AFL Round 22 Melbourne v Port Adelaide: All the analysis and news as the Power hold on in a thriller

Port Adelaide has dealt Melbourne a second heartbreaking loss in three weeks after Jason Horne-Francis and Zak Butters took over in a thrilling final term. But CHRIS CAVANAGH is far from convinced.

Chris Cavanagh and Ed Bourke

5 min read

August 10, 2024 - 11:09PM

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Ice baths won’t be required at Alberton this week.

Port Adelaide might have got the points against an undermanned Melbourne at the MCG on Saturday night, but it came in an unconvincing, bruise-free fashion.

Power coach Ken Hinkley had said all the right things on Friday.

It would be “foolish” to think that “complacency” would be on the minds of his entering a clash against the struggling Demons, Hinkley had said after his side slayed ladder-leader Sydney by 112 points the previous week.

However, Port Adelaide’s actions at the MCG suggested differently.

It was the type of game that the Power are prone to.

While their best footy is as good as anyone’s, they can also pull out a stinker from time-to-time, making them a hard team to trust with September just around the corner.

While a two-point win over the Demons will see the Power finish the round in second spot on the ladder with two games to go, they could have easily finished the weekend as low as seventh.

And they are unlikely to be the second-seed in the eyes of many footy pundits.

Charlie Dixon after kicking a goal in the win over Melbourne. Picture: Josh Chadwick/Getty Images

Some big moments in the last quarter got the visitors over the line, but they never really got rolling with any level of convincing momentum.

Port Adelaide’s skill level and attack on the footy in the first half was poor and its pressure was almost non-existent.

Across the first 20 minutes of play in the second quarter, the visitors laid a combined two tackles.

They went into the main break with a contested possession differential of -19 and consequently posted their third-lowest half-time score of the year, mustering just 3.8 (26) against a Melbourne backline missing Steven May.

It was a stark contrast to the 13.8 (86) that Port Adelaide had put on the board before half-time against the Swans the previous week

How else can you explain that but complacency?

By half-time, Todd Marshall had been subbed out of the game with concussion in a further blow.

The key forward – who had “been a little up and down” with his form this year – was in only his first game back after missing three weeks with a hip injury.

Marshall will now have just one game – at best – to rediscover some fitness and form before finals campaign.

Max Gawn leads the Demons off as their finals hopes were all but dashed. Picture: Josh Chadwick/Getty Images

Port Adelaide’s thirst for the contest was a little better after the main break, but it was not until a Charlie Dixon goal in the opening minute of the last quarter that the Power got their noses in front for the first time since early in the second term.

Melbourne had its chances to put the game to bed in late in the last quarter, but couldn’t grasp them.

In the end, the Power got lucky with a late surge of energy which at times was more madness than cohesive method.

Melbourne won the contested possession count 160-130 – an area that Port Adelaide had ranked No.3 in the competition for the previous six weeks.

Still, a win’s a win and Hinkley got that.

His side has now won six of its past seven matches – including four on the trot – heading into games against Adelaide and Fremantle in the final two rounds of the home and away season.

A top-two finish and home final is within grasp – but there can’t be any more lapses like Saturday night from here.

For Melbourne, it’s curtains on a disappointing year.

But at least they had a crack in front of the second-smallest crowd the MCG has seen this season.

Home final? Power holds on in thriller to end Dees’ season

– Ed Bourke

Melbourne’s season is over after Port Adelaide dealt the Demons a second heartbreaking loss in three weeks to keep one hand on a top-two spot.

The Power are within reach of a home qualifying final with games against Adelaide and Fremantle (in Perth) to come after keeping possession for close to five minutes to desperately hang on to a two-point lead at the MCG on Saturday night.

Jason Horne-Francis took two crucial intercept marks and won a free kick for high contact deep in Port Adelaide’s backline to cap off a superb performance.

Melbourne supporters again came in numbers so small the seagulls could not be kept away, but a low-scoring affair was brightened by a first-half shootout between Horne-Francis and Kysaiah Pickett, who produced one of the best games of his career with 21 disposals and four goals.

Pickett put the Demons back in front midway through the final term after he managed to worry Zak Butters off his feet in a foot race towards goal and ran into an open square.

Butters and Port skipper Connor Rozee were instrumental in the final term as well as substitute Quinton Narkle, who kicked a cool set shot goal to level the scores before the Power forced through two more behinds.

Melbourne’s finals hopes were snuffed, and the Demons will now face a difficult decision on whether to spell Clayton Oliver after he looked out of steam in a five-disposal, one-clearance first half.

Port Adelaide star Zak Butters after finishing on the run in the third term. Picture: Darrian Traynor/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

DON’T COUNT HIM OUT

It feels as though Max Gawn’s All-Australian claims have been swept aside too quickly after his three weeks on the sidelines with an ankle injury.

In a low-stoppage game, the Melbourne skipper was still among the most influential players on the ground and again had a vastly superior impact in the air to his rival AA ruckmen Tristan Xerri and Brodie Grundy.

Gawn has taken twice as many marks and contested marks as the pair and perhaps has only fallen back in the perceived pecking order because he’s being compared to himself.

The 32-year-old still sets the benchmark for AFL ruckmen and would be a deserving recipient of his seventh All-Australian blazer.

Max Gawn was huge for the Demons on Saturday night. Picture: Josh Chadwick/Getty Images

MARSHALL DEALT BLOW

Todd Marshall’s third concussion since round 6 last season is a concern of its own for him and Port, but even if he clears protocols in time to play in round 24 he is no guarantee of winning back his spot.

The Power found a rich vein of form with the combination of Charlie Dixon, Esava Ratugolea and Mitch Georgiades up front, and Marshall may have only earnt a reprieve after Georgiades suffered a quad strain at training this week.

Port has not revealed the extent of Georgiades’ injury, but will miss an important chance to find an answer to whether Marshall can play a role in September.

The 25-year-old, who had just returned from three weeks out with a hip injury, has managed only 20 goals in his 18 games this year.

Jason Horne-Francis and Jack Viney compete. Picture: Darrian Traynor/AFL Photos

WHAT A FIND

It seems remarkable that recruiters let Logan Evans slip through to pick 12 in the mid-season draft, let alone the entire draft last year.

Still only 18, Evans is moving through the Power’s back half like an assured 100-gamer and probably would have been the Rising Star frontrunner right now had he started the season on an AFL list.

Evans had another 16 possessions and five inside 50s and hasn’t put a foot wrong since his 20-disposal debut seven weeks ago.