AFL round 2: Collingwood vs Port Adelaide, news, full stats and Power talking points
Ken Hinkley has questioned whether Melburnians “don’t like” Jason Horne-Francis after Port Adelaide’s young gun was targeted by boos during the Power’s heavy loss to Collingwood.
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Port Adelaide star Ollie Wines says he cannot understand why Jason Horne-Francis was booed by Collingwood fans during the Power’s humiliating 71-point loss on Saturday.
Wines came to the defence of the 19-year-old midfielder, who struggled to have an impact with just 15 disposals after he appeared to receive heavy physical attention early in the game from the Magpies on-ballers.
“It happens in this day and age, but it’s really unfortunate that a 19-year-old kid is getting booed,” Wines said after the game.
“He’s a good teammate of ours, he’s a really good kid. We forget he’s 19, and at stages he’s had a lot of media coverage so early in his career.”
Coach Ken Hinkley said he was not interested in the booing of Horne-Francis, but suggested he was perplexed by what was motivating Magpies supporters to do it.
“He’s probably got some attention on him - he’s had that all summer, he’s had that for the last 12 months,” Hinkley said.
“Melbourne maybe doesn’t like him as a town, I don’t know. That’s all I can suggest it can be, because he didn’t play for Collingwood.”
Hinkley’s opposite Craig McRae said he had not heard any of the incidents throughout the match but was personally against booing.
“I’ve got a little six-year-old ... we don’t boo in our household, we respect the opposition and other athletes,” he said.
Wines said Port Adelaide’s midfield group was searching for answers after they were resoundingly beaten on the inside by Collingwood, who smashed the Power 155-98 in contested possessions and also laid significantly more tackles.
North Melbourne supporters are at the G booing Jason Horne-Francis. Dressed in black & white #AFLPiesPower
— Anthony Alesiani (@anthonyalesiani) March 25, 2023
"I can't quite fathom where Collingwood fans see their role in this."
— AFL Nation (@AFLNation) March 25, 2023
- Gerard Whateley on the booing of Jason Horne-Francis #AFLPiesPower
Why are they booing Horne-Francis?
— Adrian Polykandrites (@Adrian_Poly) March 25, 2023
“That’s one of the best performances we’ve come up against in some time. Their ability to win the ball first and dominate us at contested ball and in the clearances, and then spread ... it was absolute dominance,” Wines said.
Wines said there must have been “an element” of a drop in intensity on the Power’s behalf to explain the result following their emphatic start to the season at home against Brisbane.
“It must have been a subconscious thing, because we certainly got a lesson in contested ball, I think we lost by close to 50 and clearances would have been a loss as well,” he said.
“They were obviously hungrier for it today and we got a real lesson. Apart from probably me and Willem Drew we’re a fairly young midfield, and we’ll take a lot from it.
“We didn’t want to go down and give up in that third quarter, we wanted to go out and play our footy ... we didn’t think we played it, and we certainly didn’t defend them well.”
HINKLEY SLAMS POWER MIDS AFTER PIES PANTSING
Ken Hinkley says Port Adelaide’s midfielders have been given a stark reminder of how much they still have to learn following a heavy loss to Collingwood.
The Power coach said his on-ballers were “just not tough enough” against a dominant Magpies side, which had 57 more contested possessions and yet still laid 19 more tackles than their opponents at the MCG on Saturday.
The 71-point defeat had laid bare a number of areas the Power must improve in that had been shielded by their emphatic win over Brisbane in round 1, Hinkley said.
“Our midfield last week was given plenty of airtime on what they were capable of … the reality is for them today, they get that check that they need to make sure they keep their eye on the ball,” he said.
“And that’s turn up and work hard, physically compete – no one’s going to hand anything to you at this level.
“We’ve got no entitlement at all to spend any time in complacency (after the Brisbane win), but we get an opportunity to reflect … that showed up some stuff we know we’ll have to continually work at.”
Hinkley said contested ball was the “obvious” glaring issue the Power had to fix early in the season to compete against the top sides.
“You can’t win any game of football when you’re minus 50 or something like we were,” he said.
“Just not tough enough – that’s what it reeks of.”
Connor Rozee, down on his usual impact but among Port’s best, was assessed by doctors following a head knock during the second term, which Hinkley said delayed the move to bring on substitute Travis Boak.
The Power veteran was “100 per cent” likely to be available for next week’s Showdown after he played the entire second half, with the quiet Jase Burgoyne (five disposals) subbed out of the game.
“Physically I think (Boak) could have coped with 100 per cent of the game, it’s just how much footy he’s been able to do,” Hinkley said.
“Now he’s got nearly 60 minutes or half a game into him today that we hope will stand him in a position next week where he can play a full game.”
Hinkley said the Power would begin preparations for the Showdown with no other injury issues from the loss, with ruckman Scott Lycett returning to the field with a swollen eye from a knock early in the game.
“We get to wear our famous jumper that we’re really looking forward to,” Hinkley said.
“That’s the one thing that we get to look forward to for the week … you watch (Port fans) will be out next week to make sure the prison bar jumper is clearly seen. It’ll be exciting.”
MATCH REPORT: PORT’S BRUTAL ‘REALITY CHECK’ AS PIES RUN RAMPANT
Collingwood has quashed any remaining doubt it is a serious premiership contender and issued Port Adelaide a harsh reality check with a scintillating 71-point win at the MCG.
The Magpies attacked ruthlessly to kick the Power out of the game inside the first half with a chain of nine unanswered goals, while their forward-half pressure was intense and left the Power looking listless as they searched for a way up the field.
It was the exact kind of “chaos game” Port coach Ken Hinkley said during the week his players were preparing for, but the Power had no answers for the Magpies’ firepower as they stormed to a 49-point halftime lead off the back of 10 individual goalkickers.
The Daicos brothers again had the MCG crowd heaving with a flurry of classy finishes, as Scott Pendlebury put the younger Daicos on a path to a goal via a vintage no-look overhead handball.
Like the ageless Pendlebury, fellow veteran Steele Sidebottom was in everything as Collingwood comprehensively won the midfield battle, with Jason Horne-Francis heavily targeted in the contest and Ollie Wines and Connor Rozee well short of their usual impact.
The loss was a 125-point turnaround on Port Adelaide’s round 1 win over Brisbane, leaving serious question marks over the side’s ability to consistently match the best teams in the competition - Collingwood now knows for certain it is one of those teams.
PIES’ FIRST HALF FRENZY
From the opening moments it was clear fans would get the fast and attacking brand of football both the Magpies and Power had brought to their respective round 1 games.
But the Power weren’t fully equipped with the attacking weaponry they needed to match Collingwood, and after a frantic first 15 minutes where the lead changed hands five times, the Magpies’ forward depth proved too much to handle.
Any Pies forward was targeted and their accuracy was superb as they piled on seven majors in the opening term and another six in the second, while Port Adelaide struggled to supply Charlie Dixon, who was targeted repeatedly despite being double and triple-teamed.
SHOWDOWN STRIFE FOR BURTON
Port Adelaide defender Ryan Burton could face a week on the sidelines after a careless tackle on Jamie Elliott early in the third quarter.
The 26-year-old had Elliott in his clutches deep in the Magpies’ forward line but unnecessarily threw the small forward into the ground, landing him straight on his head.
Elliott was quickly back to his feet and nabbed the goal, but Burton will face a nervous wait ahead of the showdown against Adelaide on Saturday night.
BILLY’S BAPTISM OF FIRE
Billy Frampton had a shaky start to his Collingwood debut and found himself mobbed by players from his former club when he gave away a 50m penalty and cheap goal to his opponent Charlie Dixon for the first of the game.
The 201cm defender was beaten on the lead by Dixon for a second goal a few minutes later, but he eventually settled into the game and showed his composure when he won a ground ball battle isolated against Mitch Georgiades late in the second term.
MAGPIES 7.2, 13.5, 15.7, 21.9 (135)
POWER 3.3, 5.4, 8.7, 9.10 (64)
BOURKE’S BEST
Magpies: Sidebottom, N Daicos, J Daicos, Mitchell, Pendlebury, Cameron.
Power: Drew, Dixon, Bergman, Rozee, Powell-Pepper, Marshall.
GOALS
Magpies: Mihocek 3, J Daicos 2, Adams 2, Elliott 2, McCreery 2, N Daicos 2, Sidebottom, McStay, Cox, De Goey, Hoskin-Elliott, Hill, Mitchell, McInnes.
Power: Dixon 3, Marshall 2, Fantasia, Farrell, Rozee, Georgiades.
UMPIRES Gavine, Gianfagna, Meredith, Whetton.
INJURIES Magpies: Mihocek (finger). Power: None.
CROWD 60,744 at the MCG
BOURKE’S VOTES
3 N. Daicos (Coll)
2 S. Sidebottom (Coll)
1 J. Daicos (Coll)
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