The Tackle: Hawthorn small forward Paul Puopolo among the lesser likes to shine in Week 1 Finals Hawthorn small forward Paul Puopolo celebrates his goal in the Hawks win over Sydney. SEPTEMBER, it is said, is for the superstars. It is their time. They get the big bucks and, in turn, they are expected to play the big games. At the weekend, there were failures aplenty. Travis Cloke, Ben Reid and Heath Shaw for Collingwood. Kurt Tippett, Dan Hannebery and Ryan O'Keefe for the Swans. Steve Johnson after quarter-time and, to some extent, James Kelly for Geelong. At the MCG yesterday, it was all over the shop. Carlton's champs couldn't find the ball in the first half, and Richmond's were lost in the second. And then there are blokes such as Tom Logan, Ryan Crowley, Paul Puopolo and Nick Duigan. They are superstars in a novel way. They are superstars at giving their all. Logan personified Port Adelaide on Saturday night. Port's mission statement for this season was "never give up." It is also Logan's philosophy. What other way can you describe a footballer who has signed one-year deals in each of his past seven seasons? He is the quintessential junkyard dog. Against the Pies, Logan took Jamie Elliott and Jarryd Blair and Alan Didak late, and did not concede a goal. He finished with 24 touches, 10 marks, three tackles and two clearances, and time and again he won one-on-one possessions and then powered downfield. Port beat Collingwood for several reasons, not least its desire to take the game on at almost every occasion. Fortune favours the brave, and Logan was as brave as anyone. Because of his contract status, he plays on edge every season, and thus every game, and he plays like it is his last - a mindset which endears him to everyone at the club. Saturday night was his ninth game this year for a career tally of 113 over nine seasons. Certainly, it was his best for the club. Crowley and Puopolo are cut from the same cloth as Logan. Unlucky to miss All Australian selection - seriously, how did he miss? - Crowley started on Matty Stokes and moved to the most the influential player on the ground to that stage, Steve Johnson, just before the quarter-time break. Johnson had 12 touches and two goals in the first quarter and finished with 20 and two goals. Crowley is Ross Lyon on the field - unflinching and unyielding. As always, Crowley copped and gave it and when Lyon got prickly after the game, you had the feeling he was protecting his midfield beast. Did they target the Cats? Of course they did. It's a final. They targeted 22 of them. And it worked. The MCG yesterday supplied two wonderful narratives. The ultimate champ, Chris Judd, willed himself a la Luke Hodge on Friday night, while it was another player who lost his coach throughout the season who proved to be the difference. Duigan kicked four goals, had 15 disposals and took seven marks, and came into the team largely to try to keep Brett Deledio in check across half-back. Instead, the lion-hearted right-footer kept presenting himself and kept marking, and kept kicking goals when the Blues needed them the most. It's cool to get on the end of them in the final quarter, it's critical to do it when the team is floundering. Remember, too, this was just Duigan's fourth game of the season. On Friday night, the Hawks had 22 willing players. Puopolo might not have been in the best five players on the ground, but his attitude makes him a player of great influence. From afar, he looks like an extra on Fat Pizza, but he is far from a standaround performer. His 20 touches, five tackles, five clearances, and 50 chases underpinned Hawthorn's effort. Next week might be about the superstars, but the weekend gone served us blue-collar performances. It again begs the question: Who are the most critical players in a team - the bottom six or the top six? You know what, it's a silly question. All of them are needed. Just ask the winning teams.