Williams' gesture resembled that made by his namesake, the coach of Port Adelaide, after the Power won the grand final in 2004 and was directed towards the coaching box after he had kicked a crucial goal late in the match.

An angry Clarkson issued an apology in the after-match press conference to his Port Adelaide counterpart.

"The gesture that our Mark Williams made at the end of the game was not in line with the way that we like to go about our footy; he knows that, our players know that," Clarkson said.

"We like to be humble and gracious in victory and certainly not put on performances like that. It's the quickest way to find the exit door at our footy club, so could I make an apology to Mark Williams of Port Adelaide and the Port Adelaide footy club because we don't accept that sort of behaviour at our club.

"I'll be expecting that our Mark Williams gives Mark Williams from the Port side a call throughout the course of this week if he'll indeed accept the call because if I was Choco Williams from Port Adelaide I don't even know if I'd want a call; we look at it pretty dimly, that sort of behaviour."

Williams later makes an attempt to contact many of the Port Adelaide players and staff to apologize for his actions.

Port Adelaide captain Warren Tredrea said it was time to move on.

"Guys who know him personally told him they thought it wasn't appropriate, but it's done now, move on," Tredrea said.

"I dare say he's probably sitting there regretting it, considering he's tried to call half of my teammates to apologise."