Port Adelaide found some balls.

It would have been in everyone's best interests had the Power taken the great leap 12 months ago because Mark Williams was a dead man walking there and then.

That he signed a fresh two-year deal at the end of last season, but on greatly reduced money, was bad business and put Port in a position of treading water at a time when the rest of the AFL was readying itself for the soon-to-be-changed landscape with Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney preparing to join the league.

Port has paid a big price for its dithering, by having to pay the remainder of Williams' contract, reportedly about $500,000. For a club at the head of the AFL's poverty queue, it is another massive kick up the backside. But the decision, costly as it is, is correct.

You have to wonder what was behind Williams' remarks last weekend that he was on borrowed time at the club. Williams likes to play games, but perhaps he realised the error of re-signing with the club and was planting the seed for an early departure.

That being the case, he has played it beautifully.

And his farewell media conference was vintage Williams, complete with the "illness and fatigue" gag. Nice one.

We can't recall the last time a coach was sacked on game day, but what it does guarantee is bumper ratings for tonight's broadcast. Never mind that it's a Collingwood game - which makes it a ratings winner in any event - Channel Seven will have a camera trained on Williams throughout the evening capturing his every movement. The post-match show will be compulsive viewing.

We can only hope the game resembles that of round 13 of 2007, also a Friday night, when Neale Daniher coached Melbourne for the last time. That game was a corker, with Scott Lucas kicking the match-winner for the Dons in the last minute to hand the Bombers a two-point win.

There are similar parallels for tonight. Daniher's last game as coach of the Demons was against the team he once captained. Like Daniher, Williams' last game in charge will be also be against the team he used to skipper.

Given his druthers, Williams would no doubt like to coach the Magpies one day. But with Nathan Buckley set to replace Mick Malthouse in 2012, there's no chance of that happening any time soon.

As we said earlier this week, the best destination for Williams will be GWS. Let Kevin Sheedy be the showman and the salesman, while Williams gets on with building the side and making it competitive from round 1, 2012 because this is a team that really cannot afford to fail.

Back to Port Adelaide. This marks the first time since the club entered the AFL in 1997 that a club legend hasn't been at the helm. First John Cahill, now Mark Williams. For the Williams family, this announcement marks a huge line in the sand. Someone with better knowledge of the club would know when was the last time a member of the Williams family didn't hold a significant position with the club.

There will be an old guard around Alberton Oval who would like to see someone with ties to the club take over on a permanent basis (does Tom Harley count?), but what Port does have is time on its side to make a cool, calm and calculated decision about who will take charge in the future.

You would like to think the club will make the right decision. But the people who made this decision are the same as those who reappointed Williams in the first place.