Top draftee Connor Rozee’s brilliance inspires Port Adelaide to victory over gallant Gold Coast

Fielding one of the youngest sides in his seven years as Port Adelaide coach, Ken Hinkley’s injury-hit team dug deep against a determined Gold Coast outfit.

Brayden Fiorini was outstanding for Gold Coast despite its loss to the Power. Picture: Sarah Reed.

It wasn’t pretty but Ken’s kids got the job done.

Fielding one of the youngest sides in his seven years as Port Adelaide coach, Ken Hinkley’s injury-hit team dug deep against a determined Gold Coast outfit at Adelaide Oval on Sunday to avert a potential banana skin and etch its name into the record books.

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After being given a first half fright from the well-drilled Suns, the Power took control in the second half to snap a two-game losing skid and claim its 10th consecutive victory against the Queensland club.

Port had never beaten a rival so many times in a row, with its previous best run being nine against St Kilda from 2001-06.

Gold Coast famously won its first match against Port at Football Park by three points in 2011 but has not tasted success against the Alberton-based club since.

It also remains winless in six attempts at Adelaide Oval after falling to a 38-point defeat in a match played in driving rain.

Significantly, the Power won with a bunch of AFL babies.

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With key men Ollie Wines, Tom Jonas, Robbie Gray, Brad Ebert, Ryan Burton, Hamish Hartlett and Charlie Dixon sitting in the stands, along with Jack Watts, who appeared rejuvenated at the start of the season, Port fielded eight players with less than 10 games experience.

They were Jarrod Lienert (nine), first-year stars Connor Rozee and Xavier Duursma (eight), Zak Butters (seven), Kane Farrell (six), Joe Atley (three), Billy Frampton (one) sand debutant defender Joel Garner.

And, despite Port again failing to make the most of its high inside 50 count, it came up trumps.

The Power managed to boot just 13 goals from its 68 inside 50 forays but part of that was due to the atrocious conditions.

Crucially, it found a way to win in this very even season after being seriously tested in the first half when it trailed by four points.

With former skipper Travis Boak leading from the front and youngsters Frampton and Farrell (three goals) and AFL Rising Star contender Connor Rozee (two) showing plenty, Port seized control in the third quarter when it had 22 inside 50s to four.

And it finished the job in the last quarter as the match became one-sided.

Connor Rozee celebrates one of his goals which helped inspire a youthful Port Adelaide to victory against Gold Coast. Picture: AAP Image/David Mariuz.

YOUNG TALENT TIME

They were the talk of the draft world last year and on Sunday gun South Australian teenagers Connor Rozee (Port) and Jack Lukosius (Gold Coast) went head-to-head in the AFL for the first time.

The two great mates, who were selected at No. 5 and No. 2 respectively at last year’s national draft and share the same manager, Ben Williams, had mixed days.

Utility Rozee — second favourite for the AFL Rising Star award behind Carlton’s No. 1 draft pick Sam Walsh — starred with 17 disposals and two majors.

Forward Lukosius worked hard for 12 possessions but was denied opportunities in the second half as the Suns had just nine inside 50s.

The South Australian that separated them in the draft, forward/midfield speedster Izak Rankine, was taken by the Suns at pick three but has yet to play a game in his rookie year because of a serious hamstring injury.

The No. 6 pick, Victorian tall Ben King, made his AFL debut against the Power.

The tall swingman played forward against Port after some strong form in the NEAFL and had a tough debut, with five touches.

Travis Boak gathers possession during Port Adelaide’s win on Sunday. Picture: Mark Brake/Getty Images.

POWER BALL MAGNETS

Boak and Tom Rockliff continue to rack up the disposals for the Power.

They entered the contest ranked fourth and fifth respectively in the competition for average possessions, at 32 each.

Boak led Rockliff by one, 256 to 255, and against the Suns they continued to get their hands on the ball.

On a wet day where there were no easy disposals, Boak had a game-high 36 while Rockliff, who found himself on report for a second quarter trip on Gold Coast’s Anthony Miles, had 30.

STIFF SUNS

Gold Coast could consider itself unlucky after the rub of the green didn’t quite go its way in the first half at Adelaide Oval.

The Suns were denied three goals in the first half from outstretched Power hands which proved crucial in the outcome.

Ben Ainsworth, Brayden Fiorini and Will Powell all had straight kicks called behinds, including one on video review, after Port defenders managed to get the smallest of deflections on the Sherrin.

Brayden Fiorini was outstanding for Gold Coast despite its loss to the Power. Picture: Sarah Reed.

BACK TO THE FUTURE

Much of the talk in the build up to the game was where athletic Port tall Dougal Howard would line up after his late-game heroics against the Crows in Showdown 46.

Recruited as a forward/ruckman but having made his name at the Power as a super-spoiling defender, Howard helped turn the derby on its head last week when he went forward in the second half.

He kicked two goals and had a hand in a couple of others as Port stormed back from a seven-goal deficit to claw to within two in the last quarter before ultimately falling short.

Under pressure to leave Howard forward as his club struggles for a key focal point to stand up in the injury-enforced absence of powerful target Charlie Dixon (broken leg), Hinkley indicated during the week that he would resist the temptation to mess with his strong, young backline that he is building his side around.

And he was true to his word.

Howard, who tossed the coin at the start of the game in the absence of injured co-captains Tom Jonas and Ollie Wines, spent the whole match down back and apart from a horror turnover which cost a goal in the first quarter, he was again rock solid.

FINAL SCORES

PORT 3.1 6.3 9.9 13.11 (89)

GOLD COAST 4.4 6.7 7.8 7.9 (51)

ANDREW CAPEL’S VOTES — 3: Travis Boak (Port). 2: Brayden Fiorini (Gold Coast). 1: Sam Gray (Port).