD supporters are in the queue one more time, or at least they hope to be, Collingwood players stood tall as their team defeated Port for the right to play in this year's VFL grand final. Brodie Holland, Jarrod Molloy and Rupert Betheras were the best from Collingwood with McKee, McGough and Davis putting in solid efforts. Young guns like David King, Cameron Cloke and Bo Nixon proved they are made of the right stuff in pressurised finals footy.

But this was not Collingwood's win. Rather it was its sister club Williamstown which defeated traditional rival Port Melbourne for the right to play the Box Hill Hawks next Sunday. Players like Cranage, Mahoney, West and Fletcher displayed the Williamstown spirit with typical grit and class and were influential in the win. Opposition players like Motlop surged late in the game but were unable to catch the superior Seagulls outfit which had been leading for nearly all the game. A late goal by Willy's proven full forward, Baldwin, sealed the game.

Queuing for tickets for the AFL's prelim the next morning, against another Port, I stood in line alongside those who I had seen a fortnight earlier. Some had been there since Friday or so they said. I got there at 6.30am and was 15th in line. The conversation was mostly about football.

Salivating over potential reports to Wanganeen and Lade and even Leppitsch, the general consensus was that if any get less than two weeks then Cloke was bloody unlucky last year.

When the topic of how to get grand final tickets was mentioned it was always qualified with the "if we get there."

Brodie's form was discussed at length, along with that of Molloy and Rupe.

The ticketing system stutters under the statewide pressure at football finals time and it is pot luck about how good your seats will be. I end up in the forward pocket, not on the wing as preferred, but at least I'm going to watch my team in its second preliminary final in two years.

The 22 players from the previous week had a week off courtesy of a strong win against their sore and tired opponents. It was an excellent final quarter when Collingwood kicked consecutive goals quickly and Brisbane scragged and dragged in an effort to keep up. Brisbane however recovered quickly, beat Adelaide easily and should not be written off by anyone just yet.

Port Adelaide should still be on the other side of the draw but lost to Sydney before disposing of Essendon as you would expect the top team would dispose of the team that finished eighth at the end of the home and away. It was a good win by Port that showed up Essendon's lack of a middle group who can step up when Fletcher, Hird and Lloyd go awol. With Bolton on Tredrea and Bullen beaten consistently by Wangeneen you could see that Essendon lacks depth. The omission of young players like Ted Richards in favour of retired thugs showed that Sheedy is either punch drunk himself or was saving inexperienced players from the pounding he was expecting from Port.

Like at Collingwood, Port's mid group is deep with plenty of options. James, Kingsley, Hardwick, Stevens, Schofield and now Cochrane are not household names but they are hard accountable footballers who have shown they can match it with the best. These, supported by the class of Wanganeen, Dew, Carr and the Burgoyne brothers, will be hard to beat. Pickett and Wilson add speed, strength and poise under pressure to last year's finals team, with Francou and maybe Primus being the most notable players missing from last year's finals series.

Lade will be missed if suspended because he provides that extra option up forward if either Tredrea and/or Cornes are beaten or injured and provides a forceful option in the ruck. Port's scoring opportunities however are best reduced by beating their mid field.

That task of matching it with Port's mid group will be assigned to the Collingwood fleet, ie, Buckley, Burns, Licuria, Woewodin, Scotland, O'Bree, maybe Holland, and of late, Johnson, with running support from Shaw, Cole, Lokan, Lonie, Didak and Williams.

Collingwood's team is taller and as a result should be stronger in the air. Its forward line is fit and raring to go and finally clicked in the last quarter against the Lions. Port's Wakelin, Paxman, Bishop and others will be stretched to match the pace and strength combination of Tarrant and Rocca and will have to contend with at least one of the emerging regulars for next year in Walker and/or Kinnear who are both big and relatively fast.

Tredrea, Cornes, the Burgoynes and Dew and maybe Lade or Primus provide plenty of scoring power to test the renowned defence of Presti, Wakelin, Cloke and Clement and their band of running support staff.

But this match will most likely be decided by fast accurate disposal unless the conditions prevent it. And even then the strength and stamina of the mid sized groups will once again decide the best team on the day. It will be a fascinating game. Both teams are better than they were at this time last year and in some ways it is a pity that only one of them will play in the grand final. But then again luck plays a part in any finals campaign and who knows what lady luck will bring for any of the four combatants left in the competition.

I just hope that I am in the queue one more time before the season ends. Because that means that once again this year Port will be defeated in the preliminary final.

Go the Pies. Go the Seagulls

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