Booney wrote:You certainly couldn’t say Port are humming along at the moment, feels like we’re a long way off it which makes the win over St Kilda either quite satisfying for Port fans or down right rancid for St’s fans. The lack of effort from the St Kilda side at times was so apparent, damning viewing in the match review for them today. On the flip side the Port review will be mostly about the even contribution across the board. All played well. A couple stood out though.
Early going the Saints offered some fight, you’d expect them too given the bake they got in the media in the last week or two and with 18 I50’s to 7 at ¼ time they looked to have the ascendency, if not for the fact Port had kicked 4.1 from the 7 entries and St Kilda has blazed away with 1.4. They certainly had their opportunities but at the pointy end for Port the signs for St Kilda were ominous. The ease of Ports entries and ability to score was apparent and it was only a matter of time before the Port mids got going and when the I50’s evened up, they were always bound to, the scoreboard would then reflect this. It did.
In the first half hour though it was the skipper Tom Jonas who stood tall across the back 50 often thwarting the St Kilda entries, he then got away from the zone to offer an avenue out of defence and racked up some career high numbers, he had 8 marks ( 3 intercept ) at ¼ time. Attaboy skip.
By ¾ time Port had put another 7 goals on the board, St Kilda just 2 and the middle half of the game was dominated by the home team. Led by Karl Amon in the first half (26 touches at half time) and Steve Motlop with 3 first half goals the Pear looked far more dangerous in attack and far more skilled, the ball use by Port was stymied at times by the St Kilda zone defence but that just gave the likes of Amon, Houston, Burton, Boak, Byrne-Jones, Hartlett, Jonas ( 15 marks ), debutant Frederick, Aliir and ruckman Lycett ( yes, all of them ) to amass 20 or more possessions each. 314 uncontested possessions to 173, 157 marks to 91. It was keepies off like you did with the little brother/sister in the back yard. Only thing was St Kilda’s mum wasn’t there to come out and demand every one play fair.
I didn’t mention Ollie Wines in the number crunch above, his 36 touches ( 13 contested ), 7 I50’s, 8 clearances, 7 mark, 5 tackle game rightly won him the Peter Badcoe VC Medal for best on ground in our annual Anzac Day game. No more deserving winner. Those of you who read through my ramblings each week know how keen I’ve been on Wines’ form this year, right now he should be getting spoken about in the upper echelon of inside midfielders in the competition. His numbers this year are elite, they’re career high and it’s clear the end of 2020 and full preseason has him in the best shape he’s been in and he, and the side, is better for it.
Another notable performance on Sunday night was that of debutant Martin Frederick, a young guy who after being drafted in 2018 as a Cat B rookie from WWT has come into the senior side and looked right at home. The likes of Drew, Frederick, Bergman, Woodcock all bide their time in the SANFL waiting for an opportunity and they’ve all grasped it when it has come along. Frederick looked cool under pressure, confident in his run to take the opposition on and right at home at AFL level.
Could put up the old U8’s “All played well” sign on the weekend, Wines would get the Happy Meal voucher, Amon the hot dog at the canteen and Frederick the coaches encouragement award.
Boon’s best – Wines, Jonas, Amon, Houston, Motlop, Burton, Frederick
Wines is the new Voss
Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2021 2:53 pm