R6: Port Adelaide v WWT Eagles review

[Macca19]

RESERVES

Port Adelaide and Woodville/West Torrens played out a draw in front of a brave small crowd today. After leading by 23 points at the last change, the Eagles could only manage one behind whilst Port kicked 3.6 to draw the match.

Port Adelaide will rue the result, kicking a terrible 5.23 for the match. With the 5-goal wind at their back they could only manage 4.15 for the match.

The Eagles started with the gale wind in the opening term and led by 17 points at the first change. Port Adelaide had many chances against it, kicking 6 behinds for the quarter, including two shots that hit the post.

The Eagles played what could have been a match winning quarter in the second term, kicking 2.2 against the wind whilst Port could only muster 1.9. Port had many easy chances to register goals but they couldnt seem to pick the direction the wind was heading at all.

The third quarter was a tighter tussle, with the Eagles extending their lead slightly to 23 points with one quarter left. Port Adelaide suddenly lifted with the wind at their backs and got themselves back into the game. Three quick goals to Mark Dolling, Lindsay Thomas and Matthew King got them to within sight of victory but they could only manage a couple of behinds to tie the score. The Eagles attacked strongly in the last couple of minutes with some heroic defensive work by Casey Thomas, Luke Slattery and Matthew King making sure the Eagles couldnt rush through a behind for victory.

Todd Price was the Eagles best with 3 goals and a number of influential disposals on a forward flank. Power listed Nick Lower - playing because Norwood had the bye - also had plenty of the ball across Half Back, whilst Vinnie Rugolo, Tom Wigley and Ross Pederson played well. Matthew Bolton was reported for striking a Port Adelaide player in the face off the ball.

For the Magpies, Luke Slattery was their clear best player. He played a huge last half and was everywhere around the middle of the ground. Matthew King, Lindsay Thomas and Daniel Coleman were also great.

PA 0.6 / 1.15 / 2.17 / 5.23 (53)
EA 3.5 / 5.7 / 7.10 / 7.11 (53)

BEST:
PA - Slattery, King, Coleman, L Thomas, Madden, Gates
EA - Price, Lower, Rugolo, Wigley, Frewen, Pederson

GOALS:
PA - L Thomas 2; King, Dolling, Slattery
EA - Price 3; Frewen, Jackman, Rugolo, Williamson

SENIORS

Port Adelaide have won their way to their best start to a season since their Premiership year of 1999, coming from behind to defeat the Eagles by 14 points in one of the games of the season at Thebarton Oval today.

In only the second match played at Thebarton Oval for 16 years, the Magpies kicked 7 last quarter goals with the wind at their backs to record their fifth straight victory. The Eagles hit the front early in the first quarter, and didnt relinquish the lead until halfway through the last quarter.

The Magpies started stronger against the breeze - which had softened slightly since the reserves - with Shane Morrison kicking the first goal of the match. Magpies were succesfully shutting down the Eagles attacks at Half Back, with Eichner and Baird playing well. It didnt take long for the Eagles to get some momentum going with the wind as they kicked four unanswered goals in about 10 minutes to break out to a very handy lead. The Eagles onballers started to win the contested ball in the middle and they were attacking long and direct. Passador kicked two goals and he was finding space ahead of AhChee. Mark Clayton kicked a goal to cut the margin back to 14 points at the main break.

Peter Fiacchi kicked the opening goal of the second quarter before Port through Scott Stevens and Clive Waterhouse clawed their way back into the contest. The Eagles were playing the better defensive football, flooding the half back line and running it out through Luke Jarrad and Justin Cicolella. They responded with two consecutive goals of their own through Cicolella and Westbrook who was getting away from his taller opponent in Baird.

The Magpies kicked three goals to one for the rest of the quarter to cut the margin back to 14 points at the main break.

The Eagles had played impressive football to half time. Their midfielders were dominating the clearances and werent giving Port Adelaide much space. Port Adelaide were too loose and gave away a number of goals through soft attempted tackles and poor spoiling. Port Adelaide couldnt breathe in the midfield with the Eagles tackling hard and blocking the arms. On the other hand, Ports tackles were ineffective, with the likes of Knights, Cicolella, Skipworth, Powell and Treeby regularly getting their arms free to give a creative handball to a player running forward of the contest. Port were breaking down across half forward with Morrison and Waterhouse having minimal impact to half time.

Port Adelaide would have been pleased with their third quarter, kicking three goals against the wind and restricting the Eagles to three goals. The Eagles wasted a couple of chances to get more ahead, kicking 3.6 for the term. Port Adelaide were looking shaky across half back, playing keepings off and getting themselves into trouble with poor disposal and more ineffective defensive work. The Eagles opened with the first two goals of the quarter through Knights and Westbrook. They had broken out to a handy break before Port began to work their way back into the contest for the second time.

Port kicked the last two goals of the quarter through Scott Stevens (three goals) and Adam Kingsley. The Eagles handy lead was wittled down to just 13 points at the last change.

Jeremy Clayton kicked his third goal to open the last quarter, but Mark Passador made the most of some poor clearing work to kick his fourth major. Port Adelaide had a fight on their hands, but with the wind at their backs they started to get on top. Suddenly, Ports poor tackles were starting to stick and it was the Eagles who were having trouble finding space at stoppages.

Corey AhChee, moved to Full Forward for the last quarter, kicked his first goal to get the margin back to a kick. Moments later, Clive Waterhouse was the lucky recipient of a turnover to mark 30 metres out from goal. He had failed to chase his opponent Mark Mckenzie out of defence, but a poor kick found Adam Kingsley who saw Clive standing 30 metres in the clear. He kicked his second goal of the match and Port were only 1 point behind. Again Port won the football out of the middle and it ended in the arms of Clive for his third goal to put Port in front for the first time since the first quarter. Scott Stevens added his fourth goal and suddenly Port had broken out to an 11 point lead with 15 minutes remaining. The wind had died down to nothing.

The Eagles regained their composure and Chris Knights snapped a goal to put them back to within a kick. They then ran the ball the length of the field to get the ball forward to Cicolella who goaled to put them back in front.

The Eagles defended strongly for five minutes, with Port gaining a behind to level the scores with what would only have been five minutes to play. A double draw was on the cards but a poor kick in was marked by Scott Stevens who goaled from 50 to put the Pies one goal up. Port defended strongly and worked the ball forward again, with Adam Kingsley snapping truly to seal the victory for Port Adelaide.

The match was a classic and both sides can be proud of the spectacle they put on today. The Eagles played the better cleaner football for three quarters and were unlcuky not to come away with the points. The Magpies came good when it mattered most and ground out a hard fought victory - their best for the season.

Both sides had many fine players on the day. Jeremy Clayton made more mistakes in the first three quarters than he has in the past 12 months combined, but came good with a huge last quarter including a number of strong marks and a goal. Tom Carr and Dane Fitzgerald were strong on the back flanks, as was Steven Eichner streaming out of defence. John Baird was influential in the last quarter playing in the centre. Scott Stevens was Port Adelaides best player, kicking 5 goals and playing the quarter of his life in the last quarter. He kicked two goals and took a number of strong grabs.

The Eagles midfield led from the front all day. The likes of Cicolella, Knights and Powell were strong, whilst Luke Jarrad seemed to have a wing to himself for most of the match. Luke Passador was strong up forward with four goals, and was supported well by David Westbrook who kicked two opportunist goals. Adam Grocke was also good at Centre Half Back.

The win will come at a cost for the Magpies with young gun Kyle Jenner leaving the field with what looked to be a serious hamstring injury. Chasing out of defence, he collapsed suddenly and was helped off the field by two trainers in the first half.

The Magpies continue to win. Its the first time they have opened a season with five straight victories since 1999, a year they last won the Premiership. Their current outfit looks just as good as those late 90s premiership teams. The half back line of Baird, Fitzgerald and DePasquale is just as mean as the Carter, Leys and M Clayton half back lines from their last premiership era. With three strong targets up forward and a plethora of quality midfielders and flankers, they look a real chance of ending their 6 season premiership drought.

The Eagles will be around in finals time again. They recruited wisely, adding another quality midfielder in Cooper, a forward target in Oakley, a tall utility in Grocke (playing great football) and a ruck in Dabrowski. They have the players to challenge come finals time again.

PA 2.2 / 7.5 / 10.6 / 17.11 (113)
EA 4.4 / 8.7 / 11.13 / 14.15 (99)

BEST:
PA - Stevens, Baird, J Clayton, Fitzgerald, Meiklejohn, Waterhouse, Carr, Surjan
EA - Knights, Passador, Powell, Jarrad, Grocke, Westbrook, Cicolella

GOALS:
PA - Stevens 5; J Clayton, Waterhouse 3; Kingsley 2; M Clayton, Morrison, Surjan, Ah Chee
EA - Passador 4; Knights, Westbrook 2; Fiacchi, Treeby, Inkster, Oakley

PORT PLAYER REVIEWS

M Clayton - Was great in the first quarter but really fell out of the game until the last quarter.

J Clayton - As I said earlier, he made a lot of mistakes in the first three quarters. Poor handballs and got caught a few times. Last quarter he made up for it with some very influential touches.

Carr - Great first half, attacked the ball hard. Fell away as the game wore on.

Poulton - Terrible disposal at times but showed courage on occasion. Took a very courageous mark running back and getting crunched. Had a decent last half.

Ilett - Came on and had an impact but laid some soft tackles which led to Eagles forward attacks.

Harry - Unsighted in the first half. Had a huge second half on a forward flank.

Kingsley - Continued his form from last week, winning plenty of the ball and generally using it well. Kicked two goals, played a good game.

Baird - Had trouble keeping up with Westbrook for a while but overall he had another top match. Was moved into the centre in the last quarter and won some clearances.

Bullen - His worst game since coming over. Was barely sighted all match and a couple of times spoiled his own teammates marks.

Morrison - Good start, but was barely sighted after that. Out of form.

Lokan - Consistent throughout the first three quarters.

Eichner - Had a great first half but his impact lessened as the game wore on.

Fitzgerald - High in the best. Attacks the ball and man hard, is hard to tackle and uses the ball well. Top game. One of the most underrated players playing the game.

Surjan - Poor defensively but he won a lot of the football again and used it reasonably well. Had his moments.

Butcher - Spent a fair time off the field. Was influential in the last quarter with some pin point passes.

Stevens - The match winner today. Kicked five and had a heroic last quarter including two goals and a number of big grabs.

Meiklejohn - His best game since coming to the club. His ruckwork was reasonable, but around the ground - where he has struggled in the past - he was awesome and took over where Maric left off.

Biacsi - Didnt seem to see much of him after quarter time.

Jenner - Good first 40 minutes or so but did a hamstring and didnt return.

Waterhouse - Some poor moments, but had a big last quarter and was one of our best

Ah Chee - Not his best game. Did some reasonable defensive work and gave a target up forward in the last quarter.

[spell_check]

Macca - as I said, I thought the turning point came in that first half of the third quarter when we got 2.5. Right then, I thought we would more than likely lose, because of wasted opportunities. What do you think was the turning point?

[Macca19]

Do you mean third quarter? If so then yeah I probably agree. You wasted some good chances in the first half of the third when you almost constantly attacked for 15 minutes but couldnt put it on the scoreboard.

And just on the mention of scoreboards, if Thebby is to be a regular oval again, a scoreboard that more than 50% of the crowd can see may be a big help.

[spell_check]

Yes third quarter, sorry about that. And yes, I should hope that a few dollars can be funded by the council for a proper scoreboard, especially if they want more matches there. In 2001 there was one, when I went to a trial game then, but not anymore which is a bit poor.

[Aerie]

Good write up Macca.

I thought Treeby was our best followed closely by Inkster and Cicolella.

It was a good game. Tight and physical, but still some exciting passages of open play and both teams were willing to run and score goals into the strong breeze. How many did Passador kick? Says 6 on the Eagles website.

[portentous]

Was Roc Harry the inclusion to replace Wanganeen? Does anyone know yet how many possessions Surj and J Clayton had? They seem to just be ball magnets at the minute.

[Macca19]

Harry and Ilett were inclusions for Gav and DePasquale.

I had Passador down as kicking 4. 2 in the first quarter (goals 1 and 4 for the Eagles), 1 in the third (goal 11) and 1 in the fourth (goal 12). I could have mistaken someone else for him.

[Macca19]

Yeah dunno whats going on with the Eagles goalkickers on their website. They kicked 14 goals, but you add up the players goals there and it comes to 15. Looks like I awarded a Passador goal to Oakley and they decided to add another one to Passadors total as well.

[cd]

Macca - I had Oakley with one and Passador with 4 (if that helps).

[Booney]

Another comprehensive and informative review there Macca.One of the better games I have seen in the last few years,and as Macca pointed out in his review,Jeremy Clayton is an outstanding player,but I think over the last few weeeks he has shown a little bit of complacency in the way he has disposed of the ball.Looks like,and you cant blame him for it,as though he is showing not alot of respect to the opposition.Easyto do when your team is flying and you a BOG each week.

Really looking forward to this week,North on the rebound at home and Port flying.

[topsywaldron]

Jeremy Clayton is an outstanding player,but I think over the last few weeeks he has shown a little bit of complacency in the way he has disposed of the ball.

Jesus I'd hate for Norwood to play Port when he was switched on then. HE's worth every penny of the alleged huge salary he gets.

[sus]

An excellent review of the game Macca. I think youre being a bit harsh on Clayton. He was basically the difference between the sides yesterday. Sure all players would consider they could have improved in areas of their game - even if they played a blinder, but notwithstanding the bit of misuse he was great. His workrate is just first class.

[Blue Boy]

Good Review Macca.

I dont like Port - but it made great reading.

[BM]

Agree sus. I was at Thebby (the scoreboard was bad but the time clock was worse and those light towers look a bit rusty) and thought Clayton and Fitzgerald kept us in the contest in the first half. Probably did try to do a little too much on occasions but his courage and ability can not be doubted.Amazes me J Clayton has not played more AFL.Being a Port supporter he would walk right into the smears team at the minute. I know it is early days and I have not seen a lot of SANFL footy this year but another magarey could be on the cards.For those big on the stats has anyone won back to back magareys and if so who and when? Maggies and the cocks should be a ball burster.

[doggies4eva]

For those big on the stats has anyone won back to back magareys and if so who and when?

It's been done about 6 times. The first time was 1905/06 T D MacKenzie, NA and the last time by D Squire 1999/2000 St.

[Aerie]

Surprised no one has mentioned a conspiracy theory from the reserves on Saturday. It's obvious the Power and Magpies look after each other, so it was little surprise, since the opportunity arose, that the Power would send in one of their own for the Eagles reserves in case things looked a little problematic. Up pops the Power player, with minutes to go in the game, and gives away a terrible high tackle free kick to the opposition 15 metres directly in front of goal with Port 5 points down at the time. Any takers?