Power surge to first win of 2024, 120-70 over West Coast Eagles
Most expected the Power to beat the Eagles, and their win confirmed much of what we already knew, with speed on the ball, they’re hard to stop.
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Port Adelaide senior coach Ken Hinkley said he was waiting to see how his new additions would impact the Power for the better.
He is probably still waiting to fully find out after the Power’s pretty comfortable win over West Coast at Adelaide Oval on Sunday.
After huffing and puffing in the heat in the first quarter, the Power lifted its game and ran away from an Eagles outfit that showed fight in the early stages of the match but was just ultimately outgunned and outclassed.
Despite their wooden spoon last year it was probably the worst time to play the Eagles.
With No. 1 pick Harley Reid – who had a cracking start to the match – in Perth and plenty of changes at the club there is a renewed sense of optimism at West Coast.
And the Eagles started like a team with just that, with less than a goal separating the two at quarter time and not much at all if any between the two when it came to the key stats.
But from the second quarter onwards the Eagles ran out of energy and the Power surged.
And confirmed much of what we already knew about Hinkley’s side.
When they get speed on the ball and go through the corridor they are extremely dangerous.
First-game captain Connor Rozee, vice-captain Zak Butters and young star Jason Horne-Francis are really quite good.
Dan Houston and Kane Farrell are weapons off halfback, Willie Rioli is an x-factor in the forward line while on the wing Miles Bergman was miles ahead of the Eagles’ two-time All-Australian Andrew Gaff.
And if you had forgotten, while he has battled with injuries in recent years when Charlie Dixon is up and about – like he was in the first half against the Eagles – then the Power are.
“He is the difference in my opinion,” St Kilda great Nick Dal Santo said on Fox Footy.
“When Charlie Dixon is fit, healthy, playing somewhere near his best they are a different looking team.”
But the questions, however small they may be, that were around prior to the Power’s first game to the season probably haven’t been answered given how comfortable the win was in the end.
Ivan Soldo had a good outing in the ruck for his Power debut, kicking two goals and having 28 hit-outs, 14 disposals and four marks.
But it was up against Bailey Williams, hardly a premier ruck in the competition.
And Williams had his moments, such as when he got the ball out of a ruck contest and kicked a goal.
Key defenders Esava Ratugolea and Brandon Zerk-Thatcher had good debuts themselves and showed some nice signs down back – especially when the Power got the game on its terms.
But the way the Eagles were able to get some momentum in the third quarter might have some rival teams interested given the Power’s defensive issues last year.
Ratugolea went a bit forward at one point in the second quarter and actually found Soldo for his goal.
Whether that could be used as a weapon in the future by the Power could be one to watch.
Hinkley agreed that it was still to be determined how the three new recruits would improve the Power, but said their performances against the Eagles was a promising start.
“I think that is a really fair comment that you are making there when you are saying we are still waiting to see (how much the new players have improved the Power,” Hinkley said.
“Today was a great starting point for all three boys (Soldo, Ratugolea and Zerk-Thatcher) and highlighted why (list manager) Jason (Cripps) went after the boys that we needed.
“They all showed little bits of helping us get better I think, we looked in the off-season what we needed to do to improve and win games and those three boys have added to that in Round 1.
“It is a long way to go but it is a nice start for all three.”
The forward line is also going to be a big watch for the Power – who left multiple goals out there on Sunday afternoon after kicking the most behinds in a match ever.
Ollie Lord’s knee injury and fracture of his leg opened the door for Jeremy Finlayson to return to the side after being left out of the side that took on Fremantle in the Power’s pre-season game.
This followed on from him being dropped to the sub for the semi-final loss to GWS to end 2023.
He was able to take Eagles star defender Jeremy McGovern away from the ball with good effect on multiple occasions and was able to give Soldo a chop-out in the ruck, but wasn’t really a threat in front of goal.
Whether the Power go with him or Mitch Georgiades as the third tall is going to be something to watch, and maybe the desire and need to keep Dixon away from rucking as much as possible could be a factor.
Jed McEntee’s concussion after he was on the end of a big collision with Williams means at least one change will be made, likely Francis Evans after he came on as the sub.
Jackson Mead was rewarded for his strong pre-season but he has the problem of being an inside midfielder rather than a half-forward and the Power have one of the best engine rooms around.
He is likely to keep his spot in the side for Richmond at the MCG, but what position can he make his own in the Power’s side?
The Power did exactly what it had to do against last year’s wooden spooners.
It will be against the teams up the other end of the ladder that we will find out just how much the Power have really improved in 2024.
POWER 3.6 9.10 11.15 16.24 (120)
EAGLES 3.1 5.3 7.7 10.10 (70)
PHELAN’S BEST POWER: Rozee, Butters, Soldo, Burton, Bergman, Ratugolea, Dixon. EAGLES: Hunt, Yeo, Petruccelle, McGovern, Witherden, Duggan, Reid.
GOALS POWER: Dixon 3, Horne-Francis 2, Farrell 2, Soldo 2, Rozee 2, Rioli, Drew, Rioli, Butters, Drew, Byrne-Jones. EAGLES: Petruccelle 3, Waterman 2, Cripps, Darling, Duggan, Williams, Chesser.
INJURIES POWER: McEntee (concussion). EAGLES: Nil.
UMPIRES Haussen, Deboy, Birch, Rebeschini.
34,078 at ADELAIDE OVAL
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
JASON PHELAN’S VOTES
3 C Rozee (Port)
2 Z Butters (Port)
1 I Soldo (Port)
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