Why the midfield battle between Melbourne’s Clayton Oliver and Port’s Sam Powell-Pepper will shape Round 1 clash
The Power’s reshaped midfield group will need to don their strongest armour as they match-up against the best midfield in the competition on Saturday, says Kane Cornes. Plus this week’s winners and losers.
Kane Cornes
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AFL legend and Port Adelaide senior assistant coach Michael Voss has a common pre-game metaphor “boys put on your suit of armour, it’s time to get to work”.
The Power’s 2019 reshaped midfield group will need to don their strongest armour as they match-up against the best midfield in the competition on Saturday.
It’s easy to see why Champion Data have rated Melbourne’s list and it’s midfield as the best in the AFL.
Led by the league’s most feared ruckman Max Gawn, tenacious skipper Jack Viney and clearance prodigy Clayton Oliver, the Demons had the toughest and most potent engine room in the competition in 2018.
Last year’s All Australian ruckman Gawn had more hit-outs than any other player and his synergy at the stoppages with midfielders Oliver, Viney and Angus Brayshaw will be extremely difficult for Ken Hinkley and fresh midfield coach Jarrod Schofield to stifle considering the new rules at centre bounces will give them more time and space.
North Melbourne kicked seven goals from centre bounces against the Power in their most recent JLT encounter at Alberton Oval and if Melbourne are allowed to repeat this on Saturday the result will get ugly for Hinkley.
At only 21 years of age Oliver is rated the number three midfielder in the AFL behind only Brownlow Medal winners Dustin Martin and Patrick Dangerfield.
The Power’s battering ram Sam Powell-Pepper has been talked up by his coaches as having an outstanding pre-season and in the absence of captain Ollie Wines (shoulder) Powell-Pepper will have to lead the physical charge against Oliver and company. A difficult task for a player who struggled to have any impact in his second season last year.
The tagger has almost become extinct in the AFL but Melbourne’s James Harmes in a vital cog for coach Simon Goodwin and thrived when given big roles on the likes of Geelong’s Joel Selwood and 2018 Brownlow medallist Tom Mitchell last year.
He will likely go shoulder to shoulder with Port Adelaide wizard Robbie Gray when Gray goes on ball.
Port’s ruck duo Paddy Ryder and Scott Lycett will have to sacrifice their bodies and jump in aggressively at the centre bounces to nullify the bigger Max Gawn. A daunting task for Ryder particular considering he is playing with a fractured cheek bone.
Port’s veterans Travis Boak and Tom Rockliff have been in sparkling form throughout the summer and both should win plenty of the ball again, but their possessions need to be damaging and neither can afford to fumble when the pressure comes.
Without Jarrod Polec (North) and Chad Wingard (Hawthorn) Port Adelaide’s midfield is the biggest weakness in the playing squad. There is no bigger test than Melbourne at the MCG to answer the doubters.
In the last encounter between these sides in round 14 last year Melbourne’s midfield beat up on the Power winning the clearances by 16 and the contested possession count by 19.
Goodwin has his team playing a finals brand of football, there are questions whether Hinkley’s group is capable of doing the same.
The Port Adelaide players will need their finest armour, it’s about to get willing.
THE MIDFIELD MATCH-UPS
Oliver v Powell-Pepper — Advantage Melbourne
Boak v Jones — Break Even
Viney v Rockliff — Break Even
Harmes v Motlop — Advantage Melbourne
Brayshaw v Drew — Advantage Melbourne
Gawn v Ryder and Lycett — Advantage Melbourne
Petracca v Gray — Advantage Port
WINNERS AND LOSERS
WINNERS
1. Flying start
There has been little talk but significant action from the Crows as they completed a flawless preseason. It’s star players are inform and look match-hardened. They will get their season off to a flyer against the wounded Hawks tomorrow and with a dream draw could turn nine wins and two losses at the half-way point of the season.
2. Hammer’s turnaround
Port Adelaide’s Hammish Hartlett has gone from trade bait two years ago to stand alone vice-captain and one of the most admired players among his peers. All this while recovering from an ACL tear he suffered in round 5 last season. It has been an inspiring turnaround for those watching from up close and afar.
3. Robbie’s 200th
Robbie Gray lasted five minutes in his first training session at the Power in 2007 and a few weeks later was carted off in an ambulance due to dehydration at a Kangaroo Island pre-season camp. He also overcame a horrific knee injury and a cancer battle to sit comfortably inside Port’s top three players of all time. On Saturday he becomes the ninth Power player to reach the 200 game milestone
4. Stand up
Adelaide captain Taylor Walker must put his productive pre-season to use and physically impose himself on Saturday afternoon. It’s vital for Walker, who turns 29 next month, to get his season off to a flying start after a lacklustre 2018.
5. Rocky’s rolling
Too often we focus on a players weakness and overlook their strengths. The Power’s Tom Rockliff is a proven ball winner, elite at stoppages and a tackling machine. His return to form this pre-season has been a joy to watch.
LOSERS
1. Not earning your stripes
Extremely talented Power duo Connor Rozee and Xavier Dursma will make their debut tomorrow at the MCG, but is it premature? Rozee averaged just 8 disposals across half forward in his two pre-season hit-outs while Dursma won enough of the ball but his decision making and skill execution was questionable. Coach Ken Hinkley has picked them on talent and not form which is always dangerous.
2. Taming the Trolls
Why has is taken the vial comments directed towards AFLW Taylor Harris for the AFL world to finally crack down on the online cowards? Better late than never …
3. Opening Fizzer
It is unjust that Carlton, a team that won a pathetic two games last season gets rewarded with the opening game of the season … again.
4. Ross on the ropes
Fremantle coach Ross Lyon was well aware of Jesse Hogan’s off field issues when he and the club recruited him from Melbourne last year. He becomes the latest Docker player to be sanctioned for an off-field issue and will be missing from Sunday’s clash against North Melbourne. With only 20 wins from the last three seasons the Dockers are on the nose on and off the field.
5. Dixon’s dodgy ankle
It would be a major surprise to see Charlie Dixon have any impact for Port Adelaide this year. The big man suffered another setback in his recover from a bad ankle break and went under the knife again this week. The pressure will be on veteran Justin Westhoff, ruckman turned forward Paddy Ryder and the brilliant but inconsistent Todd Marshall to carry the forward line this year.
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