swansfan
Debutant
Read it again and weap - The unloseable match
Port ready to peak: Williams
Friday 5 September 2003
Paul Gough
afl.com.au
A confident Port Adelaide coach Mark Williams – showing no signs of nerves with the Power’s dreadful finals record again set to go under the microscope – has declared his side ready to peak for September.
The Power has won just one of six finals matches since joining the AFL in 1997 and it is exactly one year since Port finished on top of the ladder at the end of 2002 and went into a home qualifying final against Collingwood as unbackable favourites.
It is of course history now that the Power lost that ‘unloseable’ match – a year after being knocked out of the finals by Hawthorn on home soil – as their 2002 campaign ended with a preliminary final defeat in Brisbane.
This year Port was even more dominant during the home and away season – winning the minor premiership by a massive three games – and now it again finds itself again up against a rank outsider in injury-hit Sydney in Sunday’s first qualifying final at AAMI Stadium.
Swans coach Paul Roos has already tried the tactic so successfully used by Collingwood’s Mick Malthouse in the lead-up to last year’s qualifying final by declaring all the pressure to be on the Power this weekend.
However Williams said the confidence in the Port camp, ahead of the start of the 2003 finals series, is greater than it was at this time last season.
“Oh yeah, definitely,” he said, when asked if Port was more confident in its ability to handle finals pressure this year.
“Last year the last three games we had to win them to get top spot and to get the double chance but this year it’s been very much a more considered way of getting there (top spot).”
Such has been Port’s dominance during the home and away season that it had top spot sewn up even before its penultimate home and away game against Richmond, yet it still beat an Adelaide side playing for a top four finish last week.
“A close game last week really topped us off,” he said when asked if Port was now ready to peak.
“There was a lot of confidence out of that, no doubt.”
And not even the likelihood that a Sydney side missing injured stars Michael O’Loughlin, Jason Saddington and Jason Ball will attempt to make Sunday’s game a defensive slog does not concern Williams.
“We just come out and play hard, tough footy and that will get us over the line,” he said.
“Sydney play that way (defensively), they will flood back and we are anticipating that.
“Teams have been doing that to us for a fair time and the more times they do it, the more times we are comfortable with it and we get the results.
“We’ve won so many games with sides trying to play us like that, that if it happens again on Sunday it will be just a case of ‘Oh, well here it goes again’.”
Williams said his players were looking forward to the start of the finals with the Power having steeled itself for the qualifying final for the past fortnight.
“It’s very much a feeling of excitement, we’ve done a lot of hard work through the year to get back to this stage and we are really looking forward to it,” he said.
But despite his side’s overwhelming favouritism, Williams is certainly not taking Sydney lightly.
“We are very much aware it’s a 50/50 game and we are looking at it that way,” he said.
“You can talk down Sydney as much as you like but we know how good they are, they beat Brisbane in Brisbane only three weeks ago so let’s remember that.”
Port ready to peak: Williams
Friday 5 September 2003
Paul Gough
afl.com.au
A confident Port Adelaide coach Mark Williams – showing no signs of nerves with the Power’s dreadful finals record again set to go under the microscope – has declared his side ready to peak for September.
The Power has won just one of six finals matches since joining the AFL in 1997 and it is exactly one year since Port finished on top of the ladder at the end of 2002 and went into a home qualifying final against Collingwood as unbackable favourites.
It is of course history now that the Power lost that ‘unloseable’ match – a year after being knocked out of the finals by Hawthorn on home soil – as their 2002 campaign ended with a preliminary final defeat in Brisbane.
This year Port was even more dominant during the home and away season – winning the minor premiership by a massive three games – and now it again finds itself again up against a rank outsider in injury-hit Sydney in Sunday’s first qualifying final at AAMI Stadium.
Swans coach Paul Roos has already tried the tactic so successfully used by Collingwood’s Mick Malthouse in the lead-up to last year’s qualifying final by declaring all the pressure to be on the Power this weekend.
However Williams said the confidence in the Port camp, ahead of the start of the 2003 finals series, is greater than it was at this time last season.
“Oh yeah, definitely,” he said, when asked if Port was more confident in its ability to handle finals pressure this year.
“Last year the last three games we had to win them to get top spot and to get the double chance but this year it’s been very much a more considered way of getting there (top spot).”
Such has been Port’s dominance during the home and away season that it had top spot sewn up even before its penultimate home and away game against Richmond, yet it still beat an Adelaide side playing for a top four finish last week.
“A close game last week really topped us off,” he said when asked if Port was now ready to peak.
“There was a lot of confidence out of that, no doubt.”
And not even the likelihood that a Sydney side missing injured stars Michael O’Loughlin, Jason Saddington and Jason Ball will attempt to make Sunday’s game a defensive slog does not concern Williams.
“We just come out and play hard, tough footy and that will get us over the line,” he said.
“Sydney play that way (defensively), they will flood back and we are anticipating that.
“Teams have been doing that to us for a fair time and the more times they do it, the more times we are comfortable with it and we get the results.
“We’ve won so many games with sides trying to play us like that, that if it happens again on Sunday it will be just a case of ‘Oh, well here it goes again’.”
Williams said his players were looking forward to the start of the finals with the Power having steeled itself for the qualifying final for the past fortnight.
“It’s very much a feeling of excitement, we’ve done a lot of hard work through the year to get back to this stage and we are really looking forward to it,” he said.
But despite his side’s overwhelming favouritism, Williams is certainly not taking Sydney lightly.
“We are very much aware it’s a 50/50 game and we are looking at it that way,” he said.
“You can talk down Sydney as much as you like but we know how good they are, they beat Brisbane in Brisbane only three weeks ago so let’s remember that.”
, I thought we had a slim chance of winning (very optimistic, I know) but not 40 points up at 1/2 time! 
