Port Adelaide big man Charlie Dixon might well have played his last game for the club after his finals stinker against Geelong on Thursday night.
Dixon, 33, was on the receiving end of Bronx cheers from the pro-Port crowd at Adelaide Oval when he touched the ball in the last quarter of a horrible finals performance.
He had returned to the team — named ahead of 25-year-old key forward Todd Marshall — after illness, but could only manage just three disposals for the night … and did not score a goal.
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Fans roasted Dixon on social media during and after the game.
“As a neutral observer, it baffles my mind that Charlie Dixon is still getting a game,” one said on X (formerly Twitter) during the game.
And another: “Why is he even in discussions to be selected. Legit gives nothing. Power deserve this belting.”
And so it went … but the entire team and coach Ken Hinkley have copped heat.
Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes said he was “stunned” by his club’s insipid performance.
“The midfield was absolutely smashed. I look at the first centre bounce clearance. Zak Butters wins it, handballs to Willem Drew who just fumbles the footy for no reason,” Cornes said on SEN Breakfast.
“Geelong then goes inside 50 and Brandon Zerk-Thatcher drops an easy uncontested intercept mark. Port then gets the ball and turns it over with a 15-metre kick – and I was thinking ‘what the hell is going on here? There’s three mistakes in a minute’.
“There was something completely off about the group and it was completely different to the last nine weeks.”
Last year Port Adelaide was also smacked in their first final and then they were booted out of contention the following week.
A similar fate now awaits them.
“I think they lack resilience,” Cornes said.
“I think they lack any little bit of resilience when things get a little bit tough. You can’t give up in a final like that.
“There was many, many times last night where Port Adelaide players last night made a decision to give up. The amount of long balls where the ball hits the deck – it becomes a simple measure of who wins that ball at ground level after it comes off hands and hits the ground. I reckon Geelong won 80 per cent of them.
“You look at it and go, ‘There’s probably 10 Port Adelaide players who aren’t up to it last night and were found out from Jase Burgoyne to Lachie Jones to Esava Ratugolea to Charlie Dixon to Jed McEntee to Francis Evans,’ the list goes on.
“So, you had that from your bottom 10, but you also had it from your top three or four. You can’t have that from Connor Rozee last night. You’re the captain of the footy club. He’s had a disappointing year, Rozee.
“Ollie Wines had been in good form, (but) what was that from Ollie Wines? What was that from Willem Drew? What was that from Jordon Sweet? He dominated hit-outs, but there was no connection at all with the mids.
“They lack resilience this group and we’ve seen it too often. When things get hard, they aren’t prepared to dig in and get momentum back.
“Some of the efforts were not acceptable. The last four finals have been a similar story.
“It was nothing short of a pathetic performance.”
At the start of the season Dixon knew the writing was on the wall.
“We will see what happens at the end of the year, if I’m still playing or not, “ Dixon told Seven.
“Hey, if it is, it is … but I’m gonna do everything I can, like I do every year, to try and win.
“I think it’s 15 (seasons in the AFL). I’m not 100 per cent sure but it seems like a lot.”
Port Adelaide will be back at Adelaide Oval and fighting for their survival next week.
But it won’t be easy. They will be taking on either the Western Bulldogs or Hawthorn, with both of those teams in red-hot form.