AFL round 9: Geelong v Port Adelaide, result, reaction, full stats and SuperCoach scores
Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley was beaming with pride after the Power’s win at the Cattery off the back of a disappointing Showdown defeat the week prior.
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There are wins and then there are wins against Geelong at GMHBA Stadium.
And Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley was clearly chuffed his charges had finally busted a 17-year drought on what he said was the hardest road trip in the league
Clearly stung by last week’s humbling Showdown loss to his cross-town nemesis Adelaide, the Power burst from the blocks with a withering eight-goal blast against Geelong.
And having extended that 29-point quarter-time break to 49 points in the next 12 minutes, he was more than content to fend off the almost inevitable comeback by six points.
“There’s a lot of pride in that,” Hinkley beamed.
“Especially against the quality of the opposition we played, on their deck where we haven’t been able to win in a long time.
“We played a pretty strong first half and then hung tough in the second half. We knew they’d play aggressive offence (to rally) and to hang on, we’re really proud.
“A fair bit is said and done … in our week off the back of a disappointing performance that gets blown up a bit more because it’s a Showdown.
“But we’ve been a pretty good team through the first part of this year and we’ve put ourselves in a reasonable spot and I’m pretty proud of the boys to find some energy after last week and come down on the hardest road trip and get the result.
“We’re missing players, and they’re a top side. That’s a big win for us.”
Hinkley, typically, was reluctant to single out his players, but pressed on Jason Horne-Francis’ explosive start, he offered a wry smile.
“I thought the stand-in captain (Zak Butters) was outstanding and Jason was equally outstanding,” Hinkley said.
“We don’t like to individualise too much, but certainly some players had big moments out there in the first half to give us a bit of adrenaline to give us some energy and keep playing.”
Hinkley said livewire forward Willie Rioli had apologised at the final break after conceding a 100-metre penalty to allow Zach Guthrie a goal that seemed to give Geelong realistic hope and certainly got the home crowd engaged.
It was a tough pill to swallow for Rioli, who had already booted an equal career-best four goals and had been a key part of the Power’s early surge.
“Willie apologised but it’s not a moment to spend when the game is there to be won, it’s a moment for later on,” Hinkley said.
“He said sorry for doing it, but no player sets out to do that.
“I thought he was great tonight and he’s a really passionate player … he knows that wasn’t great, but the rest of his game was.”
Hinkley also praised full-back Esava Ratugolea, back for his first game against his former club and against milestone man Tom Hawkins, to boot.
“He was strong and important for us. First game back at Geelong, it’s a big week. I thought he performed pretty well.”
He also said young third-string ruckman Dante Visentini had impressed with his physicality, particularly early in the match.
“Yeah, `Vis’ played here last year … so we were comfortable that he was going to be OK down here and he jumped pretty aggressively and he’s a pretty aggressive young player and I really like what he brings.”
POWER STUN CATS WITH BOILOVER 17 YEARS IN THE MAKING
Travis Boak was playing his 10th game when Port Adelaide last won at Kardinia Park.
Ken Hinkley was assistant coach for Geelong that day when Power midfielder Dom Cassisi kicked the winning goal with three seconds remaining.
It broke a run of 16 consecutive wins at home for the Cats but that famous victory lost a bit of its gloss a month later when Geelong set a record winning margin in the Grand Final, flogging Port by 119 points.
The Power has been back to Kardinia Park nine times since Cassisi’s heroics without success.
For Hinkley these games are personal. He had a great playing career with Geelong and then was part of two flags as part of Mark Thompson’s coaching group.
He has a great affinity for the place but there is also a bit of a chip on his shoulder for wanting to show his coaching genius against his old friends.
Last year he was particularly animated after a close 12-point loss in Round 21 when he brought a decimated team through illness and injury to town and nearly got the chocolates.
He certainly had the underdog narrative happening again on Friday night with Port coming to Kardinia Park with five changes including the loss of captain Connor Rozee.
And he was coming up against a Cats team who only lost their first game for the season last week. No-one really gave them a chance which is exactly how Hinkley liked it.
So he had his troops frothing and they came out an inspired team, kicking the opening four goals of the game in the first nine minutes.
That set the tone for an extraordinary first half which saw the visitors kick 12 goals to five and lead by 41-points at the main break.
There were touches of Hinkley magic everywhere. He sent the unheralded Jed McEntee to acting Geelong captain Tom Stewart with the directive to annoy the hell out of him.
That worked a treat and with one of the Cats key weapons off his tucker, the rest were left to fumble around while the likes of Jason Horne-Francis, Ollie Wines, Zak Butters and Willie Rioli ran riot.
Rioli was dynamic, kicking three goals in the first half and giving another away as the Power controlled proceedings which had the Cats fans silent in their new improved stadium.
At halftime Port had the top eight possession winners on the ground and led every stats group. The best illustration of their dominance came at the 12-minute mark of the second quarter when Cats Chris Scott had seen enough and substituted out ruckman Rhys Stanley who was getting shown up by fourth-gamer Dante Visentini.
Hinkley has been around long enough to know this Power blitz was too good to be true and at some stage Geelong were going to come to life.
What he probably didn’t predict was Rioli to help them out with a couple of acts of madness resulting in a 100m penalty which gave Zac Guthrie a critical goal late in the third term.
By three-quarter time the margin was down to 18 points and while there were some anxious moments, Hinkley got the win he’d been craving about for years.
So what does a win at Kardinia Park mean this time for Port Adelaide?
It shows they’ve got a bit of fortitude about them which had certainly disappeared over recent weeks with disappointing losses to Collingwood and Adelaide.
And with Hawthorn and North Melbourne over the next two weeks, it’s a gutsy win that restores their top four credentials.
But what must be even more satisfying is it gave Hinkley the chance to have the last laugh and Boak another Kardinia Park victory . . . in his 355th game.
Originally published as AFL round 9: Geelong v Port Adelaide, result, reaction, full stats and SuperCoach scores
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