Patrick smith- 'Arrogant Power worthy of boos'

[out of order]

sometimes this guys loses the plot but i think he's on the money here

Arrogant Power worthy of boos

SPRING will finish off what the winter threw up. Geelong and Port Adelaide, first and second after the minor round, will play off for the premiership in Saturday's grand final.

You ought to barrack for Geelong. It would be a cheer for sportsmanship.

Port Adelaide outclassed the Kangaroos in football terms only in their preliminary final on Saturday.

The manner of Port's victory was arrogant and contemptible. Captain Warren Tredrea hooked a clever goal in the third quarter then stopped and bowed to the Port fans. It was inappropriate and a sign of disrespect for Port's opposition, but it represented the mood of his team and his audience.

Chad Cornes would later do a goose-stepping jig to celebrate a simple goal. It lacked grace, but it was more over-exuberance than disdain for the beaten Roos.

Nonetheless, it ignited the drooling crowd who lurched into a Mexican wave. It is believed coach Mark Williams admonished both players, but it was Williams who grabbed his tie and dragged it up like a noose in a boorish gesture after the 2004 grand final win.

Tredrea would say later that he had been a dill by bowing, but sportsmanship is an instinctive quality. It is knowing how to act and what to say when the contest is at its hottest, not when you have caught your breath and cooled down with a drink.

If you have not been born and bred a Port Adelaide fan, then you could do worse than support Geelong on Saturday. For all its business trappings, Australian football remains a sport and should be played in that manner.

Competing ruthlessly does not mean playing without dignity. The fact that Port players helped form a guard of honour for the retired Glenn Archer was a genuine gesture but also reinforced their earlier conceit.

Port's victory has assured the AFL will get a competitive final. The premiership is suddenly no gimme. Port displayed a convincing mix of speed, skill and experience against the Roos. Balance that against Geelong's erratic performance against Collingwood on Friday night, and it suggests the Cats' first premiership since 1963 will be hard-earned.

Given that Geelong considers all its players will get over the little niggles from the five-point win over Collingwood, the only problem for the Cats is the position of second ruck. Mark Blake had four disposals against a ruck opposition that had been devastated by his team-mate Brad Ottens. Every time Blake replaced Ottens it seemed to coincide with a Collingwood charge.

While Geelong committed to Blake towards the end of the season, it might still be that Steven King is a better, more experienced option. The former captain was critical to Geelong's success in yesterday's VFL final against Coburg.

Collingwood was both clever and relentless against Geelong. Mick Malthouse gave the players a plan to deprive Geelong of the corridor and they were relentless in their zeal to implement it.

The Cats were forced wide and the ball-carriers had little peace because of the intensity of Collingwood's tackling.

Magpies president Eddie McGuire will no doubt wonder what his side could achieve if Chris Judd joined the Pies midfield. As they stand now, they are less than a kick from a grand final.

Port will provide two vastly different story lines in grand final week. David Rodan was released by Richmond at the end of last season and picked up by Port with the last pick of the draft. He will play in a grand final, and the side that gave him away won just three games for the year.

The career of Michael Wilson, 30, has been hobbled twice by knee reconstructions. On Saturday he shredded his achilles. He is a patched-up man as it is and he might now retire. His strength and his defensive skills would have been invaluable against Geelong. His story is a sad one.

The Kangaroos have played in four finals under Dean Laidley. Three times they have been slaughtered. They lost to Port by 87 points in 2005 and this series lost to Geelong by 106 points and Port by 87 points again. The one win was against Hawthorn - by 33 points - in this season's semis.

Rather than discredit the coach, it underlines his ability. Laidley has lifted a very ordinary list of players to an elite level. Because they have few very good players, it is a level that the Kangaroos find impossible to compete at with any authority. The Hawthorn win says as much about the Hawks' immaturity and lack of versatility as it does the depth of talent at Arden Street.

Laidley is yet to re-sign with the Kangaroos. It should be a formality for both coach and club. But the club will forever struggle when it is not enough just to be grim and aggressive.

The Kangaroos need an injection of talent. For the moment, it is an ordinary team in an elite four weeks of the season.

Friday night's preliminary final at the MCG was played before 98,002 people. It was regarded as one of the finest finals and unlikely to be matched by the grand final. After Port's performance on Saturday that might not be the case. Far from it. Just don't barrack for Port.

http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,22469178-23211,00.html

 

[Rafa Benitez]

Surely there is something more important to talk about?

 

[CursoryMercenary]

Just another lame excuse by scribes in Victoria to get everyone behind the Victorian team in the Grand Final.

 

[enosis7]

sanctimonious old fart who needs to get off his moral high horse.

I don't like grand-standing either, but Smith obviously missed Scarlett giving it to the Collingwood cheersquad (after the game was over, mind you), or Medhurst showing the cats fans his guernsey after putting us in front.

I am a fan of grace in victory, but I don't think is deserving of an article encouraging people to boo port when every team has players who do it.

 

[High Voltage]

Patrick Smith - is he a ghost-writer for Robert Walls?

This hatred for Port Adelaide could only be explained as such.

Every year, there are so many displays by players similar to Tredrea and Cornes on the weekend that, by Smith's definition, we should boycott the finals series because no club deserves our respect.

NB: Except Collingwood, of course. Their players are above reproach and their fans are saints.

 

[enosis7]

Every year, there are so many displays by players similar to Tredrea and Cornes on the weekend that, by Smith's definition, we should boycott the finals series because no club deserves our respect.

NB: Except Collingwood, of course. Their players are above reproach and their fans are saints.

Smith is a raging collingwood hater.

 

[out of order]

Just another lame excuse by scribes in Victoria to get everyone behind the Victorian team in the Grand Final.

nope summed it up nicely i thought. Port power is a team who doesnt lose well and doesnt win well either. No class watsoever.

 

[Eddie Gold]

Patrick Smith = Biggest Dick Head on the planet.

 

[Jars458]

Both celebrations were over the top and in character for the players involved but that article is a ridiculous overreaction to it. They way he uses Port's excellent tribute to Archer as a negative is just shameless.

 

[Sico 17]

Did he not see Mooney celebrate?

 

[Chainsawchaddy]

If Smith is the ghost righter then Out of order is the love child!

 

[timeless]

the funniest thing about the constant sulking about port's arrogance in the media and on the net is that their anecdotally most arrogant and self-obsessed player never seems to actually get accused of being arrogant

i bet he doesn't appreciate being ignored

 

[bus24]

sometimes this guys loses the plot but i think he's on the money here

Try all the time.

And he's lost it again. Not surprising really.

Surely such an insightful and brilliant journo rolleyes could come up with better than that crap. A whole article on how Tredrea bowed and Chad Cornes ran in a comical fashion? What a waste of ****ing space.

How about trying to write something positive about the Grand Final that's on in a few days time?

But no.

It has to be a case of

"I'm Patrick Smith and I'm controversial"

********!!

I hope the Cats romp it in by 15 goals but this "rally cry" for victorians to get behind Geelong is absolutely pathetic!

 

[PAFC2004]

nope summed it up nicely i thought. Port power is a team who doesnt lose well and doesnt win well either. No class watsoever.

Funny you should say that though. This happens every time Port are successful. Our performance can't be knocked, so everyone picks on something else. Get over it! What makes a bow any more innapropriate than punching the air or giving a high-5 to a team mate?

Nothing. There are just some pathetic little people who will take any opportunity to knock another team.. and if there isn't an opportunity, they will try to make one.

 

[CursoryMercenary]

nope summed it up nicely i thought. Port power is a team who doesnt lose well and doesnt win well either. No class watsoever.

I think your opinion should be taken out of account as your a Crows fan

 

[out of order]

Funny you should say that though. This happens every time Port are successful. Our performance can't be knocked, so everyone picks on something else. Get over it! What makes a bow any more innapropriate than punching the air or giving a high-5 to a team mate?

Nothing. There are just some pathetic little people who will take any opportunity to knock another team.. and if there isn't an opportunity, they will try to make one.

Its simple, you showed no respect. It took your coach to tell your captain to show some respect. That's what patrick smith is saying

 

[ManWithNoName]

Patrick Smith-You are a pathetic journalist. Go away.

 

[High Voltage]

Smith is a raging collingwood hater.

So, I guess he should have noted that he's glad Collingwood lost, only because of that arrogant little Dale Thomas, putting his finger to his lips to silence the opposition supporters after a goal.

But Geelong can't win, every time Matthew Scarlett gets into his "wrestling pose" or Mooney goes off at the opposition cheer squad, it just demeans the game of football.

Walls is right, it was much better back in the 60's when everyone just shook hands and ran off the ground without any display of emotion.

 

[a.f.k.a.y.o.p.]

I dont think it was that bad - no worse than others this year.
Good on him for firing the crowd up - Mooney does the same, albeit in a different manner, but each to their own
The worst for me is Farmer.
Tool.

 

[raman]

Bay 13

And I mean that editorial... should be taken out of the Australian and into Bay 13.

 

[High Voltage]

Its simple, you showed no respect. It took your coach to tell your captain to show some respect. That's what patrick smith is saying

What do you think every time Andrew McLeod kicks a trademark running goal from 50, and makes a 30mtr sprint parallel to the boundary, pointing out to the crowd how good he is?

I guess that is called celebrating?

 

[PAFC2004]

Its simple, you showed no respect. It took your coach to tell your captain to show some respect. That's what patrick smith is saying

No respect? He was celebrating. Disrespect to who exactly?

Any other player from another club can celebrate, but our players can't

 

[raman]

What do you think every time Andrew McLeod kicks a trademark running goal from 50, and makes a 30mtr sprint parallel to the boundary, pointing out to the crowd how good he is?

I guess that is called celebrating?

I think maybe Aboriginal players get away with it. Fabian Francis took a HUGE bow on the outer wing once after kicking a running goal. The crowd went nuts and I don't remember hearing a negative word about it from anyone.

 

[Eddie Gold]

Patrick Smith is the clearest definition of what a "Tosser" is on the planet.

 

[Chainsawchaddy]

So things like picking fights at a pub with the team you loose to and throwing drinks over people trying to work is a great act off class? chardonnay crop a bit sour this year down at west lakes? Maybe you should start worrying about why players are wanting to leave you own club, it may have something to do with class and abilitey?