Between his two earlier missed shots on goal and some unsolicited advice from Port Adelaide fans, Jake Riccardi had a lot on his mind.
The GWS forward's crucial mark and goal in the last quarter of Saturday night's AFL semi-final win at Adelaide Oval again emphasised the importance of keeping a level head and nailing the big moments.
Port shot themselves in the foot with a disastrous 1.8 in the last quarter.
By contrast, the Giants only had two shots on goal in the final term, with Riccardi and captain Toby Greene nailing them.
GWS won by 23 points to book their Friday night preliminary final against Collingwood at the MCG.
Riccardi had a tough kick, from about 40m on an acute angle, but he struck it perfectly.
"I missed a couple earlier ones so I just tried to reset and think, you know what, I will just kick through this. I know naturally I have a bit of right-to-left, so I just tried to put it to the right goalpost and let it come back," Ricccardi told AAP.
"To get a bit of advice over the fence from Port fans helped as well. But I just tried to clear the mind and keep to my routine as much as possible.
"I owed the boys after missing a couple, so I was pretty stoked it went through."
Goalkicking is becoming one of the hot topics of this finals series. Apart from Port's wayward 9.16, Melbourne's straight-sets finals exit featured scores of 7.11 and 9.17.
Sydney sprayed 9.14 in their narrow elimination final loss to Carlton, while the Giants also left the door open at times for Port with their inaccurate 13.15.
"They're paramount. Every moment in finals, you have to make sure you kick them, because you never know what's going to come back and bite you," Riccardi said.
"That could definitely have been the case had Port kicked straight, after the ones I missed and the team missed earlier."
But the white-hot hostility of a huge pro-Collingwood crowd at the MCG will not faze Riccardi and his teammates, given their proven ability to win on the road during their barnstorming run through the second half of this season.
In his first finals series, 20-year-old Riccardi cannot believe where he finds himself.
"Obviously, I have the most confidence in this group and the belief is high, but to sit back and think we're playing in a preliminary final next week, against Collingwood at the 'G, it's unbelievable," he said.
"It won't bother us at all. We're made for that foreign environment.
"I'm sure the Pies fans and Pies players are ready to go too, so it will be a cracking contest.
"It's kind-of the story of our season, going interstate and playing against some big crowds."
