Port Adelaide v Western Bulldogs: Marcus Bontempelli leads Dogs to heavyweight win
Port Adelaide now has a 1-3 win-loss record against top eight opponents after its loss to the Western Bulldogs. Are the Power still the real deal?
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If Port Adelaide aren’t considered one already, then the Power are inching closer to being a flat-track bully.
It was probably too early to make the call after the Power were thumped by Brisbane at the Gabba a fortnight ago, on the back of a 37-point loss to West Coast in Perth in Round 3.
But for the third time this season, Port Adelaide has failed the big test presented to them – and now are 1-3 against top eight opponents.
And unlike the other two losses this season, the defeat at the hands of the Western Bulldogs was at the Power’s Adelaide Oval fortress – with 13 wins out of the last 15 games there for Port.
On the eve of the season, Ken Hinkley said “we’re ready” when asked about Port’s premiership aspirations for 2021.
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On Saturday night, he was similarly honest following his side going down to the Bulldogs by 19-points in a match-up of what was second against third on the ladder.
“We are good, not great and we are in the build of getting there,” he said.
“We got real good information again tonight and it is consistent information.
“When we are OK in contested possession we can challenge any team, but when we are coming up against the best teams they have been able to be stronger for longer.”
The Power still have a 6-3 record and are entrenched in the top eight.
But it’s another test failed, and it’s the same things hurting them.
Like the Eagles in Perth and Lions in Brisbane, the Bulldogs were on a different level to the Power in the first quarter at Adelaide Oval.
At quarter time the Dogs led the clearance count 16-5, disposals 114-67, contested possessions 43-28 and inside 50s 21-8.
Before the game, when asked about the Bulldogs star-studded midfield Hinkley said he was “confident that our best is as good as they have”.
The Bulldogs almost seemed to take that personally, putting the Power midfielders to the sword in the opening quarter.
Captain Marcus Bontempelli had 11 disposals, Jackson Macrae seven, Tom Liberatore 10, Adam Treloar nine and Bailey Smith eight.
What a time to get your first goal in the @westernbulldogs colours 🔴🔵⚪ï¸#AFLPowerDogspic.twitter.com/R1HKJ27o85
— AFL (@AFL) May 15, 2021
For the Power, Travis Boak had six, Karl Amon and Ollie Wines five, Sam Powell-Pepper two and Willem Drew four.
Liberatore had as many clearances as the Power did as a team at quarter-time.
Port Adelaide captain Tom Jonas said his team was shown how to contest in that first quarter.
“Kenny’s message (to us) was that they are a better team than us at the moment,” he told The Advertiser.
“We are going alright, but once again with all the games we’ve lost this year it has been the contested ball that has got us.
“If you look at all of the games we’ve lost this year, that’s the one thing that stands out and if you look at how we play our footy – that’s a pretty key stat.”
The light from the loss
While the Power were ambushed on their own turf by the Bulldogs, unlike the losses to the Eagles and Lions they were able to fight back.
After going into the first break trailing by 25 points after the dominant quarter by the Bulldogs, the Power were able to turn the tables in the second.
They kicked five goals from five inside 50s, and while this is extremely hard to replicate, Jonas said the Power showed some fight.
“The pleasing thing was that we were four goals down at quarter-time and the other two times this year when it has happened, we haven’t been able to fight back,” he said.
“Well, this time we mounted a pretty stirring fight back to get ourselves back in the game so that was a real positive.
“That has been a challenge for us.
“We haven’t really been able to get back into games when we have been down for the past 12 months, really, so that was a real positive.”
Wines was key in them getting back into the contest with nine disposals, four clearances and a goal as the Power booted six goals to two in the second to enter half-time only one point down.
Hinkley said that was a “step for us”.
“Our previous two losses, we have been done from the start,” he said.
“I thought we showed real courage to come back and then go again and compete.”
From getting belted at the contest and stoppages in the first quarter, the Power won the contested possession count 38-29 in the second and the clearances 13-8.
“I think the players understood what the issues were,” Hinkley said.
“We made some structural changes but I think they were mindful of the fact they had started poorly in those two games and they wanted to make some correction.”
Do more, Dixon?
In the fourth quarter of the ninth game of the season, Port Adelaide spearhead Charlie Dixon kicked his first goal against a top eight opponent.
Dixon was key to the Power sitting on top of the ladder for the entirety of the home and away season in 2020, and then making a preliminary final.
But so far in 2021, while he had kicked 12 goals coming into the match, none had been in the losses to West Coast and Brisbane – or even the win over reigning premiers Richmond.
The Power are trying to be less ‘Charlie-centric’, but they need him to be back to his dominant best if they are to actually start beating the best teams in the competition this year.
With Dixon having the height advantage over the Bulldogs’ key defensive duo of Alex Keath and Zaine Cordy, who have been troubled by tall forwards in recent weeks, it seemed like a perfect match for the Port spearhead to truly make his mark.
But for the first three quarters against the Bulldogs, he had not taken a mark.
However in the fourth we saw just a little bit of the Dixon who dominated defenders last year, with some big marks and two quick goals threatening to drag the Power back in the game.
“He competed really well,” Jonas said of Dixon’s performance against the Bulldogs.
Hinkley said Dixon just needed to keep going, and was hopeful of his spearhead putting this together over four quarters soon.
“You have to continue to battle,” he said.
Port pretenders?
If you are wanting to find out just where Port Adelaide sits in the premiership race, the next two weeks won’t tell you anything.
Collingwood, even with the Prison Bars stoush, at the MCG and Fremantle at Adelaide Oval are clashes the Power should comfortably win – as they have over the lesser sides of the competition this year.
It will be a Thursday night blockbuster in Round 13, after Port has its bye, against Geelong in which we will find out just whether the Power can become, in Hinkley’s words, “great”.
“We are capable of being a great team,” Hinkley said.
“We have shown that we are a good team, but to win the comp we have to be a great team and we are working hard to become one.
“And I have great confidence that we can be that team by the end of 2021, these are moments where you get a chance to reset.
“It would be different if I was sitting here and I didn’t know, I am 100 per cent certain and the team is 100 per cent certain on what we need to do to become great.”
Jonas said the Power couldn’t be discounted as a contender yet, despite not being able to land any real blows on quality rivals.
“We always are a contender,” he said.
“There are 22 games in a season we are at Round 9.
“But for us it is about playing consistent footy and improving as a team and putting ourselves in that position and, so far, when we have come up against the better sides we haven’t been able to match them and we need to do so moving forward.”
We will find out just whether Port can do this, and if the Power are more than flat-track bullies, when Geelong rolls into town in three weeks’ time.
BONT BRILLIANCE AS POWER BACK SUFFERS BLOW
– Jason Phelan, Simeon Thomas-Wilson
A brilliant display by Marcus Bontempelli has propelled the Western Bulldogs to an impressive 19-point win over Port Adelaide in a pulsating clash of premiership heavyweights at Adelaide Oval.
The match-up of the second-placed Dogs against the third-ranked Power lived up to the pre-game hype, the highly-touted opponents going toe-to-toe before the Dogs prevailed 15.6 (96) to 12.5 (77) on Saturday night.
Busy Bontempelli, who finished with 26 touches and two goals, set the tone early with 11 first-quarter possessions and a brilliant goal as the Dogs stormed to a 25-point lead at the first change.
But Ollie Wines, his side’s best on the night, helped turn the tables as Port’s vaunted midfield kicked into gear to put on a stunning five-goal blitz to open the second term, Hamish Hartlett’s long bomb a highlight as the home side slashed the margin to one point at the main break.
Aaron Naughton was front and centre as the Dogs regained the upper hand in the third quarter, the Bulldogs taking a 19-point lead into the final term.
Gray clean bowls treloar
Robbie Gray kicked the opening goal of a frantic last quarter when his shot bounced through Adam Treloar’s legs in the goal square. Charlie Dixon had the crowd in full voice when he bobbed up with two goals, but Cody Weightman’s brilliant third goal, kicked over his head, and Naughton’s fourth sealed a memorable win.
âš ï¸ Warning âš ï¸
— AFL (@AFL) May 15, 2021
Marcus Bontempelli is in the building 😤#AFLPowerDogspic.twitter.com/ow6QlnBetm
Injury strikes
Vital Port Adelaide defender Tom Clurey and former Western Bulldogs captain Easton Woods were early casualties.
Both the Power and the Bulldogs have been forced to activate their medical substitutes in a thrilling game at Adelaide Oval.
Wood suffered a hamstring injury in the first quarter and was subbed out at quarter time for Hayden Crozier.
Clurey was left bloodied following a head collision in the second quarter and required treatment.
He was replaced by Marty Frederick at half-time, with the Power saying he had suffered a suspected broken jaw.
Second half at Adelaide Oval is about to get underway and Tom Clurey (jaw) has been replaced by medical sub Marty Frederick.#weareportadelaide#AFLPowerDogspic.twitter.com/2fLGX8eB5C
— Port Adelaide FC (@PAFC) May 15, 2021
Naughton takes flight
The Bulldogs boasted the most potent attack in the AFL after eight rounds and they found their bark after a quiet second quarter. Naughton took a huge mark over Tom Jonas and played on for his third goal, as the visitors slammed through four unanswered goals to snatch back the momentum.
Ladhams in for Lycett
With first-choice ruckman Scott Lycett suspended for four games, Peter Ladhams played his 20th AFL match and his first since round four. The Dogs were missing Tim English and Stef Martin, making for a battle of the makeshift big men. Ladhams impressed with his mobility and outpointed Jordon Sweet, finishing with 18 possessions and 36 hitouts.
SCOREBOARD
POWER 2.1 8.1 9.4 12.5 77
BULLDOGS 6.2 8.2 12.5 15.6 96
PHELAN’S BEST
POWER: Wines, Boak, Byrne-Jones, Powell-Pepper, Ladhams, Amon.
BULLDOGS: Bontempelli, Daniel, Dale, Macrae, Smith, Liberatore, Naughton.
GOALS
POWER: Georgiades 2, Fantasia 2, Dixon 2, Amon, Gray, Drew, Hartlett, Wines, Powell-Pepper.
BULLDOGS: Naughton 4, Weightman 3, Bruce 2, Bontempelli 2, Johannisen 2, Hannan, McNeil.
INJURIES
POWER: Clurey (head knock).
BULLDOGS: Wood (hamstring).
UMPIRES Nicholls, Howorth, Fleer.
ADELAIDE OVAL 32,787
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
JASON PHELAN’S VOTES
3. M. Bontempelli (WB)
2. O. Wines (PA)
1. C. Daniel (WB)
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