Rain doesnt bother me- I love it!

Just amazing how a fair bit of water can increase metropolitan travel time (in some cases) by as much as over 2 hours.

One woman on the radio left from golden grove to drop her daughter at school in the city at 7:30, and was still not there when she called at 9:50.

Crazy stuff!

Rik E Boy wrote:Who are Foxinsox?

regards,

REB

SmoothaAsGwilt.

if you didn't want it to be turned into another reserves discussion then why did you put power reserves in the title. Why not just call it Port Magpies 2014.
Just to avoid confusion as there's already a Port 2014 thread in the AFL Forum and some people not in the know are aware its different this year with all Power players dropped to their reserves side in the SANFL. Having "Port" and "Power Reserves" in the title seemed a fair compromise. Adelaide's reserves will be titled similarly.

Anyway, I think they might be a fringe finals side but similarly to the Crows reserves injuries will have twice the influence on their side as opposed to the other 8 league sides.

kickinit, any youngsters we should be keeping an eye out for, do you think they'll be too heavy in one area and light on in others because of the way the club is structured?

Out of our draftees- Karl Amon and Darcy Byrne-Jones look lively. Plenty of pace and Amon in particular is a great user of the footy.

Will follow Daniel Flynn with interest this season. Has got great athleticism and size, just needs that football nouse.

Robbie Young is a product out of our junior system- represented SA in the junior championships last year (pretty sure it was U18's)- has pace to burn and could make an impact in the senior side should the opportunity present itself.

A very young side, could sneak into the 5 if the power has a good run with injuries.

My thoughts on last night:

Our ability to play 4 quarters is still an issue- but that is not surprising. We have the 4th youngest list in the comp and consistency will take time. We are still running out games really strongly, and our ability to wrestle control in the 1st quarter, and then run away with the game in the 3rd and last, shows an increased fitness level, and added experience to slow the game down when a side gets a run on.

Schultz will be fine hopefully. According to Hinkley's presser, he struggled with a mid-foot sprain for much of last year, and minus the information from a scan, believes its something similar. Kenny is confident Round 1 will be the return, and i'm confident that Burgo and his team will get him up and about.

Positives:

Polec. Port chased him hard and for a reason. 87% disposal efficiency is huge, and he showed he is not just an outside ball winner, with a few contested possessions amongst his 23 touches. Fitness was a must and he clearly has a base behind him, we saw some hard running from him and it enabled us to cut through the corridor with precision passes into the forward line.

Pittard: Played out of his skin last night- another clean user who we need out of the back half. Nearly 30 touches, with disposal efficiency above 80% is another very solid performance. He was one who I thought would be under pressure for a spot this season, but seems well entrenched.

Wines: Gun. Will be the best inside mid along with Liberatore in 3-5 years time. His clearance work in that 3rd quarter was pivotal to us breaking the game open. To think he is 19…

Our back 6: We have some depth here- Trengove and Carlisle to come back in- along with Hombsch and Jonas to play tall and small, with O’shea, Pittard, Clurey, Broady all displaying positive signs. Future is very bright for our backline.

Concerns:

Forward line Depth: The fact that we never made a play for Jesse White, or to a lesser extent, the J-Pod, irks me a little. Schultz going down has really exposed a hole that I don’t think we can fill at this stage. Butch is getting there- I know you will laugh at me there, but the fact that he is actually jumping at the footy is showing improvement on where he was last year. Yes, when he had shots for goal he was very poor, but kicking actions can be refined, and improved, but instinct for jumping to take a catch and creating a contest can not. Harvey and Shaw are a fair way off- so Schultz and Westy desperately have to play full seasons for us to have a tilt at the 8. There was a comparison in the telecast last night between westhoffs action when shooting for a set shot, in comparison with Butchers attempt in the 3rd quarter that went out on the full. Butch is dropping the ball with both hands up around groin height! Show that footage to the lad and teach him to guide the footy onto his boot, and all of a sudden, confidence might grow and he might actually want the footy in his hands.

I do believe that this year, we may hover around the same position, perhaps even drop back a bit. This I have no problems with as we are still very young side- with talent that obviously takes time on our list to develop. 2015-16 is still the time I think for us to begin to challenge- getting another season into kids (even if there performances can be inconsistent), IMO, will be more beneficial in the long run. Hinkley is well aware of this, and is already sticking to last years mantra of “we will get what we deserve”- a good sign from a coach who is very well aware of where the list is at.

Just had our 20 week scan.

Found out (barring of course an incorrect observation) that my wife and I are expecting a little boy.

HVFC's latest father son recruit and I can't wait :D

WUB, Dutch- how are your partners going?
My missus is having another pretty normal pregnancy, only felt a little sick in the first 12 weeks, very similar to our first one. Just the usual heartburn. we are 18 weeks, so really looking forward to the 20 week scan, not finding out the sex. Just like the first time, but i'm pretty much resigning the fact that we'll be having another girl :lol: (which i obviously don't care about, but it would be cool to have a little boy) also bout this time you start feeling it kick... which is always exciting.
Not so exciting when it kicks you during mummy daddy special time :shock:

congrats on having a boy mate. How's your missus going?


Yeah weeks 6-12 were pretty intense as far as sickness is concerned. She was admitted to hospital with a gastric virus around week 16 but since then she has been getting her energy back and no sickness.

She has felt it move once, and is really starting to pop out now.

Good news concerning your mrs mate- sounds like everything is going as planned!

Ollie Wines and Cameron O'Shea sign on until the end of season 2016.

Justin Westhoff and Jasper Pittard sign until the end of season 2017.

Great news PAFC!

3qtr time:

Port 14.5.89
St K 13.6.84

Full time:

Port 18.7.115
St K 16.10.106

Good hit out for both sides.

:(

Sad but true Dogwatcher.

How we havent at least made one shield final in the past 2 years is pretty demoralising really.

One has to wonder what role the ****ing big bash has played in us not being able to make the final of the key competition. Both seasons we have entered christmas in real contention to host the bloody thing- only to fall away dramatically after the hit and giggle rubbish.

From SA's perspective- stick the ****ing T20 at the start of the season and give us an uninterrupted shield comp to see if we can build momentum and hold onto it!!!

:evil: :evil:

Home made hamburgers!

Wines a clear BOG.

Hoff exceptional for a half, then went missing a bit.

Gray consistent. 4 goals from a small forward (doesnt matter who), is critical to our success each week.

3. Wines
2. Hoff
1. Gray

Dutchy wrote:

valleys07 wrote:I am strongly looking at that too Dutch. What are your thoughts on a Port win using the sportsbet money back special?

Sorry only just seen this, good bet at the minute!

Yep, got in after a few nervous moments.

Rounded out a good night with the overs coming in aswell.

Am I the only person in the country that isn't fussed if there is a ball up when a contest becomes a stale mate, rather than a miscellaneous free kick just to keep the game moving.

Most definitely not mate.

I like the game to move, but if there is a genuine 1 on 1, such as Boak v Simpson, and it ends the way this particular contest did, then ball it up imo.

2131 for me (post scaling may influence).

Very disappointing considering the start last week.

If anything, this week has taught me that I have a long way to go if I want to get consistently good scores. I scored 1679 in my first ever week of Supercoach, so I have plenty of upside if I play my cards right.

Make some corrective trades FC after round 2 (as there are price adjustments to factor in which players may be worth upgrading too).

Dont worry about your score up against ours mate- as REB has already said- you only have to worry about what the divvy 6 guys score and learn the strategies of the game.

Shane Crawford.

Yep- he has been mentioned a few times on this thread- but you simply can't help but admire the things he does to raise
money towards various foundations and charities!

'Bless me Father, for I have sinned.
I have been with a loose girl.'

The priest asks, 'Is that you, little Joey Pagano?'

'Yes, Father, it is.'

'And who was the girl you were with?'

'I can't tell you, Father, I don't want to ruin her reputation.'




'Well, Joey, I'm sure to find out her name sooner or later so you may as well tell me now. Was it Tina Minetti?'

'I cannot say.'

'Was it Teresa Mazzarelli?'

'I'll never tell.'

'Was it Nina Capelli?'

'I'm sorry, but I cannot name her.'

'Was it Cathy Piriano?'

'My lips are sealed.'




'Was it Rosa DiAngelo, then?'




'Please, Father, I cannot tell you.'

The priest sighs in frustration.




'You're very tight lipped,
and I admire that. But you've sinned and have to
atone. You cannot be an altar boy now
for 4 months. Now you go and
behave yourself.'

Joey walks back to his pew, and his friend Franco slides over and whispers,'What'd you get ?'

'Four months holiday and five good leads...'

Phantom Gossiper wrote:Richmond 1-39
Fremantle WIN
West Coast WIN
36's WIN
Hawthorn WIN

$40 investment for a $240.67 return and the toughtest leg (Richmond) has passed

With WCE and Freo playing Melbourne and GC respectively- this one is as good as in!

How's that for the kiss of death PG

The AFL have gone too far with their constant rule changes. Now there are no scores recorded for junior matches to keep it a level playing field and to stop kids from being discouraged from the sport by the end result.

Why cant parents and the AFL see that if they want their young kids involved in footy without experiencing the feeling of winning, all they have to do is buy a membership with the Melbourne Demons.

HH3 wrote:My big one was still going until Geelong won by too much on Saturday night.

I picked Melbourne to win.

The Kangas beat Sydney by too much as well.

I got the Freo/Essendon one wrong, and the Crows/Saints one wrong too.

So in summation- nowhere ****ing near it

I'll give Richmond one thing DB- at least they have worn the repercussions of their poor drafting on the chin, and not pleaded for draft concessions due to their poor positioning like Melbourne.

This game is ******g sh*t.

Love him or hate him- ripping interview with Cam Mooney I thought.

Its easy to forget his transformation between 2006 and 2007- he went from an almost wasted talent to arguably one of the best forwards in the comp in the space of 18 months- Forever getting rubbed out and failing to realise his importance in a goliath of a team, that itself took a while to realise just how good a side bomber had accumulated, to all australian and premiership player. Phenominal transformation and proves just how good a culture the likes of Harley, Scarleett and co. created in such a short space of time.

Really surprised to hear that Port were chasing him at the end of season 2002 (would have been handy in that side just quietly), and loved his openness concerning the personal guilt he carried (and still does) over the 2008 grand final.

Hated him as a player- not sure what I hated more, is arrogance and stupidity, or the fact he became so bloody good in a side that still gives me the shits :lol:, but have to say I enjoy him in the media.

Some really good episodes already this year!

really pleased with the win on saturday.... Great to see some players find some form, rampe, jetta, LRT and i didn't think he was doing to badly but Lance's second half was great. Kennedy was outstanding, back to his best. 102 tackles on the day is an excellent team effort. Great pressure footy. We must maintain it going forward. Easily our best performance this year .

Personally I thought your other win was better ;)

Ditto FC.

Anxiety attacks are horrible Jase- just got to try and beat that voice mate, as hard as it is to do sometimes..

I got some help from a brilliant therapist associated with my work. If you haven't seen anybody about them yet, shoot me a pm and i'll gladly pass on the details. Well worth it mate- just to air your thoughts and get some positive reciprocation is a great feeling.

Hope all starts to improve mate.

Feeling junior valleys kick for the first time.

Wow!

About ****ing time :D :D :D

In all seriousness- That win today, and the subsequent reaction from the fans, is a testament to just how good Geelong have been, especially against us, for the best part of a decade. Nothing will ever erase 2007, however that is another critical roadblock that we have hurdled in the pursuit of success.

Jeez the cats let us off the hook in the 1st half, with some easy set shots being missed that would normally be marked down, but its incredibly satisfying to see us make great opposition pay for their missed opportunities.

Both sides made simple skill errors in the 1st half, put down simply to the intense pressure, but once port got a run on early in the 3rd, the cats looked 2nd rate. Put it down to the extra 2 day break, put it down to a few names missing from the cats, but fair dinkum we would have to be the best 2nd half side in the competition at this rate.

My top 5 best players:

Boak- Wow. Him signing in 2012 was a huge statement for a number of reasons. It was a statement as far as his playing ability was concerned- to at that stage challenge himself to better a struggling side, and better himself against the best mids in the comp. 2 years on he has ticked both boxes in a big way, inspires a young group with his actions on and off the field, the fans love him and are indebted to his loyalty, and the rest of the competition cant not respect him. Very deserving Badcoe medallist

Ebert- If our best and fairest count was held tonight- Ebo would win it in a canter. Has continually improved his game since he arrived in 2012, and as I sit here, I will say I dont think there is a better 2 way runner in the competition. Averaging 25 touches a game this season, its clear to most that his skills by hand and foot have improved out of sight since his early days at west coast, and his 28 possession game tonight was as damaging as ive seen him. Another top performance and only just overtaken by Boak for the medal.

Lobbe- I must admit i had Redden as #1 ruck at the start of 2013- how much things can change in the course of 12 months. Lobbe has been outstanding so far this season, and his past 2 weeks have been out of this world. To break even, if not, beat Cox and NicNat last week, to smashing McIntosh and Blicavs today shows the giant strides this bloke is taking. 48-31 hitouts tells a significant story. Port Adelaides most important player at this juncture.

Cornes- Selwood is a star, and everybody knows it. Cornes is a gun tagger- everyone knows that too. Joel had his colours lowered today, and its not often at all anybody gets to say that, but cornes was huge the other way. Cornes was the leading possession getter on the ground with 33, was pivotal with quick hands releasing the likes of Boak, Ebert and Hartlett, and continually found space to provide link and run. Another brilliant game from this port adelaide legend.

Carlisle- Our back 6 was incredible tonight, but this bloke had the toughest match up of the lot and had a significant win I thought. Hawkins 3.2 probably flattered the matchup at the end of the evening, and Bobby not only won a majority of the one on ones, but seems to have elevated his game to include lots of run and drive from the back half. Its no secret Burgess has done wonders for his conditioning and his game now reaps the rewards of hard work- he has added a significant string to his bow and our back 6 reaps the rewards, sitting equal first for fewest points conceded at this stage of the season.

Honourable mentions:
Cassisi- won a few critical contests in the first half when the game was in the balance, skills let him down though.
White- What a pick up he has been! Run, Run and Run is this guys game, works just as hard in the 4th as he does in the 1st- plays every game like its his last.
Hombsch- Our back 6 looks as solid as a rock with this guy back there. Wins critical one on ones and generates plenty of drive. Why GWS got rid of him is anyones guess, but thank your mother for the rabbits says Kenny.

Flags aren't won in april and there is still a very long way to go- as I said though, another significant mental hurdle has just been jumped in this journey- GWS, Freo and Hawthorn presents more great opportunities to test ourselves against the competitions beasts.

In my opinion, Hart and Jezza, knowing what we know now with Lockett, Ablett snr, Dunstall and Carey (all still playing when this side was named) wouldnt get a gig if it was named today.

How you can have 3 blokes who have all kicked over 1200 goals not in the side staggers me.

What about a Peter Hudson as a chance for a as a forward?

Certainly a good player PG- however Carey has CHF wrapped up, purely on the basis of his ability to win games off his own boot. Coleman was a freak and Matthews is the best player to play the game in many eyes. Coventry, Lockett and Dunstall get the last 3 spots on sheer weight of numbers alone.

1. Lobbe
2. Schulz
3. Boak
4. Trengove
5. R.Gray

Round 7 Review:

6-1. That is all that needs to be taken from that. Ugly win, but another 4 points in the bank before taking on the 2013 grand finalists. PAFC will know exactly where they stand after round 10, make no mistake.

Our key players were realtively well held, yet we managed to break even in most KPI's. Not much more to add, apart from we did what we had to do.

Top 5:

Polec- BOG. Saw exactly why Ken chased him so hard. 30 touches was in a way what we have come to expect, but to see him hit the scoreboard was most pleasing. Playing inspired footy.

White- Gets better from week to week and another one who is playing such inspiring footy for his new club. Averaging 2 goals a game as a high floating half forward, his pace and appetite for the contest is electrifying to watch.

Gray- AA form at the moment. Another prolific display, with 30 touches, but his most impressive work was around the stoppages. He and Wines were catalysts for port concerning contested possessions, and 6 inside 50's for the game topped off a damaging display.

Jonas- Smacked Cameron, to the point Cameron spent a majority of the 2nd half playing in the backlines. We saw what TJ was capable of in the 1st showdown last year, taking apart Walker, and now, talls or smalls are thrown at him on a weekly basis, and Tommy is growing with every challenge.

Schultz- Feasted on our I50 domination (71-39) kicking 6 and heading the coleman. Not conditions for the talls, but to clunk 7 marks, gave us a key target that GWS just didnt have for their attacking forays, not to mention a target simply too strong for young Frost and the fraile GWS defence.

Freo next saturday, what a game this shapes to be. With Collingwood, Geelong and believe it or not, GC breathing down our necks, any slip up becomes costly. On the other hand, a win gives us a 3 game buffer in the top 5 heading into the bye the week after.

"They have been doing it since 1991
Its in their DNA."

Port supPORTer
On talk back radio
Discussing why Adelaide barrackers left the game , before the end, against Melbourne
Comedy gold, a port supporter taking the higher ground re how to support.
#realshortmemory #tarps

And a North Melbourne supporter sledging about tarps (crowd numbers)

#pot
#kettle
#black

When caucasian adolescents refer to their caucasian adolescent mates as "my main n*gga".

Yeah no worries fiddy!

Round 8 Review:

Undermanned or not, Freo are no pushovers. Any side coached by Ross Lyon are so incredibly difficult to counter offensively, that an 18 point victory left me leaving AO with a big smile on my face. I was unsure at 3/4 time that we would get it done. It was one of those annoying games we've seen in times gone by where we through everything at them but just can't get that extra goal we need to gain the momentum. To come out in the last and put on just a huge display of dominant football was incredible.

It was frustrating to watch us not capitalise further on our I50 dominance, but credit where credit is due to fremantle- They just choke your time with the ball, choke your space and you've got to think in a split second what to do. In saying that- it was dissapointing to see us just throw the footy on the boot mindlessly without factoring in freo's 1, maybe 2 extra behind the footy. The number of times I saw Mzungu or Johnson take uncontested marks in our F50 was frustrating. That will imo be Kenny's learning point out of today- patience with the footy in hand heading into the forward arc.

Best players:

Robbie Gray- Cripes he is in amazing form at the moment. His first half i thought Sutcliffe held him really well, but his 2nd half which netted 25 touches (15 in the last qtr), and 6 centre clearances, was faultless. His ability to manage effective disposals whilst being tackled is first rate, and his core strength and balance continues to amaze. His shimmy on the outer wing and delivery to Wingard was the clincher.

Jarman Impey- Ballantyne, despite his criticism and hatred within the fan circles, is no slouch. Freo are at their best when Walters and Balla run amok in their 50, and whilst Walters was missing, I felt this was a matchup we had to win to be a chance. 9 touches and 0.1 tells a significant story- Impey only had 10 himself, which still leaves plenty of room for offensive development, in particular disposal efficiency, but his pace and closing speed, complete with a little bit of mongrel, leaves me very confident he has a bright future at PAFC. Some fans on other forums were calling for his ommission- he isnt going anywhere.

Jackson Trengove- Broke even for the 1st 3 quarters I felt, with Zac Clarke getting the better of him in a few contests where Clarke was able to exploit his height advantage, but that last quarter! Was the reason we won the game imo, thanks to a 6-0 centre clearance count whilst he was rucking in the last term. Literally monstered Sandi (is that even possible?) and oozes leadership in the clutch moments. Pure Port Adelaide.

Chad Wingard- Its hard not to have movement in the trousers when this kid gets going, and I ask posters to find me a better first 50 games. I felt confident going into the game that one of Gus, Chad or Rob got going and that is exactly how it eventuated. His 3rd quarter was electric and deserved 7 straight. Cat like when the ball hits the deck, and can seriously leap, he has all the tricks. 18 goals from 8 games leaves him on track for 40+ and another AA selection is not out of the question.

Travis Boak- His duel with Crowley was always going to be an intriguing one, and 28 touches is a fair day out for the port skipper. With Gray, Wines and Polec taking care of the centre clearances (6 a piece), Boak needed to be damaging on the outside and i thought he was, setting up numerous attacking forays with link up handball.

Is it time to believe the hype- will a win against Hawthorn allow us to justify? Not sure, but one thing is for sure- this group is heading places, im sure of that. Its hopefully not a matter of if, but when.

Hopefully for crows fans that is the last you will see of Petrenko- absolute spud.

Eddie not happy

http://m.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/afl/collingwood-president-eddie-mcguire-fuming-after-adelaides-josh-jenkins-allowed-to-kick-a-goal-after-threequarter-time-siren/story-fnia3z73-1226919767353


Surely they should make a siren loud enough though...

Well its happened twice now. Surely either a louder siren or an earpiece for the umpire needs to be looked into before it costs a side a game, or potentially a final. Can you imagine the uproar if the power or crows hosted a prelim final, and the crowd noise was so loud the siren wasnt heard when a mark was taken by the opposition who converted to send them into a GF? The umps wouldnt be able to leave the stadium changerooms for a week!!!

Its fine when it works in your favour and the outcome of the game wasnt affected, but sooner or later...

guess those gloves are for covering up her pointy elbows too.

pretty tough on the lass there FC. i'd hit that haha.

I would too, after half a dozen pints.

FC- I can see where you are coming from mate.

Surely he can choose someone better looking to inherit all of.....ahem.....I mean love him until his dying...ahem.....to love him.

For those interested- Port unveiled their indigenous round jumper this afternoon. I quite like it, Freo have gone with a very similar design. Kept it simple.

Not alone there Benny- the indigenous people have played a huge role in australian football, and will continue to do so. They are a special kind of player for their own uniqueness and deserve to be acknowledged. The same can be said for womens round, heritage round etc- I like it.

PG- Taking that view point, that isnt a silly idea at all. Perhaps port could look at engaging indigenous players within their squad, and members of the indigenous community to design next years- definitely ticks the box of community engagement that is for sure.

My wife is into her 32nd week and has her baby shower on sunday.

She isnt doing too bad at the moment- but contrary to the aformentioned ladies, being her first pregnancy, we both dont have anything to compare it to, so size, feeling etc is just another thing to put up with. I was actually comparing her (discreetly of course) to other ladies in our pre-natal classes, and I must admit she is showing no where near as much as some of the other mums to be!

We finished up the nursery a couple of weeks back so its all systems go now, just playing the waiting game!

Yeah sounds good FC- be sure to shoot us through a text and ill catch ya.

Like WUB- I actually found them very useful. We had a class of about 8 couples, and were all great people. Certainly in that environment, all embarrassment is left at the door and you do what is necessary, even if it means you are subject to role playing a birth (yep- I was the poor sucker role playing the father, oh the joys :lol:).

Thankfully, there were no imbeciles in our group either (no premature sympathy for the unborn child required!), but there was 1 bloke who, in the opinion of the entire class bar his partner, had a ripping sense of humor and made it pretty enjoyable. The funniest part was his poor partner, every time he cracked a joke or made a comment, would just roll the eyes, even shifting her back towards him. Pregnancy isnt funny to some :lol:

His best gag was when we were assigned to groups, blokes in 1 room and girls in the other, and the exercise being for the blokes to formulate ideas on what we should be doing for our ladies pre and post labour, and the girls were assigned ideas on what they thought we should be doing. We all got back together and this bloke gets up and rattles off things like massages, sugar, fluids, encouragement, music, television, to light hearted humour such as small goods and ridding the mother in law ( :lol: ), when straight as an arrow, he looked at the instructor and said "but I couldnt think of anything that the lads need to do" :lol: :lol:

Once again, his mrs saw nothing funny about it, but certainly brought some colour to the class!

Seeing the labour ward and the maternity ward made it pretty real, and the bathing of the new born was something I was very thankful I watched, particularly as our instructor began to rattle off little tips when the little one cries. Obviously each baby is going to be different but handy thought for the vault I can assure you.

That list instantly lost credibility when I seen the name Chaplin on it!
that's not entirely true. Chaplin is a key defender...
he's the one who you want to have the ball in his hands coming out of defence and he's the one you want to exploit by using his direct opponent...
he is the key...
seriously though, this is why supercoach is better than NAB fantasy (dreamteam) because it takes into account effectiveness and impact

You don't watch Chaplin enough then. His decision making is average and his disposal no better.

He is a capable "third man" up defender to impact upon a contest but he is one of the reasons Richmond are shite. They've banked on him being the corner stone of their defence and he isn't up to playing that role.

Like Carey notes, that table has zero credibility.

Slightly missed the point there Boon- Chaplin is the defender you want with ball in hand........if you're not a richmond fan ;)

Although from what I saw saturday night, Rance is fast becoming my favourite too :D

Gray
Boak
Ebert

FB: D. Swallow, D.Talia, N.Malceski
HB: B.Smith, T.Richards, M.Johnson
C: T.Boak, J.Kennedy, B.Ebert
HF: J. Gunston, N. Riewoldt, S.Johnson
FF: R. Gray, J.Schulz, L.Breust

R: A.Sandilands, G. Ablett, D. Beams
Int: S.Pendlebury, N.Fyfe, S.Burgoyne, D.Heppell

Press red for Kev. OK- I get it, its a PR stunt to challenge Ed, and they are instructed to be as bias as they could possibly be...but that was something else. I couldnt turn it over as that is the funniest bit of commentary i've listened to since the first time I chucked on a 12th man tape.

Well after 2 weeks of uninspiring wins, and a host of our stars under performing- one could be forgiven for thinking we needed to win, and win big in this one to be any chance against the swannies. Well I sit here after a 70 point win, and 3 big names set to return- thinking hopefully we have done enough to give ourselves the best possible chance to firm as premiership faves by next Saturday night.

Last night though wasn't all easy. As was the game against Melbourne, we started strongly with the 1st 4 goals and looked headed for a big night. Then came the lapse. As per the Melbourne game, we slipped into cruise mode, completely rid ourselves of the fundamentals of our game style, and cockiness and laziness crept in. As can so often be the case when you play the bottom sides, sometimes you can be sucked into their defensive smother, but I began to get fed up with our look away handballs, cheeky kicks, zoning off. Its all well and good to pick your moments for that sort of stuff, especially when your 10 goals up, but when your 2 goals up halfway through the 2nd quarter, it smacks of arrogance, and really good sides will slam on 4-5 goals and leave you looking right royal mugs.

Thankfully- whatever was said to the group at half time (Schulzy, Kenny), completely switched us on, and out came the port we have come to know and love this season. We defended really well, picking our moments to zone off, spread and switch the play. Our midfield began to win centre clearances at will, and got the footy into our forward line at such a pace to allow 1 on 1 contests, and gave our forwards a chance to work their magic- and work their magic they did. Schulz, Gray and Chad finished with 10 goals, Our stars all worked their way back into form, and it allowed our 2nd stringers and youngsters to play cameo roles. Overall a pleasing performance, but still a way to go.

My best players:

Hamish Hartlett- Some port supporting work colleagues and I discussed the idea of sending Hammer back through the Magpies this week to "punish" him for the indiscretion against the Hawks- Quite obviously Ken had other ideas, believing Hamish had served his punishment, and boy did hammer have a point to prove, and trust to be re-earned. He did both in splendid fashion. 36 possessions, 5 tackles, 8 marks, a 60 meter sausage roll, and that was almost the complete game. Imagine if we could see that on a regular basis port fans? St. Kilda gave him far too much latitude across HB to pick off loose footy and Hamish needs little time to hit up targets. He and Polec in the same side offer port alarming flexibility with quality ball users, and we saw the effect on Polec when Hamish wasnt in the side, indicating he is an important piece of ports premiership puzzle.

Robbie Gray- I've run out of superlatives for this man. He is now elite in my eyes. Great above his head, one of the very best on the ground, super difficult to tackle, smart around goals, he has the complete bag of tricks. I'll stand by my call this week that he will be comfortably leading ports B&F at this point, would be a walk up start in the AA side, and is firming week by week as a challenger to GAJ for the ultimate individual accolade. 25 touches, 4 goals, 3 assists, 3 tackles. Genuine out and out A grader.

Jarman Impey- 4 weeks ago there were calls for this lad to be put back to the magpies to find touch. Enormous faith was shown by Hinkley to not only keep him in the side, but give him arguably his toughest match up in Balllantyne. Since that day he has hardly looked back and went to new heights on saturday afternoon. 20 touches (at 90% DE), 5 rebound 50's (a team high), 3 I50's and a superb pick up and goal was absolutely mouthwatering. Very excited for what this lad offers us- he looks composed in 1 on 1's, knows when to take the game on, and is growing week by week. Will play about as important a role as any against Parker/McGlynn this saturday afternoon.

Chad Wingard- No port player can lay claim to a great first half. Enter the wizadry of Wingard. Seriously- when he goes into freak mode like that he is just about unstoppable, and after half time, just reached into his (deep) bag of tricks and added more to an already amazing highlights reel. That mark was something special and left me with serious trouser movement, and add 20+ touches, 3 goals and assists to that, and you have the ultimate Chad Wingard game. Call this lad what you like- he is a bloody gem to watch- The amount of kids I saw on Saturday night with #20 on their backs- he is worth 10-15,000 bums on seats alone.

Matthew Lobbe- Forget the hitout stat- Longer is young and I would have been disappointed in Lobbes had he not destroyed that count, but 11 touches, 8 tackles (2nd to Ebert for the game), and a goal and you have a fair night out for the big fella. Would still like him to impose himself around the ground a bit more, but you cant ask much more of a man that is so so so important to our hopes for 2014. Just keep doing what you are doing son.

Moving forward to the biggest test of 2014- Will Franklin cop a week? Will Tippett miss? Would you like to see us play a full strength Sydney outfit to really gauge where we are at? Will be the least bit surprised to see us drop this one, but all I ask for is competitiveness. Serve up the sh*t in the 2nd quarter and we will get cleaned up- bring4 quarters similar to the last half and we will snare the points and shoot to favouritism.

Can.Not.WAIT for saturday.

Carn the pear!

Ted Richards and Talia are ahead of Hooker.

Probably not. The I50 count has to go in ports favour to be a chance I feel. Limit the entries (even quality of entry), and win the contested ball. Booney's observation of a number of players "minding" opposition ball magnets is, come to think of it, quite correct, and Kens idea will most likely be to limit entries and hurt the other way. In saying that, we need Gray, Gus and Chad to have big ones to take the heat off Schulz.

Malceski and Shaw love zoning off, so its imperative that we expose those matchups when a turnover occurs.

Tyrone Vickery has ended up with a 2 match ban, after Richmond had attempted to get it overturned to 6.....