The minor premiers avoided the humiliation of going out in ‘straight sets’ in recording only their second finals victory in eight attempts with a 12.11 (83) to 6.8 (44) win over the Bombers in wet and windy conditions.
It was the second successive year the Power has knocked the Bombers out of the finals at the semi-final stage and sets up a blockbuster preliminary final against Port’s biggest Victorian rivals in Collingwood at the MCG next Saturday.
And while that game looms as a far tougher proposition in front of an expected 80,000 pro-Magpie crowd, the Power will certainly travel to Melbourne with renewed confidence after throwing off its finals under-achieving tag this weekend in impressive style.
The Power showed few signs of the nervousness and poor decision-making and skill level which marred last week’s shock qualifying final loss at home to Sydney.
In fact from the moment Michael Wilson kicked a miracle goal from the boundary line after just three minutes, there only ever appeared one winner in this game as Port led from start to finish.
But it was Tredrea – in doubt all week due to a bad case of the flu which prevented him from training on Wednesday and Friday – who was the difference between the sides.
With Fletcher out yet again due to suspension, as he was for this corresponding game last year, the Bombers simply had no-one capable of matching the Port powerhouse.
It was left to the undersized and outclassed Mark Bolton to man up Tredrea and after he had been thrashed for three quarters, Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy sent Danny Jacobs onto Tredrea but the damage was done as the Power led by five goals at the last change.
Tredrea not only kicked three goals but set up others with his ability to mark the ball at half-forward and then quickly kick into space to enable players such as Shane Burgoyne to run into open goals.
And on a night when any possession was hard to come by as continual rain showers left AAMI Stadium saturated, Tredrea’s constant ability to create a contest enabled the ball to continually come to ground level, where the Power dominated.
It was the best finals performance seen from Tredrea, who was one of many Power stars to play below his best not only last week but also during Port’s disappointing 2001 and 2002 finals campaigns.
However Tredrea was not the only Port player, who struggled last week, to bounce back in spectacular style against the Bombers.
The Burgoyne brothers – Peter and Shane – were virtually unsighted against the Swans but had nine possessions between them in the opening quarter alone as well as eventually combining for three goals.
And at the other end Port full-back Darryl Wakelin could hardly have produced a more contrasting performance from last week.
After having had six goals kicked on him by Sydney powerhouse Barry Hall in the qualifying final, Wakelin dominated Essendon’s Matthew Lloyd to such an extent that the AFL’s leading goalkicker this season started the final quarter on the bench.
And Port also dominated in the ruck through Dean Brogan and Brendon Lade, another area in which it was thrashed in against Sydney due to the dominance of Adam Goodes.
With Lloyd struggling and Essendon skipper James Hird restricted to just 12 possessions by Port tagger Stuart Cochrane – a late replacement for Roger James – Essendon’s attack simply disintegrated.
And even worse for the thousands of Bombers fans who made the trip over was the sight of former Bombers Damien Hardwick and Gavin Wanganeen continually repelling the ball out of Essendon’s attack.
Wanganeen was at his courageous best after overcoming an early and heavy knock from Dean Rioli, who along with Scott Lucas, was one of the Bombers’ few good players.
However in the end the Bombers once again paid a heavy price for the lack of discipline from their best defender with Fletcher’s absence – for the second successive season in semi-final week - really proving costly.
And as for Port, well the true test of its premiership credentials will come next week in what will be only its second ever final at the MCG.
And it may be then that the true implications of that loss to Sydney – which cost them home advantage for next week’s final – are revealed to Mark Williams’ side.
PORT ADELAIDE: 5.2, 7.4, 10.7, 12.11 (83)
ESSENDON: 3.1, 4.6, 5.7, 6.8 (44)
Goals: Port Adelaide: Tredrea 3, Dew 2, S Burgoyne 2, P Burgoyne, Wilson, Pickett, C Cornes, Carr.
Essendon: Cupido 2, Lloyd, McVeigh, McPhee, Haynes.
Best: Port Adelaide: Tredrea, Wanganeen, Carr, Cochrane, Wakelin, Hardwick, P Burgoyne, S Burgoyne, Dew.
Essendon: Lucas, Rioli, McVeigh, McPhee, Peverill.
Changes: Port Adelaide: James (groin) replaced in selected side by Cochrane.
Injuries: Port Adelaide: Hardwick (adductor). Essendon: McVeigh (groin).
Reports: Nil.
Umpires: James, McLaren, Rowe.
Crowd: 36,557
At AAMI Stadium
