Port Adelaide fails to close gap on Adelaide after narrow loss to GWS
Eighth spot is there for the taking but Port Adelaide was unable to land the killer blow against GWS to fall short by one point.
To give away to a good home: Eighth spot on the ladder. If only Port Adelaide would reach out and take it.
With Adelaide in free fall and seemingly on its way out of the finals race, eighth spot is begging someone to grab hold of it and the Power’s one-point loss to the Giants still leaves them on the outside looking in as a game behind with four weeks to go.
The Power hasn’t beaten the Giants for four years and despite their never-say-die second half and having more scoring shots, they were shown up for a lack of potency among their tall forwards as Jeremy Cameron, Jeremy Finlayson and Harry Himmelberg combined for seven of the Giants’ eight goals.
Port Adelaide had enough chances in the last quarter but couldn’t land the knockout blow and was left to rue what if as Nick Haynes and Phil Davis feasted on a string of ill-directed kicks inside 50m.
The Giants pair combined for 23 marks and that combined with Cameron and Finlayson’s first-half goals, was essentially the difference.
Power coach Ken Hinkley said he couldn’t question his team’s effort but they had to be disappointed with the loss.
“It’s incredibly disappointing for everyone, the whole footy club, everyone who supports Port Adelaide. You couldn’t question the way the boys went about it and the way they stuck at it, it felt like there was one team at the end trying to win and one team trying to defend,” Hinkley said.
“And we have to win, we clearly get that at this stage of the season to give ourselves a chance to still be a part of it later in the year, and we still sit here almost in the same position as before tonight. What a difference four points would have made but we didn’t get them.”
Port had its moments of run and carry and fight — like Sam Gray’s tackle on Shane Mumford on the wing when he conceded nearly 30cm and 30kg to pin his arm on the wing and win a free kick, and which followed his consecutive tackles in the second term that resulted in a goal.
Tom Jonas’ attack on the ball and man was as you’d expect from the co-captain, Travis Boak had 40 disposals and the kids — Duursma, Rozee and Butters nearly stole the game at the death.
But like last week’s loss to Richmond it was another “nearly” week for the Power who started slowly and were playing catch-up for the rest of the game.
Their main problem was they couldn’t find a way home, either turning the ball over coming out of defence or the switch kick in the middle, or by failing to hit a target inside 50m.
They produced a goalless first quarter — their fourth goalless quarter for the season — while Cameron got the only two goals at the other end for the Giants with clever snaps from either pocket.
After trailing by a goal at the long break the Power at least kept the ball in their forward half for much of the third quarter. But again the same problem reared its head.
They were unable to hit the scoreboard and the Giants made them pay with a mark and goal to Finlayson at the other end.
Giants coach Leon Cameron described it as a “good gutsy win” albeit in an ugly, low-scoring game.
“It wasn’t the greatest game to watch no doubt ... there were some turnovers and mistakes but in the end the great thing is we found a way to get over the line,” Cameron said.
“It’s a good gutsy win, they through everything at us and it probably could have gone either way let’s be honest.
“It was a game of defence and I thought our back six really hung in there when we were under the pump.”
STILL SEARCHING
Having made the big call to drop Charlie Dixon this week, the game provided no clarity on what Port’s best mix of key forwards is as the revolving door of talls continued.
Back in the side for his first senior game since Round 13, Ryder pushed up the ground to present, met the ball at pace and took it with clean hands. He took the hit-outs inside 50m with his usual deft tap over the back to create scoring opportunities for his crumbers and started in the second half in the middle after switching with Scott Lycett for much of the second half.
His partner in crime Dougal Howard didn’t touch it in the first quarter and only had two disposals and zero marks to halftime. But he worked his way into the game slowly and finished with two goals.
But the search for the most lethal combination from any of Ryder (13 games), Todd Marshall (six games), Billy Frampton (2 games), Charlie Dixon (5 games), Peter Ladham (2 games) on top of Justin Westhoff, Howard and Lycett goes on.
GIANT HEADACHE
It was quite the opposite at the other end as Cameron and Finlayson threatened to put the game beyond Port’s reach in the first half.
Tom Clurey and Jonas tag-teamed Jeremy Cameron who kicked three goals in the first half — all from snaps. The Coleman Medal favourite kicked one from either pocket at the southern end in the first term and his third by running onto a Travis Boak handball and converting from just inside 50m in the second quarter.
The pair posed a constant threat to Port’s backline but Jonas and Clurey held up really well in the second half.
They were helped by Justin Westhoff who played at full back on Shane Mumford and then Dawson Simpson. Westhoff was dominant early with 11 disposals and five marks in the first quarter and ran off to provide an option on the wing.
SUTCLIFFE TAGGING AGAIN
In three games since being picked up in the mid-season draft, Sutcliffe has tagged Brisbane’s Lachie Neale, played as a defensive forward against Richmond and last night ran with Lachie Whitfield.
It didn’t appear to be a tight tag early but after eight first-quarter disposals Sutcliffe was following his every move in the second quarter and although Whitfield had 16 to halftime, his influence wasn’t anywhere near as damaging as it can be with his gut-running and classy kick.
Sutcliffe started getting some of the treatment his teammates gave Neale at the same ground a fortnight ago and won a free kick for a bump off the ball when Simpson collected him on the wing.
The run-with role was released in the second half and Sutcliff was stationed more permanently forward, having a set shot to put Port in front but missed.
SHAW’S 300TH
The one-point win gave Heath Shaw even more reason to celebrate his 300th game. He started on Robbie Gray and at times played as the spare, mopping up, taking intercept marks and kick-in responsibilities.
Shaw had 15 disposals in the first half then won two important one-on-ones against Gray to start the third quarter including a blind turn out of trouble at half-back.
His desperation just to get a fist on the ball or pressure on the man paid dividends, and caught under a high ball late in the game he managed to disguise a wrestle with Gray enough for the umpire to call play-on and save a goal.
Although Gray finished with three goals, Shaw had a good night.
TURNOVERS HURT AGAIN
Turnovers have been a problem for Port Adelaide all season and they reared their head again last night. Turnover kicks in the first quarter to Dan Houston who was smothered and Matthew Broadbent to Karl Amon who wasn’t looking as well as Westhoff to Sam Powell-Pepper in the middle.
Hamish Hartlett’s attack on the footy was ferocious and he marked strongly in defence but three kicks inside 50m missed their target and the ball came back out.
Phil Davis cashed in on Port’s ill-directed kicks inside 50m and was the Giants’ best player with 13 marks for the night.
Hinkley said forward efficiency and composure continued to plague his team.
The Power coach did however lament an umpiring decision in the second quarter when Tom Clurey had the ball on the defensive goal line and as Port went to clear the footy from defence, the umpire called for a score review and recalled the ball.
The video review showed the ball did not cross the goal line and there was no score, but instead of Port escaping with the footy there was a ball up and at the next stoppage Jeremy Cameron kicked his third goal.
“I don’t know what I make of it. I’ve seen some vision of it, the umpire in the absolute perfect position and I go ‘why haven’t you called that?’ I’m not sure,” Hinkley said.
“Has score review now frightened the umpires to the point where they’re not prepared to make the call and back their call? I’ve seen it and there’s no way you’d call it a point ... the umpires get such a tough job now with score review whether it works for you or against you, they can’t win.
“It’s just disappointing because the very next stoppage they kick a goal. We’re in control of the ball in a season that’s tight and close.
“But that’s the rule, 100 per cent, you bring the ball back and you pay a stoppage but the whole ball has to cross the line to be scored and I’m sure the umpire was in a great position and he did a great job, I just wish he had of perhaps not called a ‘maybe point’.
“We were running it out and it ends up in a stoppage and Cameron kicks a goal. They’re not giving it back.”
SCOREBOARD
PORT ADELAIDE 0.3 3.6 5.9 7.13 (55)
GWS GIANTS 2.5 4.6 7.7 8.8 (56)
GOALS
Port Adelaide: R.Gray 3, Howard 2, S.Gray, Rozee
GWS: Cameron 3, Finlayson 3, Himmelberg, Hately
BEST
Port Adelaide: Boak, Jonas, Lycett, S. Gray, Rockliff, R. Gray, Westhoff
GWS: Davis, Haynes, Taranto, Hopper, Cameron, Finlayson
INJURIES
Port Adelaide: Nil
GWS: Sam Taylor (leg). Adam Kennedy (heart) replaced in the selected side by Lachlan Keefe
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Fisher, Deboy, Ryan
Official crowd: 27,591 at Adelaide Oval
VOTES
3 — Phil Davis (GWS)
2 — Nick Haynes (GWS)
1 — Travis Boak (Port)