Port Adelaide crush Glenelg in 152-point win
THIS was just what has rival SANFL clubs worried — Port Adelaide turning up to play with its serious face on.
THIS was just what has rival SANFL clubs worried — Port Adelaide turning up to play with its serious face on.
Magpies coach Garry Hocking got the response to the opening round loss to Norwood he demanded with a 152-point demolition of Glenelg at Alberton yesterday.
The record books need a rewrite. It was the Magpies' biggest winning margin over the Tigers by 20 points while the loss was the worst in Glenelg's history, overtaking the 146-point defeat to North Adelaide in 1936.
''We were disappointed last week with our effort — that was the perfect response,'' Hocking said. ''The challenges with our group is on paper it looks OK.
''Last week we did not come ready to play and it is all about making sure they were ready to play. I could see it in their eyes. There has been a bad feeling sitting in their stomachs.
''They are obviously proud people, proud players and they wanted to respond in the best manner.
''We had the greats here today as well — Russell Ebert, Geof Motley, Scott Hodges, those sort of blokes and we wanted to pay tribute to them.''
The opening quarter told the story of the contest. The home side made 21 visits inside their attacking 50 compared to just one by the Tigers. There were six Tigers who failed to register a disposal for the first term.
The Magpies, led by Ben Newton, Cameron Hitchcock, Steven Summerton and Sam Colquhoun, were simply dominant in all facets of the game. It started at the stoppages where they were relentless in their attack on the body and ball.
Even when the Tigers did secure possession, a flock of Magpies would pounce and secure the ball before charging into attack with confident, well structured movement to find loose teammates deep in attack. The Tigers were under constant pressure and hunted down by a desperate and hungry Magpies outfit.
The shared workload was evident on the scoreboard with a different name beside the opening eight goals. They had 10 goals at quarter-time while the Tigers had scored just one behind.
When Hocking says his group looks OK on paper he is probably understating the strength of the side. Yesterday's 21 contained 13 players on the Power list and another two rookies. In contrast, the Tigers had a swag of kids.
Not that first-year Tigers coach Nick Stevens wants to hear excuses. The former Power and Carlton star kept his players behind closed doors for a lengthy chat after the loss, the second to start the season. ''No doubt that is as disappointing as it gets,'' Stevens lamented. ''From the get-go they were all over us and our boys went into their shell and a self preservation mode.
''We were not competitive. We could have put guys behind the footy and slowed it down to make it look better than it was. But we made the decision as a coaching group to say no, we were going to make these blokes learn from this and get better as a footy club.''