Smalls power Port

by LES EVERETT

AFTER the elimination final in Sydney this year Channel 10's Robert Walls took time to bag small Fremantle forwards Jeff Farmer and Paul Medhurst and noted such players won't win you finals.

Your memory isn't playing tricks. Fremantle didn't make the finals. It was Phil Matera's kickless final that prompted Walls to kick the Dockers.

The necessity for big power forwards became an AFL catch cry in 2004. Brisbane had Alastair Lynch and Jonathan Brown; Port Adelaide had Warren Tredrea; St Kilda had Nick Reiwoldt and Fraser Gehrig and Geelong was the exception that might have proved the rule. But did the grand final give us a different message?

Port played a tall forward line but the most damaging contributions came from Gavin Wanganeen, who played a classic small forward role, and the freewheeling Byron Pickett.

Toby Thurstans took advantage of Darryl White's lack of form to take six marks and kick three goals but its worth pointing out that one of his kick-mark combinations came from a miss-kick from Josh Carr that hit him on the chest.

Tredrea started well but was generally keep under control after Mal Michael moved onto him while Brendon Lade made a useful but not dominant contribution.

Brisbane's injured and grumpy big forwards Lynch and Brown contributed pretty much nothing at all to the Brisbane four-play cause and the goals came from third-string big forward Daniel Bradshaw along with Tim Notting and Jason Akermanis.

Port won the game that mattered because it got contributions out of everyone while the sore bodies we thought might let the Lions down in 2003 just couldn't cope.

Port's line up contained just two 2004 All-Australians and eight players who had been picked up from other teams - most of them were given up willingly.

In the vital midfield battle Roger James, Peter Burgoyne, Kane Cornes and Josh Carr scored a notable victory over more highly rated opponents.

Now for Brisbane comes something novel - a period of rebuilding.

26 September 2004

Port power forward Warren Tredrea. Photo by Les Everett

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