Opposition Analysis - Port Adelaide
What we can expect heading into #Silk400
Fast Facts
Who, where, when: Port Adelaide, Saturday 7.40pm, Marvel Stadium
Ladder: 4th (10-4), 122.2%
Last 5: WWLWW
Leading goal-kicker: Charlie Dixon (26)
Most disposals: Ollie Wines (445)
Last time we met: Port def Hawthorn by 10 points (Rd 13, 2020)
You may not have heard, but it’s Shaun Burgoyne’s 400th game this weekend, and he’s playing it against the club he once played for.
Once you’ve finished watching and reading all the Silk tributes, you may also notice there are four points on offer, plus the chance for us to jump as many as four spots on the ladder.
Port Adelaide has an air of greatness around them, stemming from having topped the ladder for the entire 2020 season en route to the Preliminary Final. But a deeper dive suggests they are far from unbeatable, and particularly this week.
Here’s how we can celebrate Silk’s big day the right way.
How are they travelling?
As is often the case, this depends on who you ask. Of course, they are in the four with ten wins, so they’ve done better than most. And they have won four of their last five, so they’re in better form than most.
But if you’re talking about their pure premiership credentials, you’d have to be a bit skeptical given their results against the best sides. So far, they have won two of six games against the current top eight, with the wins coming against Sydney (6th) and Richmond (8th) by a total of two goals.
Who’s missing?
If there was ever a week to play Port Adelaide, this is it.
The Power a missing a host of starters, including forwards Robbie Gray and Orazio Fantasia, who are both out with knee injuries. Fantasia’s initial prognosis had him available for this week but his return has been set back a few weeks.
All three of Port’s famous young guns – Xavier Duursma (knee), Connor Rozee (knee), and Zak Butters (ankle) – have been on the injury list. Duursma and Butters will miss, while Rozee has a lateral ligament sprain and was listed as “assess”, but has been selected. Experienced backman Hamish Hartlett missed with a hip last week and will miss again.
Key defender Tom Clurey (broken jaw) has been missing since the middle of May. He was listed as “one week” in last week’s injury list, and after such a long layoff, will return through the SANFL.
Tom Rockliff (knee/DVT) won’t play any time soon, though he didn’t appear to be in Port’s best 22 anyway. First-year defender Lachie Jones (hamstring) is also injured.
Finally, Charlie Dixon had a bit of treatment on his lower leg late in the game against Sydney. Ken Hinkley played it down after the game and he has been selected but you just never know when it comes to foxing with key players and injury. Needless to say, he would be a massive loss if he was pulled out of the team.
Who can hurt us?
Considering the Power are in the top four, it’s not surprising they have quality players on every line.
Ollie Wines and Travis Boak are in excellent form and can bully a midfield that’s not up for the fight. Willem Drew is less of a household name but is equally adept at winning a clearance (he’s won more than Tom Mitchell or James Worpel) and he’s third in the AFL for tackles. The inside brigade is complemented by outside runners like Steven Motlop and Karl Amon, who’s putting together a career-best season.
Structurally, Port’s triple-threat in attack – Charlie Dixon, Todd Marshall, Mitch Georgiades – could stretch our backline for height, particularly with Denver Grainger-Barras out. Port is second in the league for marks inside 50 and our back six will have to be on their game to keep scoring chances in check.
The Power also have quality in the backline. Darcy Byrne-Jones has pace, Aliir Aliir is an elite interceptor, while former first-round pick Ryan Burton won’t be lacking for motivation – despite this being his third year at Port, it will be his first game against the team that drafted him.
What can we exploit?
In Port’s case, the best way to fight fire is with fire. Their game plan is heavily based on winning the disputed ball, and you have to be prepared to match them in that area to get a result.
In 2021, Port’s results have followed the contested possession differential in all but one game. That is, they have recorded more contested possessions in the games they’ve won, and fewer in the four games they lost. The only exception to this was their one-point win over Collingwood, in which the Pies beat them in the contest but couldn’t hold onto their late lead.
The good news is that we’ve really sharpened up that area of our game since the bye. If we get stuck in and don’t let them dominate the hard balls, we can give ourselves a chance.
But winning the midfield battle is only half the job. Once we do get it inside 50, we have to be smart about it. Port’s key defensive posts are hard to beat one-out – only two teams have conceded fewer marks inside 50 than the Power – so bombing high and long won’t achieve anything. Our forwards are going to have to get on their bikes so we can hit a target on the lead.
Venue
Marvel Stadium isn’t always the fans’ favourite place, and a myth persists that we’re not so good there. However, we’ve won 24 of our last 34 there, and ten of the 17 since our 2015 flag. Port don’t have a particularly good or bad record there.
Even though the fans don’t love the place, Jarryd Roughead’s final game brought a crowd of over 31,000 – comfortably our biggest against Gold Coast. Although there will be capacity limits this week, you’d suspect the crowd will be as big as it can be, and mostly pro-Hawk. That can only help us.
Final thought
Without Shaun Burgoyne’s final quarter against the Cats in 2013, we don’t win three flags in a row. Thanks, Silk.