Big wins from the Melbourne Demons and Western Bulldogs in their preliminary finals has set up a tantalising grand final
Heading into Saturday night’s Preliminary Final, Port Adelaide had every reason to feel rather good about themselves. They’d won seven in a row. Their qualifying final had been a breeze. They had the Brownlow Medal favourite. They had a home final - a luxury these days. Compared to nearly every other AFL club, they’d been dealt some pretty good cards throughout the pandemic. For years, they’d flattered to deceive, been desperately unlucky at times, shot themselves in the foot at others. But there was a sense of destiny about them.
Besides, the visitors were surely out of aces. They’d been shunted from one end of the country to the other. They’d been subject to all manner of bureaucratic indignities. They’d lost their key defender, their leading goal kicker and their best small forward. Their marquee player was on one leg. They brought in a 34-year-old ruckman who hadn’t played a full game since April. Their prize recruit was “distracted, disinterested, confused, sad and helpless” (but otherwise ok, presumably), according to one columnist. The bookmakers wound them out to $3.50. The Port fans raised their scarves, belted out some INXS, dabbed their eyes, adjusted their settings to ‘boo’, and prepared to progress to a Grand Final.
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