Showdown XXIV
Round Three, 2008
Adelaide 12.13 (85) d Port Adelaide 11.13 (79)
Football Park
Showdown Medallist: Bernie Vince (24 possessions, nine marks, six tackles and 2.2)

Showdown XXIV is regarded as one of the most brutal battles between the fierce cross-town rivals.

It’s remembered fondly by Crows people not just because of the result, which was a six-point win, but the way in which Adelaide won the game.

Scores were level at quarter time, but the Crows faced an uphill battle after an eventful second term. With 10 minutes to play in the second quarter, Nathan Bassett was tackled to the ground and concussed by Port Adelaide hard nut Matt Thomas. Bassett was taken to the rooms on a stretcher and played no further part in the game.

A mere two minutes later, Port ruckman Dean Brogan cleaned up Crow Luke Jericho. Jericho was helped from the ground by trainers, clutching his shoulder. Down to two players on the bench, the Crows coaches held their breath when Bernie Vince received a heavy bump from Daniel Motlop midway through the third quarter and was also helped from the field.

In his first year at Adelaide, Andy Otten didn’t play in the game but remembers it well.

“It’s probably my favourite Showdown game even though I didn’t play,” Otten said.

“Luke Jericho went down, Nathan Bassett got knocked out and Bernie Vince got hit. It was just a casualty ward and we had one or no players left on the bench in the last quarter. I think Jericho had to go back out with a broken sternum.”

Against the odds, Adelaide held a narrow five-point lead at the last change.

The final quarter was tight.

Vince, who recovered from his heavy knock, was instrumental and ruckman Jonathon Griffin sealed a courageous Crows win with a few minutes to play.

“Big ‘Griff’ kicked a goal to put us up and I just got shivers everywhere,” Otten said.

“We used that win (as motivation) all year. It was the first time I’d seen a team down to no players on the bench. The way the boys stuck it out and got the win was unbelievable.

“Bernie won the medal that day even though he was pretty banged up.”

Crows champion Andrew McLeod played in the game and believes it was the making of Vince as an AFL player.

“Those moments build character. Our backs were against the wall but we had that fighting spirit,” McLeod said.

“I think the Port boys had picked Bernie for a bit of a pretty boy, who liked to get the ball on the outside but didn’t like it in tight. From the get-go, they picked him. After he got rid of the ball, they’d tackle him or give him a bit extra just to let him know about it. He just kept getting up.

“That game probably defined him. He might have the pretty boy looks, the blonde tips and the cheeky grin but he showed he could mix it with the best of them and he’s still doing that to this day. That game certainly gave us, as teammates, a lot of trust in him. You’re looking for blokes to stand up in those big moments and big games and Bernie did that.

“There were probably still a few question marks over him. Yes, he was talented and could do some nice things but that game was the moment for him. He realised, ‘I can do this … I belong here’.”

McLeod, who played in 27 Showdowns, describes the win as one of his favourite footy memories.

“We were down to the bare minimum on the bench and had no room for rotations. Back then, we were rotating pretty heavily as they do now. It was our game style and the way we practiced,” he said.

“It almost went back to the olden days when blokes talk about being warriors, standing up and drawing a line in the sand.

“They’re good moments. When you catch up with blokes you say, ‘Do you remember that day?’ I don’t tend to remember a lot about a lot of games, but you remember the significant moments and it certainly makes the beer taste sweeter when you’re having a couple with the boys and remembering the old days.”