West Coast Eagles hold no fear heading to Adelaide Oval for knockout final against Port Adelaide
THE Advertiser’s Chief Football Writer Michelangelo Rucci looks at the West Coast Eagles’ great Adelaide Oval form in the lead-up to Saturday night’s elimination final against Port Adelaide.
THE Advertiser’s Chief Football Writer Michelangelo Rucci looks at the West Coast Eagles’ great Adelaide Oval form in the lead-up to Saturday night’s elimination final against Port Adelaide.
PORT ADELAIDE v WEST COAST
Elimination final, Adelaide Oval, Saturday, 7.20pm
CAN POWER FEEL AT HOME
ONLY one team - other than Adelaide - can turn up at Adelaide Oval to stare down Port Adelaide with a superiority complex at the Power’s home ground.
There have been three West Coast-Port Adelaide games at Adelaide Oval.
All three have been won by the Eagles, by 10, eight and 10 points.
The most recent, in Round 7, was a triumph for West Coast coach Adam Simpson using the ground to his team’s advantage with strong numbers behind the ball while thriving on well-timed rebounds to Marc LeCras, Jack Darling and Josh Kennedy in an open forward zone.
Port Adelaide dominated the inside-50s 68-39, butchered the scoring opportunities (12.15) and had too much focus on key forward Charlie Dixon.
Power midfielder Ollie Wines says the lessons from this match triggered a major rethink in how Port Adelaide tries to maximise its work inside-50 (where the Power is ranked second for scores from forward-half dominance).
GO WITH THE KIDS?
POWER coach Ken Hinkley says he does not look at age nor games played when he judges a player’s merit to hold a spot in his AFL team.
It is all about form and what they have to deliver on game day.
So can Hinkley - who is denied experienced defender Tom Jonas (suspended) and key defender Jack Hombsch (hip) - work finals novices Tom Clurey and Dougal Howard in key roles against Jack Darling and Josh Kennedy?
Or does he recall Jackson Trengove as an experienced defender?
Can Hinkley work novice Todd Marshall, a two-game forward, in a key forward tandem with Charlie Dixon?
Or does he recall Jackson Trengove as a pinch-hitting ruckman working in attack?
And did the SANFL qualifying final on Saturday give Hinkley more questions or more answers for his match committee session on Wednesday?
SPEED HURTS
IT is dangerous to put the label of “too slow” on teams during finals series.
More so when strength at the contest - and the resulting possession game - can make a mockery of critics who want to label the West Coast midfield as too slow.
Again, that question on pace - redefined by Neil Craig when he coached Adelaide - is not about how the Eagles run but how they move the ball.
As Port Adelaide knows far too well from the Round 7 game at Adelaide Oval (won by West Coast by 10 points), the Eagles are very good at loading up their forwards - in particular Josh Kennedy, Jack Darling and Marc LeCras - when kicking the ball inside-50.
With a 5-1 record at Adelaide Oval, the Eagles have no reason to fear this road trip.
ONE-HIT WONDERS
WEST COAST has not won consecutive games since the Eagles put together three in a row against Fremantle, Port Adelaide and the Western Bulldogs from Rounds 6-8 at their two favourite grounds - Subiaco Oval in Perth and Adelaide Oval.
Since then, West Coast has slipped from a top-four challenger to just qualify for eighth spot by losing three in a row and from Round 13 living a win-loss sequence that is currently pointing to defeat in this elimination final.
Such inconsistency makes it difficult to forecast a meaningful AFL finals campaign from West Coast, their third in a row.
Will two Brownlow Medallists - Matt Priddis and Sam Mitchell - take a farewell bow at Adelaide Oval or be back at Adelaide Oval or at Spotless Stadium a week later for an unexpected semi-final?
THE ODDS
MATCH
Port Adelaide $1.45
West Coast $2.75
FLAG
Port Adelaide $13
West Coast $34
MEDICAL ROOMS
POWER
J. Trengove (head knock) test
B. Frampton (shoulder) season
J. Hombsch (hip) season
EAGLES
N. Naitanui (knee) test
M. Allen (foot) season
S. Butler (shoulder) season
S. Lycett (shoulder) season
D. Venables (toe) season
THIS SEASON
West Coast 15.7 (97) d Port Adelaide 12.15 (87), Round 7 at Adelaide Oval.
Port Adelaide 18.12 (120) d West Coast 13.10 (88), Round 16 at Subiaco Oval.
EARLY CALL
Power by 21 points