Travis Boak celebrates a goal. Picture: Mark Brake Source: News Corp Australia
PORT Adelaide enjoyed the best start (10-1) to an AFL season in its history but by Round 20 they'd stumbled to 12-7 and were labelled 'over rated'.
But what followed was an amazing finals campaign in which they fell an agonising three points short of victory against Hawthorn in the preliminary final.
In his 2014 captain's call, Travis Boak says the Round 6 win over Geelong was a turning point but the pain of the preliminary final loss will drive the Power all pre-season.
ROUND 1 (1-0)
Port Adelaide 18.12 (120) d Carlton 12.15 (87)
- Power kicks seven goals to one in the final term
ROUND 2 (2-0)
Port Adelaide 19.13 (127) d Adelaide 11.7 (73)
- Crows spark outrage with SA jumper plan
- Port wins first game at new Adelaide Oval
- Hamish Hartlett wins Showdown Medal
"The whole build up was massive it wasn't just the day. I got to the ground three hours before and it was chockers, people everywhere, and it felt like a final.
"There wasn't really (talk about Crows' SA jumper plan), we didn't worry about that because we couldn't control any of that.
"For us there was no motivation there, no 'stick it up them', for us it was just about going out to put a show on for our fans. It was our home game and we wanted to make a statement.
"To have that last quarter and be out by a fair bit to enjoy it was fantastic."
Port Adelaide won the first Showdown at Adelaide Oval. Picture: Sarah Reed Source: News Corp Australia
ROUND 3 (2-1)
North Melbourne 14.13 (97) d Port Adelaide 13.12 (90)
- Power led by two goals at final break but were over-run
ROUND 4 (3-1)
Port Adelaide 24.15 (159) d Brisbane 7.4 (46)
- Port wears commemorative 2004 premiership jumper
- Travis Boak has 41 possessions
"The one premiership with the Power side in the AFL was a pretty special moment so to have a 10-year reunion on that day and against Brisbane was a special moment for the club.
"To have the '04 stars forming a line on the ground was fantastic because a fair few of our players never got to play with them but know how special they are.
"There was a lot of talk and for the group to come out and play the way they did shows how much respect we have for the club and how much we want to play for this jumper."
Ollie Wines powers through a Jack Redden tackle wearing the 2004 premiership jumper. Picture: SARAH REED. Source: News Corp Australia
ROUND 5 (4-1)
Port Adelaide 10.10 (70) d West Coast 7.14 (56)
- Power's first win at Subiaco since 2010
ROUND 6 (5-1)
Port Adelaide 16.11 (107) d Geelong 9.13 (67)
- Port ends 10-game losing streak to Cats
"A few sides have had it over us in the last few years but Geelong certainly ever since that 07 grand final it's been a tough run.
"With Kenny (Hinkley) coming from Geelong we wanted to make sure we put in a good performance and we spoke about that it was about time we started beating these really big sides.
"Not just because it was Geelong and we hadn't beaten for a while, but the big sides that we hadn't really competed against in the past few years.
"That we needed to start making statements and getting ground on these sides and Geelong was the first one off.
"Another big occasion, another big game at Adelaide Oval it's hard to not get up for and for our fans to come out (47,000) the guys just love it.
"To get that result against Geelong really did give us a lot of confidence for the rest of the year knowing we can match it with these big powerhouse sides, that we were starting to make ground on these sides.
"We started off beating a few other sides that were probably outside the eight the year before, so for us to get a great result against Geelong who finished high up in the ladder in 2013 was great confidence for our group for the year."
Chad Wingard celebrates a goal against Geelong. Picture: SARAH REED Source: News Corp Australia
ROUND 7 (6-1)
Port Adelaide 20.12 (132) d GWS 15.7 (97)
- Jay Schulz kicks six
- Jared Polec has 30 and kicks three
ROUND 8 (7-1)
Port Adelaide 13.16 (94) d Fremantle 11.10 (76)
- Port wins without first-choice ruckman Matthew Lobbe
- Robbie Gray has second 30-touch game in a row
ROUND 9
Bye
ROUND 10 (8-1)
Port Adelaide 15.10 (100) d Hawthorn 13.8 (86)
- Power beats reigning premiers albeit an under-strength Hawks
- Boak has 34 and one goal
"A lot of their stars were out but we can't control that, we wanted to go out and play our game.
"That's what we spoke about before the game that it doesn't matter who they've got in the side, we go out and play the way we do and we'll win the game.
"There were a lot of areas we didn't win which we spoke about after the game ... but we played the reigning premier and beat them on our home deck so we wanted to take a lot of confidence out of it.
"For us to match it with another big side in the competition was a great result for our group."
Travis Boak and Kane Cornes after the win over Hawthorn. Picture: SARAH REED Source: News Corp Australia
ROUND 11 (9-1)
Port Adelaide 14.11 (95) d Melbourne 11.9 (75)
- Port's fast finish secures win in Alice Springs
- Boak returns to Adelaide on crutches
ROUND 12 (10-1)
Port Adelaide 19.15 (129) d St Kilda 9.5 (59)
- Chad Wingard takes mark of the year
- Power's best ever start to a season
"I was sitting up in the coaches box and you could see it coming from a mile away.
"He (Wingard) prepared himself for the leap and you knew it was coming, I think he did his hair before he went up so you just knew he was going to clunk one."
Chad Wingard takes mark of the year over Shaun Dempster. Picture: SARAH REED. Source: AdelaideNow
ROUND 13 (10-2)
Sydney 14.14 (98) d Port Adelaide 13.16 (94)
- Lance Franklin turns it on with five goals
"It was a big challenge for us and after that game we spoke about their senior players, their quality players really standing up in moments that count.
"For our whole group to learn from that, that we have to be stronger in certain moments in a game if we want to match it with the best sides.
"That's something we learnt out of that game but we came back knowing we're not far off these best sides."
Jarman Impey is powerless to stop Swans' star Lance Franklin. Picture: Toby Zerna Source: News Corp Australia
ROUND 14 (11-2)
Port Adelaide 19.14 (128) d Western Bulldogs 8.8 (56)
- Schulz bags eight goals at Adelaide Oval
ROUND 15 (11-3)
Adelaide 14.15 (99) d Port Adelaide 10.16 (76)
- Power loses Alipate Carlile and Jackson Trengove to injury
"That was really disappointing that middle patch through the year that we lost a few games and that was probably the start of it.
"We lost a bit of run and a bit of belief in our game and that hurt us. You never like losing your Showdowns at all and we went away and knew we had to work really hard to get back to what we were doing at the start of the year.
"It was unfortunate to lose Jacko and Bobby for a bit of time and we probably didn't realise how important they were until two or three weeks later, and not only the way they play and how we set up but their leadership was something we really missed."
Jackson Trengove injures his knee against Adelaide. Picture: Sarah Reed Source: News Corp Australia
ROUND 16 (11-4)
Essendon 8.14 (62) d Port Adelaide 7.18 (60)
- Woeful 7.18 costs Power victory
ROUND 17 (11-5)
Richmond 19.12 (126) d Port Adelaide 16.10 (106)
- Port falls out of the top four
- Troy Chaplin's lively goal celebration prompts Boak the following day to say he hopes Chaplin is enjoying the Tigers' season. They were 12th at the time.
"It (comment) was all in good fun. I probably look back on it now and it wasn't the greatest thing to say come the first final.
"But it was all a bit of fun and there was nothing really spoken about at the club ... there wasn't too much said until when Richmond made the final.
"It probably looked like we were getting a little bit tired but our numbers suggested that we weren't. It was probably the way we were defending that was really letting us down.
"That was why we looked a bit tired in offence - because we weren't defending well enough and teams were able to run through us.
"The best sides in the competition defend well and it makes their offence look really good."
Troy Chaplin celebrates a goal against his former club. Source: Getty Images
ROUND 18 (12-5)
Port Adelaide 10.12 (72) d Melbourne 10.9 (69)
- Power gets out of jail thanks to stunning Schulz goal
- Port sends retiring former captain Dom Cassisi out a winner
ROUND 19 (12-6)
Collingwood 11.10 (76) d Port Adelaide 10.10 (70)
- Port returns from week off with a loss
- 10-1 start becomes 12-6 as Power is labelled a 'pretender'
ROUND 20 (12-7)
Sydney 12.12 (84) d Port Adelaide 7.16 (58)
- Robbie Gray has 37 disposals
- Front page of The Advertiser's Game On declares the Power is 'over rated'
"By that stage we were starting to get our run and belief and confidence back.
"It wasn't the result we wanted, but we felt like we were starting to turn the corner. We knew it was a big challenge - it was our home deck and we expect to win at home every week - but Sydney coming down full strength it was a pretty close game.
"We took a lot of confidence out of it, we felt like we had our run back, like that confidence in our defence was starting to get back.
"Obviously there was a fair bit of bad press around at the time with the way we were playing but as a group we stayed strong, we knew we could turn the corner."
Hamish Hartlett tackled by Dan Hannebery at Adelaide Oval. Picture: Calum Robertson Source: News Corp Australia
ROUND 21 (13-7)
Port Adelaide 7.14 (56) d Gold Coast 7.5 (47)
- After losing five of its last six, Port returns to winners' list with tough win in the wet.
ROUND 22 (14-7)
Port Adelaide 20.20 (140) d Carlton 5.7 (37)
- Robbie Gray stars with 31 and four goals in 103-point win
ROUND 23 (14-8)
Fremantle 16.9 (105) d Port Adelaide 14.13 (97)
- Port loses race for top-four finish in Perth
- Finishes regular season fifth with 14-8 record
"Initially we were pretty flat, it was obviously a top four double chance game.
"It was a big challenge going to Perth and playing Freo and we were so close, but again periods in games we needed to get right.
"We sat down and had a look at those and we called them 'big moments' in games and that's what the best sides in big games do best - is in those little moments in games you need to stand up.
"We looked at that and said 'alright it's do or die now and it's up to us what we want to achieve this year', we had no second chances so we had to go out and prove that we're good enough to do it."
Jay Schulz dejected after the loss to Fremantle. Picture: Daniel Wilkins Source: News Corp Australia
ELIMINATION FINAL
Port Adelaide 20.12 (132) d Richmond 11.9 (75)
- Power stuns Tigers with eight-goal first quarter
- Port later releases Hinkley's stirring 'pay the price' pre-game speech
"Another big moment for our group and the big stage which we haven't been involved in a lot in the last four or five years.
"We were lucky enough during the year to be able to play the Sydney games and Hawthorn games, Freo games, the massive stages, and that helped us for this one.
"Our group was starting to get used to that and you could see by that first quarter they weren't fazed by that because they just wanted to go out and play footy.
"It was really led by the senior players, from that game the Hamish hit and handball, goal, that really set the standard and showed how much we wanted it."
Jack Neade celebrates a goal against Richmond in the elimination final. Picture: Mark Brake Source: News Corp Australia
SEMI FINAL
Port Adelaide 15.15 (105) d Fremantle 11.17 (83)
- Power stages remarkable comeback to claw back from 24 point half-time deficit
- Second year player Ollie Wines has 26 disposals and 7 clearances
- Hinkley rushes onto the ground and speaks to Boak post-game
"We always believed that half-time, three-quarter-time, we're never out of the game.
"And what we speak about is the work we do in the pre-season we certainly get out in the game.
"Come three-quarter or half-time I don't even need to say much to the group, the message was 'you've done the work boys, it's up to us now' and it was our younger guys like Ollie Wines and Chad Wingard, these guys standing up in these sort of moments is pretty scary because they're only pretty young.
"It was those big moments that our group had learnt during the year that we needed to stand up in and it's pretty good to see as a captain.
"The message after the game was 'yeah we've just won a game but we've still got plenty of work to do', so that was the message."
Ollie Wines and Travis Boak lead Port Adelaide off after the semi final win. Picture: Simon Cross Source: News Corp Australia
PRELIMINARY FINAL
Hawthorn 15.7 (97) d Port Adelaide 13.16 (94)
- For the second week in a row Port looks gone but fights back from four goals down
- Power finishes the game with all the momentum but unable to cause major upset
"It was nothing too different to what we speak about at three-quarter-time during the year, just asking the guys for one more effort.
"It's a prelim final, if there's a chance to go to the big stage then there's one quarter to go, you've still got plenty left in the tank, you've done all the work.
"Unfortunately we just weren't quite good enough and that's the message we've spoken about after the game and through the off-season, we weren't quite good enough in a lot of moments.
"And that's what we'll work on in this pre-season because we know we've got the group to do it.
"It was a disappointing result and we would have loved to play grand final day but I couldn't be prouder of the group and everything right back to when we started in Dubai, the amount of effort they put into their training to improve and help each other out was incredible.
"But we spoke about it at the end, we've just got to go again and go to another level.
"And they don't need too much convincing because they want it just as much as anyone. I'm proud of them and hopefully we can do it again."
Port Adelaide players get ready for the preliminary final. Picture: Sarah Reed Source: News Corp Australia
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