Developing Port Adelaide side still has a long way to go after being exposed on Friday night
While premiership favourite Collingwood flexed its muscle, a finals hopeful was sat on its heels with a clear vision on how far it still has to go, writes Chris McDermott.
Chris McDermott
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Whack! The freight train that is Collingwood in 2019 steamrolled the Power at Marvel Stadium on Friday night.
While the premiership favourite flexed its muscle, a finals hopeful was sat on its heels with a clear vision on how far it may have come but how much further it has to go.
There has not been an opening 30 minutes of football like the Pies’ first term in 2019. They are the real deal.
Brodie Grundy set the standard and leapt high at the first centre bounce to make a massive statement before any other player had touched the ball. Scott Pendlebury won the ball with ease and weaved his way through the congestion to drive the Pies forward, while Jaidyn Stephenson roamed close to goal and pounced on anything and everything in the air or on the ground.
As the Power players wandered to the huddle at quarter time, they knew this game was over.
The Power must take their medicine — and in harsh doses. But while this game looked an absolute blitz in almost every way, the players will know this was not a true reflection of Port Adelaide.
The Power can, will and must do better. They can turn the tables on this seemingly invincible team.
It was a bad loss, not a totally demoralising one, and the scoreboard was not as ugly as it could have been.
The Power won the last three quarters by six points after one of their most disastrous starts in recent memory. Yet even the worst loss can have a positive or two.
Mason Cox and Travis Varcoe were missing but the Pies were close to full strength.
The Power were without Charlie Dixon and Robbie Gray in attack, Stevie Motlop on ball plus Tom Jonas and Hamish Hartlett in defence.
The build-up to Travis Boak’s 250th game would have been massive internally and that can be draining for everyone. The Power started like it had exhausted them. They owe one to their former skipper.
Grundy was always going to be up for the rematch with Scott Lycett after last year’s grand final. It was a knockout that took not even a quarter.
It was a similar story at ground level — Boak, Rockliff, Wines, Powell-Pepper and Ebert against Pendlebury, Sidebottom, Treloar, Beams and Phillips.
The Power’s fab five gathered 101 disposals, the Pies quintet had 151. Game over!
The story continued in attack where Stephenson and Jamie Elliott kicked seven between them. It should have been 10.
Coach Ken Hinkley was powerless from the stands. He roared at his men at quarter time and got a short-lived response but it was too late.
Friday night’s battle was lost but the war is far from over. For a start, the Power need a tall target in attack. If it isn’t Dixon, then another must be found. It is not Justin Westhoff or Todd Marshall. They serve a different purpose.
Jonas must return soon to shore up their back six. Without its co-captain, Port was a confused rabble. The Power was put on the canvas but this is not the time to stay down. It’s not how many times you get knocked down, it’s how quickly you get up.
Second chances rarely pay off for AFL coaches
History suggests strongly that if you miss out on a premiership at your first try as a coach, you should not get another chance — unless you’re Mick Malthouse or Malcolm Blight, writes Chris McDermott.
When two tribes go to war
It was the game that stopped a state — the first Showdown between the Crows and Power on April 20, 1997. Chris McDermott shares his memories for Part 1 of The Greatest Showdowns series.