After a second quarter to forget, the Power needed to lift in the third…enter Chad Wingard. The mercurial 20-year-old added to his already-ridiculous highlight reel with a hanger for the ages over St Kilda's Sean Dempster. Brad Ebert sat the ball up perfectly for his younger teammate and Wingard obliged, jumping early and receiving an extra boost to pluck the ball out. Part Gary Moorcroft, part Ashley Sampi, the grab was something to behold…as was Wingard's casual play-on-and-snap conversion.
2. Power pull away
St Kilda looked as though it might just push Port in the second term, as the Saints pulled level in the second term. Three late goals to the home side gave it the momentum at half-time, but if they were able to keep the scores tight you just felt the Saints would give themselves shot at a miracle upset. It was apparent very quickly after the main break that the Power wouldn't allow that to occur. They responded magnificently in the third term with six goals to one, then kept the foot down in the last to run out 70–point victors and maintain a two-win buffer at the top of the ladder.
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3. (Worst) play on of the year
Aaron Young had just pulled in a brilliant contested grab 15m out from goal – claiming it off Power teammate Justin 'the Hoff' Westhoff. But what happened next was nothing short of farcical. Rather than simply taking his time and slotting the easiest of goals, Young tried to thread a handball through to the Hoff, only to mess it up completely and turn it over. It was a little too fancy for his own good, but Young wasn't the only offender as the Power seemed to get ahead of themselves before surging ahead in the premiership quarter.
4. Riewoldt hits 600
Coming up against the number one side in the League, Saturday night loomed a tough proposition for St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt. The champion forward has proved the game's best forward at many times throughout his illustrious 270-game career and although his side wasn't able to match it with the finals-bound Power, Riewoldt added yet another significant achievement to his CV. His four goals saw him reach 600 career majors, cementing his place as the club's third most prolific scorer behind Bill Mohr (735) and Tony Lockett (898).
5. Simpkin the destroyer
At 191cm and 92 kg, St Kilda forward Tom Simpkin's a sizable unit; Port's Sam Gray (176cm, 76kg) and Jarman Impey (178cm and 78kg) are not. So you could imagine how brightly Simpkin's eyes lit up when, charging full speed at the ball, he looked up to see both opponents racing towards him at different stages in the second quarter. As the crowd watched on in horror /anticipation Gray became Simpkin's first victim when the pair smashed into each other on centre wing. Despite giving up 16kg to Simpkin, Gray simply picked himself up and completed an interchange rotation. Impey appeared slightly worse for ware when he was hit by the rampaging Saint, but he too got up and went on to boot a crucial goal late in the term.
3. (Worst) play on of the year
Aaron Young had just pulled in a brilliant contested grab 15m out from goal – claiming it off Power teammate Justin 'the Hoff' Westhoff. But what happened next was nothing short of farcical. Rather than simply taking his time and slotting the easiest of goals, Young tried to thread a handball through to the Hoff, only to mess it up completely and turn it over. It was a little too fancy for his own good, but Young wasn't the only offender as the Power seemed to get ahead of themselves before surging ahead in the premiership quarter.
4. Riewoldt hits 600
Coming up against the number one side in the League, Saturday night loomed a tough proposition for St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt. The champion forward has proved the game's best forward at many times throughout his illustrious 270-game career and although his side wasn't able to match it with the finals-bound Power, Riewoldt added yet another significant achievement to his CV. His four goals saw him reach 600 career majors, cementing his place as the club's third most prolific scorer behind Bill Mohr (735) and Tony Lockett (898).
5. Simpkin the destroyer
At 191cm and 92 kg, St Kilda forward Tom Simpkin's a sizable unit; Port's Sam Gray (176cm, 76kg) and Jarman Impey (178cm and 78kg) are not. So you could imagine how brightly Simpkin's eyes lit up when, charging full speed at the ball, he looked up to see both opponents racing towards him at different stages in the second quarter. As the crowd watched on in horror /anticipation Gray became Simpkin's first victim when the pair smashed into each other on centre wing. Despite giving up 16kg to Simpkin, Gray simply picked himself up and completed an interchange rotation. Impey appeared slightly worse for ware when he was hit by the rampaging Saint, but he too got up and went on to boot a crucial goal late in the term.
Chad Wingard was a popular man with his spectacular heroics on Saturday evening. Picture: AFL Media
