PORT Adelaide will continue to recognise its history after boldly switching into its prison bars jumpers to sing the song after the Power's bruising Showdown win over Adelaide.
The Power were blocked from wearing the guernsey by the AFL for the clash with the Crows, which reignited the debate over the club's push to don the black and white stripes.
Collingwood's resistance to the jumper was again led, at least publicly, by now former president Eddie McGuire with the potential of premiership points being docked if the Power ignored the AFL's decision and played in the jumper against the Crows.
But the club had decided that if it beat its crosstown rival it would swap into the famed stripes for the song, which was met with a rousing reception from the Port fans after the 49-point win.
"It's a show of respect for our heritage, for our past and for our great people who played in it in our past and for our people who turn up and represent this footy club. We started and we began as Port Adelaide and we still are," coach Ken Hinkley said post-game.
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"Part of that journey is this amazing jumper which the boys love and the club loves and every one of the people who support this footy club love it. We had to wait until after the game but we'll recognise it as often as we have to."
The statement resonated with the players, too, with Travis Boak, who won his third Showdown Medal after his 28-disposal and six-clearance game, saying it signaled the importance of the historic strip.
"This guernsey means to so much to our community, to our footy club, to everyone who represents it, everyone who's played in it and everyone who has been around the club and certainly the players as well. To sing the song in this guernsey is special and we were able to do that tonight and that was planned," Boak said.
"If we came off winning we'd sing it in this guernsey and show our fans that it means just as much to the players as it does the community and it was a great moment."
In greasy conditions the Power ground out a strong victory over the Crows, bouncing back from last week's defeat to Brisbane. Boak, Ollie Wines (24 disposals), Robbie Gray (26) and Karl Amon (27) led the way in the midfield battle.
Boak left the field early in the game with a knee injury but returned to be one of the Power's best players, with Tom Clurey also important in shutting down in-form Crows forward Taylor Walker in the backline.
Dan Houston, who continues to grow in importance at Port, was substituted out of the game in the second half with a shoulder issue after a heavy bump. He will be in doubt to face the Western Bulldogs next Saturday night.
The Crows also left the game with injury worries after small forwards Ned McHenry (concussion) and Lachie Murphy (syndesmosis ankle injury) were both out of the game. Riley Thilthorpe played out the match after hyperextending his knee.
Murphy could be sidelined for an extended period, while McHenry will miss at least next week's clash under concussion protocols after being slammed to the ground in a heavy tackle by Port ruckman Scott Lycett, who is set to face Match Review Officer scrutiny.
"[The tackle] is not really for me to comment on because it's going to go up I assume,” Nicks said.
"It's Showdown, the heat's on, they're going at it. We want to look after the head and I totally agree with what the AFL's doing in that space. It's probably the biggest bloke on the ground tackling the smallest bloke," Nicks said.
Nicks was satisfied with his side's fight in the loss to the premiership fancies, but admitted the gap in class was evident, with the Crows dropping their past four games.
"I think our fans would be pleased with the fight we put up but disappointed that we weren't quite up to it," he said. "We were beaten by a better side, but we definitely brought the fight and got the game on our terms for most of that first half."
