Port Adelaide shows it’s more than capable of winning without Patrick Ryder
PORT Adelaide showed it’s no longer a one-man team with a defining victory over Sydney that will give the Power great belief they can be a top four contender, even without Patrick Ryder.
Port Adelaide
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ONE man should not make a 22-player footy team.
Not even the absence of All-Australian ruckman Patrick Ryder makes Port Adelaide turn to mush anymore, as the Power did in 2016.
And Sydney cannot believe in the power of one, even with a once-in-a-lifetime key forward named Lance “Buddy” Franklin.
Port Adelaide learned how many hands do make the difference with a stirring refusal to surrender to the Swans at the SCG.
The defining 23-point win reaffirms the lessons of being without Ryder in 2016 have indeed been taken in at Alberton — and how important they will be missed in the next month as Ryder deals with tendinitis to his left achilles.
The Power was defiant against a Swans team working to so many advantages in the first half.
It was challenging of Sydney in the third term. And it was solid as a rock in holding a lead at the end.
Franklin scored 4.2 — a third of Sydney’s score — to follow up his season-opening eight goals eight days earlier.
He was the ever-present threat defied by Port Adelaide’s team game.
Ryder’s absence was covered with the pre-declared mix of utility Justin Westhoff and key forward Charlie Dixon in ruck.
Dixon proved more critical to changing this game — and was easier to take in attack than in 2016 by the Power’s new mix of threatening options at the goalfront.
Sydney did have this game on its terms in the first half. Luke Parker was the first Swans midfield craftsman to set the agenda of winning the clearances and dominating the contested possessions to keep the play seemingly locked in the Swans’ forward half of the field.
Port Adelaide’s defence, led by 150-game half-back Hamish Hartlett and Tom Jonas, did an extraordinary job to hold the game from being a blowout in the first half when Sydney had a phenomenal 35-14 advantage with inside-50s.
The Power remarkably never let the margin get beyond 15 points — and it was just three after a quick brace of goals from captain Travis Boak early in the third term and only one on Sam Gray hitting the post in the 11th minute of that quarter.
Young forward Todd Marshall’s pair of goals in time-on — the second after a contentious score review to determine he had marked inside a behind post — had Port Adelaide nine points up as reward for never giving up against a stacked script.
The “Buddy” factor was put against the Power’s nerves from the opening bounce. Novice key defender Dougal Howard took charge of marking Franklin from the start as the powerhouse forward opted to start at centre half-forward rather than at the goalsquare.
In his 12th AFL game, Howard probably learned more than in his past 12 months when he has been reassigned from ruckman-forward to key defender.
And there were big lessons when Franklin still proved to be a master of freakish opportunities, such as his long left-foot snap from 50 at the start of the last term for his fourth goal.
The super match-up gained even more back-up support from Tom Clurey after that score put Sydney within nine points.
Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley’s longstanding mantra that no team should be defined by one player gained significance credence.
So did the Power’s right to be considered a top-four contender ... even without Ryder.
PORT ADELAIDE 1.2 4.4 11.7 14.10 (94)
SYDNEY 2.4 6.6 8.10 10.11 (71)
BEST
Power: Wines, Dixon, R. Gray, Hartlett, Jonas, Polec, Boak
Swans: Parker, McVeigh, Kennedy, Franklin, Heeney, Sinclair
GOALS
Power: Marshall 3, Boak, Polec, Wingard 2, Bonner, R. Gray, Motlop, Powell-Pepper, Wines
Swans: Franklin 4, Cunningham, Hayward, Heeney, Papley, Parker, Towers
INJURIES
Swans: Jones (calf, replaced by Fox), Hannerbery (knee)
Power: Wingard (hamstring)
Crowd: 34,636 at the SCG.
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