A lot of people will remember fondly the emotional farewell last week of Travis Boak and Ken Hinkley, Port Adelaide’s longest-serving player and coach. But none more so than Aliir Aliir.
Port’s four-point win over the Gold Coast Suns at Adelaide Oval, which Suns fans will be desperately trying to forget, was Aliir’s 100th win in the AFL.
In what is a special achievement for the one-time Kedron High student and Aspley Hornets player, Aliir is just the 18th Queensland football product to this milestone. And, having celebrated his 100th win in his 178th game, he was quicker than all but five of his predecessors.
Jason Dunstall was the first Queenslander to 100 wins, and easily the quickest. He got there in his 123 game. And by that time he’d played in four grand finals for three premierships.
Gavin Crosisca was second in 1996, followed by Marcus Ashcroft in 2001, Michael Voss and Jason Akermanis (2002), Che Cockatoo-Collins (2003), Mal Michael (2005), Max Hudghton (2008), Nick Riewoldt (2009), David Hale (2013), Sam Gilbert (2016), Kurt Tippett (2017), Charlie Cameron and Dayne Zorko (2022), Charlie Dixon (2023), Harris Andrews (2024) and Hipwood earlier this year.
Cameron was the 2nd quickest behind Dunstall at 158 games, from Cockatoo-Collins (159), Akermanis (162), Michael (172) and Tippett (173). Aliir was level with Voss, Gilbert and Hipwood, ahead of Crosisca and Riewoldt (180), Hale (185), Dixon (194), Andrews (204), Hudghton (219), Zorko (228) and Ashcroft (249).
Akermanis, who had four years with the Western Bulldogs after a time with the Lions, heads the all-time win count among Queenslanders with 197. Then follow Dunstall (177), Riewoldt (168), Voss (167), Cameron (162), Ashcroft (153) and Dayne Zorko (151).
In any normal situation Aliir would not have played due to ankle and knee problems, but such was his connection to Hinkley, who lured him to Port Adelaide from Sydney in 2021, that he got himself strapped up and took his place in a heavily undermanned Port side.
There was little expectation of a Port win – even Hinkley admitted as much post-game – but against an ill-disciplined SUNS outfit playing securing the club’s first finals berth the Power found something special.
Aliir had 11 disposals and turned the SUNS around countless times as the Power hung on for a four-point win to farewell Hinkley after 13 years as coach, and Boak after 387 games that see him seventh on the League’s all-time games list behind Brent Harvey (432), Michael Tuck (426), Scott Pendlebury (423), Shaun Burgoyne (407), Kevin Bartlett (403) and Dustin Fletcher (400).
It was a weekend in which the two Queensland sides responded in contrasting style to enormous pressure in the scheduled last round of the home-and-away season.
Brisbane, with nine players aged 22 or under, beat Hawthorn at the Gabba to clinch a top four spot and the all-important double-chance, while the SUNS squandered completely an opportunity like none before against Port.
And, outside the two Queensland-based clubs, two other Queenslanders enjoyed contrasting moments of good and man.
Corey Wagner, playing for Fremantle against the Western Bulldogs in the ‘winner takes all’ clash at Marvel Stadium, had to watch from the sideline as his side won by 15 points to clinch a finals spot.
Having secured his place in the Dockers side over the past two years, he suffered a pectoral muscle strain that will see him miss the start of the finals.
The Dogs’ Oskar Baker had similar emotions in reverse. With the Dogs going down he saw his finals dream vanish, but did so with the satisfaction of possible the best of his 48 AFL games.
He had 20 possessions, four tackles, two goal assists and a goal, and with Marcus Bontempelli played a crucial role in dragging the Dogs back into the contest in the final quarter.
Hawthorn’s Mabior Chol, too, had mixed emotions at the Gabba. As the football world debates the prospect of the Hawks playing four marking forwards (including Chol) in the finals, he kicked three goals in the first 20 minutes to get the Hawks off to a flyer.
But, with Jack Gunston, Mitch Lewis and Calsher Dear also in the mix, he had little influence thereafter.
The Queensland contingent were in outstanding touch for the Lions, with Will Ashcroft (28 possessions and seven clearances) among his side’s best with Harris Andrews (18 possessions and 10 marks).
Charlie Cameron had 10 possessions, two goals and eight score involvements in his 250th game, while Dayne Zorko was ever-busy in his 300th, picking up 22 possessions.
Bruce Reville had 15 possessions and nine score involvements to go with the match-clinching goal from the boundary line in the closing minutes, while Jaspa Fletcher had 22 possessions to go with a beautiful long running goal, and Sam Marshall had a career-high 23 possessions.
Levi Ashcroft had 19 possessions and Ty Gallop, in just second game, didn’t look out of place and showed great endeavour as he collected five possessions, four tackles and a goal assist before he was subbed out.
The SUNS’ numbers were less flattering. Lachie Weller and Connor Budarick had 17 possessions and Alex Davies 15, which Suns Academy product Lachie Gulbin, a Burleigh Heads junior, picked up nine possessions and five tackles in his AFL debut.
So, while Brisbane prepare for a qualifying final against Geelong at the MCG on 6 September, the SUNS will have to beat Essendon on Wednesday night at Carrara to qualify for the finals.
Jack Bowes, returning to the Geelong side after a week as the starting substitute, had 12 possessions and a goal to tune up nicely for the finals in a win over Richmond, while Ben Keays did likewise for Adelaide with 19 possessions and three goals in a win over North Melbourne.
Bailey Scott had 10 touches and a goal for North, and although contracted for 2026 has been the subject of media speculation suggesting he could seek a new home next year.