Port Adelaide bounces back from horror Showdown loss to beat Collingwood by 27 points
PORT Adelaide was able to come away with the four points against Collingwood, but did the Power do anything to shake the ‘pretenders’ tag that continues to follow them?
COLLINGWOOD coach Nathan Buckley quipped during the week that Port Adelaide — after its non-appearance in Showdown 43 — would be “well rested”. For the first 20 minutes at Adelaide Oval on Sunday, the pause button was still on the Power.
And the “pretender” tag is the immovable label after the 27-point victorythat puts the Power one win from meeting its non-negotiable objective this season — playing in AFL finals next month after missing in 2015-16.
GAME RECAP: HOW THE POWER TOPPED THE PIES
No-one will say — certainly not without tongue in cheek — that Port Adelaide was “well tested” by a makeshift Magpies unit. Considering the Power was coming back from another galaxy after being belted by a record 84-point margin in Showdown 43 seven days earlier, such an uninspiring win in the twilight zone at the Oval might have been inevitable.
But the mistakes! The journey back to being a convincing football side is a long one.
This game did present Port Adelaide with the challenge to answer its own concerns — “worry signs,” as coach Ken Hinkley had put it — on work ethic in contested football. The questions broaden. Just two tackles — from Karl Amon and Chad Wingard — in the first quarter while Collingwood had the ball 107 times does not read well.
Being beaten 69-59 in contested football at half-time (while leading by 22 points on the scoreboard) and 86-101 at the last change is not the answer to those alarm bells exposed by Melbourne on July 22 and put on endless ringing by Adelaide in the derby seven days earlier.
It was not until the 15th minute of the third term that Port Adelaide had a player reveal an appetite for the contest was obvious — and the moment came from a Power player not scarred by the Showdown disaster: Midfielder Brendon AhChee. His tackle of a flat-footed Tom Langdon — rewarded with a holding-the-ball free kick — set off a play inside-50 finished by Robbie Gray for a then game-high 34-point lead (64-30 that was 64-56 just 10 minutes later).
One re-assuring moment. That’s all folks.
Port Adelaide did have a very different — and unforeseen — look. Dougal Howard’s return, after a serious knee injury against Fremantle in Perth almost 14 months ago, was not to work in his previous roles of go-to forward and part-time ruckman. He was a key defender against Collingwood’s biggest target in attack, Darcy Moore.
So the search for that second tall target to work with key forward Charlie Dixon remains. And Justin Westhoff, who at 30 is still being asked to do everything but park the team bus, is again the pinch-hitting ruckman to assist Patrick Ryder.
Port Adelaide goes to the old Victorian gold fields of Ballarat at the weekend to measure itself against last year’s champions, the Western Bulldogs, who have their season on the line. It is doubtful either team will be “well rested” while their football creates nightmares rather than inspires dreams.