Port Adelaide 2021

[amber_fluid]

I honestly thought R Ebert would make it into this conversation or are you restricting it to AFL only?

He played for a different club they were called the Magpies.

[Spargo]

Nope, you're a bad judge if 4 x BnF ( 8 years in a row top 5 ) 2 x AA, 300 games and a premiership doesn't tick the boxes of a player deserved of recognition, or, you're confusing his media profile with him as a player.

His stats are outstanding and should rate him among the best ever, I just didn’t rate him.
I think Josh Carr, Cassisi, Wines, Westhoff plus the ones all mentioned above are better than him.

I could have rattled plenty more out, Carr could be in there, Wines will be, Westhoff on the next line, perhaps I under rate him. Subjective so open to debate for sure.

( But Kane is in there )

He’s not even the best footballer in his family

He’s not even the second best footballer in his family.

[daysofourlives]

I honestly thought R Ebert would make it into this conversation or are you restricting it to AFL only?

Well the club only recognizes the Power, Chad Cornes presented Dylan Williams as the 197th player to pull on the Port guernsey. Seems a low number for a club who claims to be 150 years old

[stan]

Wheres the ******* review?

Also what was the crowd like.

I should say I'm probably more interested in the second item lol starting to turn into UK fan.

[Booney]

With the vultures circling and ready to roll out another “flat track bully” headline the Port Adelaide fans at Adelaide Oval on Saturday evening would have been ready to cancel the Sunday Mail delivery when Lance Franklin kicked his third for the term and put the Swans in front with 5 minutes to go in the final quarter. Port had enjoyed a 15 point lead earlier in the term only to see it evaporate as Franklin kicked 3 in 15 minutes in a performance few are capable of. Enter medi-sub Sam Mayes and ruckman Scott Lycett as Port Adelaide take the lead back in the last 3 minutes to hold on by 10 points in a thriller over Sydney.

With Hamish Hartlett a late withdrawal Marty Frederick came into the line up and word soon filtered around AO that Sam Mayes had taken off from Prospect Oval at half time of the SANFL match to be the medi-sub at AFL level. Little did we know at the time that would be just part of what would turn out to be a memorable day for him.

Port and the much improved Sydney traded blows early, Marshall’s opener from a chiselling Amon pass was soon countered by a Will Hayward goal, Rozee returned fire, Hayward struck back before Franklin ran into an open goal for his first of the night and young gun from the 1950’s Errol Gulden made it 3 in a row to put the Swans out to an early 2 goal lead. Kane Farrell, as he can, chipped one through the big sticks from outside 50 and this was shaping up as a shoot out with 9 goals in the first term. It wouldn’t stay that way.

In the second term light but persistent rain made the contest a bit of a slog, 4 goals for the term, 3 of them to Port with Charlie Dixon kicking 2 for the term and Port take a slender 4 point lead into half time. By now the crowd is a little confused by some of the umpiring interpretations, some of the crowd are thrilled Dixon is being rewarded with some free kicks we think he generally deserves ( all fans think their key forwards are hard done by ) and Port are on top, if only marginally, on the back of Wines, Drew and Houston in the midfield and Burton in defence ( 3 intercept marks for the half ).

With Boak held to just 7 touches in the first half he opened the second half as only champions do, he kicked the opening goal of the second half and would go on to have 22 touches for the half. More on him later. Soon after impressive first year player Miles Bergman marked and kicked truly to stretch Port’s lead to 16 points and it looked, and felt like, one more to Port might just break the Swans resolve. Parker brought the margin back to 10 points on his way to a match high 34 disposals after Mills won another clearance ( 10 for the night ) and the game was back in their grasp, when Marshall kicked his second and Port took a 15 point lead into the last break the game looked safe. Enter Bud.

Franklin marked and kicked truly to bring the margin back under 10 points, with the next 10 minutes an arm wrestle it looked like time was going to beat the Swans but two goals in 4 minutes to Franklin and the Swans are in front. Enter Boak.

Travis Boak wins the next centre clearance (3 in the second half) to Drew who gets the ball into the hands of debutant Dylan Williams ( who in the second term laid an excellent run down tackle to get Houston a goal ), Williams pumps the ball to a two-on-two and one thing leads to another as Sam Mayes dribbles a left footer through to take the lead back for Port Adelaide. At noon he’s warming up at Prospect Oval, at 7pm he’s kicking the match winner at Adelaide Oval, what a day!

Karl Amon has the chance to seal the match but misses, some solid front half pressure from Port gains repeat entries and as the Swans try in vain to exit the back 50 Marshall intercepts a grubby kick, hands off to Motlop who dishes to a flat footed ruckman. You don’t do that! Lycett, off one step from 35 in the scoreboard pocket nails the match winner. Ruckman don’t do that!

Port have been in the market for a hard fought win over an opponent in the mix for the final 8 and on Saturday night they got both. A well earnt win. A good thing.

Some solid 4 quarter contributions from Port’s group, Wines again outstanding, Dixon had a presence all night, Houston kept on, Drew 8 tackles and 8 clearances sound again while Aliir took the football gods on with a cheeky shot in Franklins direction late when the game was still in the balance. I like it.

Boon’s best : Wines, Boak, Dixon, Drew, Houston, Bergman

[DOC]

Wines must be getting right up there in Brownlow betting.

[Booney]

Bontempelli $2.80
Oliver $5.00
Wines $6.50

[JK]

Bontempelli $2.80
Oliver $5.00
Wines $6.50

As we've discussed bud, think it's going to take either injury or a poorly executed tackle for Bont to not take Charlie home in a few months time.

[DOC]

He goes ok. Get a game at South.

[Booney]

Butters. Yes.

[Booney]

Farrell expected to have ACL confirmed today.

Boak in for hamstring scans.

[Booney]

With the AFL community rightfully acknowledging the achievement of Shaun Burgoyne playing his 400th match on Saturday night at Marvel Stadium it was easy to feel like the rest of the competition would have been happy for Hawthorn to take the 4 points home for him but for Port Adelaide and it’s fans it was all about moving back into the top 4 and so we did with a comfortable but somewhat unconvincing 34 point win.

In what has become an all too frequent occurrence Port Adelaide lost another player to injury, this time inside the first 5 minutes, up and coming wingman Kane Farrell was taken down awkwardly in a tackle and hyperextending his right knee was instantly in significant pain. With scans set to confirm the damage today it looks as though an ACL is most likely, rotten luck for the young bloke, he’s just starting to look comfortable at the level and is impacting upon games. We hope it’s good news, either way we wish him the very best in his recovery.

Moments earlier Hawks goal sneak Luke Breust got things underway and while the Hawks hit the board first it was all Port Adelaide’s way in terms of clearances and territory. Sam Mayes, starting where he left off last week got Port on the board, then at the 23 minute mark Marty Frederick sold some candy to 400-gamer Burgoyne and straightened to kick his first goal at AFL level. Two things were then obvious, how popular he is with the playing group and the fact they knew it was his first goal, to a man they got to him to celebrate. Marshall bagged another before the first break and Port have a little break on the Hawks at ¼.

That little break soon blew out, defensively captain Tom Jonas was controlling the air, DBJ was getting some run and carry and Port had the Hawks locked in their back half, this resulted in 7 shots to 1 for the quarter, 5 goals to none and Port go in to the long break with a 42 point lead. Again in the midfield Ollie Wines is leading the way, with 43 touches for the night and 23 of them contested ( only 4 other players had more than 23 touches for the night ) Wines should have gained another 3 Brownlow votes. Coming along for the midfield ride were Boak (27, 7 tackles, 9 clearances) a little return to form for Amon (26, 4 clearances) and Byrne-Jones pushed up with the defensive zone to have 29 touches. All honours to Wines for BOG though, 13 clearances, 4 from the centre alone, Hawthorn had 6 for the night.

That’s the comfortable bit.

Here’s the unconvincing it.

We should have been foot on the throat in the second half and piled on the percentage but Hawthorn are a proud bunch given their recent success and they’d have wanted to give a yelp for Silk in his 400th. The third term was, in reality, Hawthorns. 3 goals to 1 with Georgiades kicking Port’s only for the term after outpointing that man Burgoyne again, to run off into an open goal. General play for the remainder of the term was fairly even, an uninspiring 30 minutes with both sides seemingly going through the motions. Perhaps a gentlemen’s agreement could have been reached? You carry Silk off and take the 4 points, we all go home safe and sound.

We steadied the ship a little in the last, Hawthorn fought it out getting to within 22 points, when Dixon kicked his third and then fourth 5 minutes later the margin was back out over 5 goals and after the most beautiful man in the AFL, Jaeger O’Meara goaled Port finished the night off with Rozee and time on specialist Mayes taking the margin back to 34 points where it would end.

Mentions to Bergman who continues to grow with 2 goals, Marshall with another 2 goals and 12 touches and 4 marks, just setting himself a nice baseline for performances now, Drew for his continued development, Aliir a better night out. Happy to get the 4 points, bitterly disappointed to lose Farrell.

Boons best – Wines, Byrne-Jones, Jonas, Amon, Boak, Dixon

[Jim05]

Still hearing Fantasia possibly out until nearly finals. Surely doesn’t come straight back in?

[Senor Moto Gadili]

Still hearing Fantasia possibly out until nearly finals. Surely doesn’t come straight back in?

If he's fit he probably gets picked, but Fantasia's availability will not determine where Port finish this year.

[Booney]

In - Butters, Clurey
Out - Farrell (inj) Bonner (Omit)

Tall back 7 :

Jonas 188cm Clurey 193cm Burton 191cm
McKenzie 191cm Aliir 193cm Lienert 195cm
Byrne-Jones 181cm

[Dutchy]

Port win

[locky801]

Still hearing Fantasia possibly out until nearly finals. Surely doesn’t come straight back in?

only come back to get injured again, reckon he's missed more games through alleged injuries than he has played in his AFL time

[stan]

In - Butters, Clurey
Out - Farrell (inj) Bonner (Omit)

Tall back 7 :

Jonas 188cm Clurey 193cm Burton 191cm
McKenzie 191cm Aliir 193cm Lienert 195cm
Byrne-Jones 181cm

That's actually odd for Port to actually have some height in defence.

I reckon Melbourne will win still. Clurey and Butters are good ins but underdone.

A few more weeks and you could see the effects of Butters being back.

I still think you are missing Duursma quite a bit, his running power really allowed you to open games up.

[Booney]

This was the one, this was the one to make the statement. Prime time, national audience, top 4 clash, home deck. All that came of it was another let down and further evidence we’re not at the level required to compete when the serious stuff starts in 2021. Bitterly disappointing, but, sadly, it’s not an uncommon feeling.

It was tight early, both sides started well and the pressure both sides applied made ball movement difficult, Melbourne had the better of general play early, certainly felt like they moved the ball with more surety and precision, Port’s early goals from an Amon snap and quick pick and shot from Wines were both opportunistic whereas Melbourne’s key forwards in Jackson and McDonald score from more pure football use. Massive brain fade an inexcusable effort from Powell-Pepper just as Port had a little momentum. Butters marks on the wing, gets taken down late by Salem and is rewarded with a 50m penalty. Powell-Pepper comes in and flies the flag, I’ll never knock any bloke for standing up for his team mate, but there was not need to put Salem on his backside, from that moment when Port could have gone a goal up Melbourne kick the last 2 of the term and go into ¼ time with a 6 point lead.

Again the game levelled out with Melbourne looking the more convincing, particularly in defence as Ports forward 50 entries are playing into the hands of Lever, May, Salem and Hibberd. A classy pick up and snap from Rozee brings Port back to level pegging but the next 20 minutes belongs to Melbourne. Petracca nails two, Pickett kicks two and Fritsch joins in around a 60m bomb from McKenzie to go into half time break 19 points up and looking far more dangerous as Oliver (11 clearances) and Petracca in the middle Salem and May in defence are led by Gawn in the ruck who is having the better of his duel with Lycett. Again it was too little from too many for Port, Boak and Wines carrying the load with some help from Amon, beyond that the midfield is getting soundly beaten.

After the main break we saw the first of what many expect to be a catalogue of Mitch Georgiades hangers by the time his career is finished and I expect it will be a big catalogue. Flying high above Gawn ( 208cm ) he clunked one to lift the crowd off their collective seats, but you don’t get 6 points for catching it and the miss wasn’t the reason Port lost, far from it, but momentum is a funny thing and it was opportunity lost at that moment. He soon redeemed himself slotting through a nice set shot and kicked the next of the match as Port draw within 9 points, the arm wrestle is leaning Melbourne’s way though. McDonald soon replied for Melbourne with his second, and then third and the margin it back out to 4 goals at ¾ time. It was, effectively, game over then. With 7 on the board at that point it would have needed Port to kick 6 in the last quarter to win and Melbourne’s midfield and backhalf simply weren’t going to bleed that badly.

The last quarter was a carbon copy of the three above, tight, but leaning Melbourne’s way and when Petracca kicked his third and Pickett soon added his third the game was blown open and the crowd knew it. The atmosphere was sucked out of the place. Multi backers waited with anticipation as Dixon lined up after the siren to kick his second of the night and the final margin of 31 points was about right. Port never looked like getting on top, Melbourne never looked like blowing the game open.

Really disappointed with the way we went about it last night, we played right into their hands with our ball movement forward and not many can wake up this morning feeling like they had any influence on the game. In reality the 6 best on the ground were all in red and blue.

Our midfield is relying too much on Boak and Wines and because of it our back half is under the pump on a regular basis, constant shuffling back there as we’ve seen Jonas, Aliir, Clurey, McKenzie, Burton, Hartlett, Jones, Byrne-Jones, Bergman, Bonner, Houston and Mayes all go through there at times this year, we’ve never looked settled back there at any time this year and the group has struggled for connection. This leaves us playing rebound footy, we can’t set up our zone to lock the ball in the front half and our game breaks down.

Time for some blokes to put their hand up in the midfield and play a role.

Boon’s best – Boak, Wines, Amon, Georgiades

[Lightning McQueen]

You could almost have "Boon's best- Boak, Wines" saved as a template, they give some much week in week out, I'm loving the return that Wines has had after being under the microscope in previous years.

I didn't watch much of the game but Aliir x2 continues to impress me, he's got a good set of mittens on him and I love seeing defenders back themselves to outmark instead of spoiling.