by Booney » Mon Apr 29, 2019 11:24 am
Focus on the first 85 minutes or the last 15? The first 85 it is….*
For the majority of the contest Port Adelaide held the whip hand as Travis Boak continued his All-Australian form, you don’t have to be the captain to be a leader and Travis Boak will always be that, a leader.
Clearly Boaky is relishing being free of the extracurricular activities associated with the captaincy but he’s also thriving in his midfield role after spending the last 2 years playing as a high half forward. He’s been nothing short of sensational this year and again was BOG on Friday night. If you follow him on his social media you know he leaves no stone unturned with his physical preparation and it’s showing, he’s in rare form.
With Jonas a late out for Port (and no guarantee to come up this week) and with the Kangaroos losing Shaun Higgins late both sides had key outs at the last minute, fair to say Port covered the loss with more ease than the Kanga’s did.
The first quarter was a template of what I expected the match to be, Port on top with 5 goals to 2, the midfield of Boak, Rockliff (9 first quarter touches but a total of -9m gained – more later) and Wines feeding the likes of Rozee, the rejuvenated S.Gray and Ebert up front. As expected Port were well on top, Pittard turned up with some shockers (not just his sleeves) and the Roos looking like they were at least up for a fight. How good was Paddy’s first goal of the night? Paddys Pocket that shall now be known as.
The second quarter should have put the game to bed, 2.5 to Port as some easy shots went begging and North are held to just one major on the back of Howard, Clurey and the late in Lienert holding strong across half back.
The margin should have been greater at half time as Port got on top with contested possessions (27 to 17 for the quarter) and had 64% of the quarter in our forward half, wasteful in front of goal and reminiscent of the Brisbane game a few weeks ago. Can and will be costly against sides with more scoring power than North, we must tidy up our finishing in front of goal. While he’s doing some excellent work in the forward half Ebert’s 10.8 for the season would have him and the coaches slightly frustrated.
The game, as it often does, opened up in the third as both sides booted 3 through the big sticks, it was here though that the Kangaroos got some inside ball through Cunnington (7 clearances for the quarter with 12 touches) reading Goldstein and they began to win the contested ball, if not for some turnovers that Port turned into majors the ¾ time 27 point lead may have been slightly less. Rozee and Duursma showed their value in the third, some quality touches from them both were important at important times.
They both showed on Friday night they’ve got some substance. 11 contested possessions each, that’s a reflection of their willingness to get inside the contest as well as outside on the wing for X and leading up or marking in the F50 for Rozee. Can’t speak highly enough of both of them.
*The last, well, you could say it was in junk time that North piled on 5 goals to nothing to draw the margin back to 16 points after Port led by 40 points half way through the quarter and it was a look at how Hinkley and the coaches can wrestle back momentum with the new 6-6-6 set up, not just Port’s coaches but all AFL coaches.
In the past Westhoff would drop back once the opposition kicked 2 in a row, whilst it can happen in general play it can’t from centre bounces and we saw North kick a goal, win a clearance, go forward and kick another.
I’m sure all coaches are working on methods to prevent this but it happened to us up in Brisbane and cost us the game, fortunately the lead we had on Friday was enough to ensure the onslaught was to no avail but I don’t like the signs we’ve seen when opposition sides get a run on. In this instance the midfield needs to take control and prevent quick exits from the centre, it all starts here.
Rockliff, so important behind the ball is being squeezed for space by the opposition acknowledging how important he is in our D50 directing traffic, his 27 touches gained just 101m, the coaches will be asking more of him and those around him to ensure the ball he gets can be used with more damage than that.
Boon’s Best – Boak, Howard, S.Gray, Rozee, Wines, Ebert
Next week Collinwood at Marvel Stadium with at least one change. Robbie Gray out for at least 4 weeks with a broken hand, he’s looked just off the pace so far this year and the hands haven’t been as sticky as we normally see, he didn’t have a full preseason so 4 weeks on the track legging it around Alberton Oval might just sharpen him up.
If it’s like for like I expect Kane Farrell to come in, perhaps Motlop with a shuffle of Westhoff back into the forward half and Motlop onto the wing. Trengove has been the standout at SANFL so if it’s form they’re rewarding he must come in, that too might send Westhoff forward.
Apologies for no round 5 WCE review, I was a little *ahem* thirsty in Perth and by Tuesday the game felt like a long time ago.
PAFC. Forever.
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