Port Adelaide finding form just in time for late push to play finals
Port started the weekend in ninth with finals looking doubtful but a 47-point win over the Swans has put it ahead of the Crows into eighth, with Adelaide facing a tough game in Perth on Sunday.
Every time Port Adelaide has dared to dream of September this season it very quickly turned to despair but at long last the Power is back in the eight, and the way they’re playing might just stay there.
It may last just 24 hours this round but with two winnable games of the season left (against North Melbourne and Fremantle), Port Adelaide is finding form at the right time and will at the very least give someone a headache if they play finals.
Saturday’s 47-point win over Sydney made it consecutive victories for the first time since Round 6 and saw them leapfrog Adelaide into eighth spot by 0.3 per cent — thanks to Cam Sutcliffe’s goal after the final siren.
They blew the game open with a five-minute onslaught to start the third quarter and when Charlie Dixon put them 34 points up with a brilliant sidestep and left foot snap, the roar that the Power hasn’t always heard at Adelaide Oval this season, returned.
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The Power played with genuine team spirit. They tackled hard, ran for each other, celebrated each other’s goals like they were the match winner and when Ryan Clarke cannoned into Riley Bonner late he was set upon by a Power mob who rushed in to remonstrate.
Port’s forward pressure was immense, Connor Rozee dominated and they laid 26-6 tackles inside 50m including two to Todd Marshall that resulted in two goals, and Marshall was still going late in the final term when he ran down James Bell with his eighth tackle of the game.
The new-look ruck combination of Ryder and Ladhams took control, the forward line was functional and the halfback line almost impenetrable.
HOUSTON’S PERFECT TIMING
Dan Houston’s arrival as a bona fide midfielder has come at the perfect time for Port Adelaide — right as Travis Boak starts to cop the heavy tag.
Houston’s ball use makes him dangerous and he’s able to win his own footy as well.
He had nine disposals and two clearances in the first quarter against Sydney on his way to 17 for the game. His highlights reel included a one-handed mark against Josh Kennedy on the wing, a second-quarter set shot goal and a perfectly weighted pass to hit Paddy Ryder inside 50m.
It comes as Boak — arguably Port’s best player all year — has been heavily tagged the past two games. Boak was kept to 23 disposals by Dylan Clarke against Essendon last week and George Hewett restricted him to 13 against Sydney, although he did manage four shots on goal on but for 0.4.
But Houston’s performance combined with Sam Powell-Pepper and Ollie Wines who was a late inclusion for Zak Butters and kicked two goals, kept the Power midfield on top. Wines was huge in the last quarter to thwart any thought of a Sydney revival.
THOU SHALL NOT PASS
The only way Port Adelaide’s halfback line was caught out against the Swans was by turnover or an overlap play.
Hamish Hartlett, Matthew Broadbent, Darcy Byrne-Jones, Tom Clurey and Tom Jonas combined brilliantly to repel a lot of Sydney’s attacks.
Broadbent (19) and Byrne-Jones (28) found plenty of the footy while Jonas (25) was huge.
He won two 50/50 balls in a row on the wing when he put his body on the line to stop it coming out then took a contested overhead mark in greasy conditions to create another scoring opportunity.
Jonas used the ball at 92 per cent efficiency including a 50m pass to hit Marshall from a kick-in up the middle.
RUCK ‘N ROLL
The Peter Ladhams / Paddy Ryder combination with Charlie Dixon and Todd Marshall forward is working.
Ryder started in the ruck and switched with Ladhams after 10 minutes and both took strong early marks.
Port has found a genuine star in the making in Ladhams. He won a ground ball and two important intercept disposals at halfback in the second quarter, then his sidestep to release a handball in heavy traffic eventually led to Houston’s goal.
Marshall was just as lively and rewarded for his tackle on Jordan Dawson who tried to dance around him in the first quarter with a goal.
Ryder’s goal from outside 50m just before three-quarter-time answered consecutive goals from the Swans at a crucial time, then his chase down tackle on Aliir Aliir from the very next centre bounce showed how badly Ryder wants to stay in the team.
But they all functioned so well together and there was a passage late in the second quarter when Ryder was in the ruck, Ladhams and Dixon took consecutive overhead marks and Dixon kicked the set shot goal.
FORWARDS FIRING
After coughing and spluttering all season, Port’s forward line is finally humming. It might not be firing on all cylinders but at least it’s moving in the right direction — and that’s with Justin Westhoff in defence.
Coming off a score of 126 against Essendon last week, Port again went forward with purpose against Sydney and if the kick did go long then Dixon and Marshall crashed the pack and made the defender accountable — unlike game against Richmond and GWS when Phil Davis and Dylan Grimes were allowed to dominate.
But they largely lowered their eyes as Marshall and Broadbent both hit Rozee for a goal and Ladhams’ kick was to Dixon’s advantage in the second quarter for a goal.
Dixon presented all day and was the presence Port wants him to be. He was also good on the ground in the wet with his brilliant snap for a goal in the third term the icing on the cake.
SWANS
Sydney was dangerous on the counter attack, from either pouncing on the turnover or attacking from the wing and redirecting play through the middle of the ground which led to Tom Papley and Ben Ronke’s first-quarter goals.
Isaac Heeney was the Swans’ most dangerous forward, taking three marks inside 50m in the first half and finishing with two goals, while Dan Menzel kicked a beauty from the pocket on the run, Jake Lloyd had 30 and Oliver Florent 29 disposals for the visitors.
SCOREBOARD
PORT ADELAIDE 4.4 7.7 12.10 15.13 (103)
SYDNEY 3.4 4.10 7.12 7.14 (56)
BEST — Port Adelaide: Rozee, Jonas, Byrne-Jones, Marshall, Broadbent, Ladhams, Wines, Dixon. Sydney: Florent, Hewett, Heeney, Aliir, Lloyd, Jones.
GOALS — Port Adelaide: Rozee, Dixon 3, Marshall, Wines, Sutcliffe 2, Amon, Houston, Ryder. Sydney: Heeney, Menzel, Papley 2, Ronke.
UMPIRES — C. Donlon, J. Power, B. Rosebury.
CROWD — 29,568 at Adelaide Oval.
VOTES: 3: Connor Rozee (Port Adelaide); 2: Tom Jonas (Port Adelaide) 1: Darcy Byrne-Jones (Port Adelaide).