Adelaide v Port Adelaide: All the news, intel and key takeaways from pre-season practice match
Jeremy Finlayson proved he was ready to step in and help Port Adelaide’s injury-hit backline. But did the dominant Crows expose a bigger issue? Get all the intel from Mt Barker.
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Port Adelaide backline coach Tyson Goldsack says Jeremy Finlayson showed he could be an option for the Power’s height-lacking defence after his pre-season Showdown display.
But it could be a couple of sobering days in store for the club’s star-studded midfield with Goldsack conceding they were bested in that area by fierce rivals Adelaide.
The Power went into the practice match at Mount Barker short on height in defence, with duo Brandon Zerk-Thatcher and Esava Ratugolea sidelined.
Zerk-Thatcher will definitely miss the start of the season, while Ratugolea is racing the clock to take on Collingwood in Round 1 next month.
In their place, Port Adelaide turned to forward/ruck Finlayson – who played as a defender during his time at the Giants.
SCROLL DOWN TO SEE ALL THE STANDOUTS, INTEL FROM MT BARKER
With the height advantage proving too much, Adelaide led by 32 points after three 28-minute terms, before both teams gave more opportunities to reserves players late in the day.
But Goldsack said Finlayson showed he could do a job if required.
“I thought he looked OK, we weren’t sure what to make of it or how he would compare to a really experienced forward in Tex (Taylor Walker) but I thought his off-the-ball work was good, he competed well and he uses the ball so well,” he said.
“He has a nice long kick, and is really composed with the ball in hand and that is where he comes into his own.
“He has a good footy brain, sees the game well and uses the ball really well so he will be OK if we need him, it just will depend week-to-week on what the opposition’s forward line looks like.
“I thought he was good so it is a step forward for him in that aspect and someone we can lean on if we need.”
The Power also used Miles Bergman on the Crows’ taller forwards during the hitout and he was arguably Port’s best for the three terms.
“He was really good, he can play high but you rob him of other parts of his game when you play him on a key too often,” Goldsack said.
“He can pinch hit but you do want him roaming around the ground.”
New recruits Jack Lukosius, Joe Richards and draftee Joe Berry played their first games in the Power’s new-look forward line.
Goldsack said Richards and Berry’s workrate gave the Power good shape in attack and defence, while Lukosius would impact more on the game when Port’s ball movement was better.
Goldsack said that was a result of the Power not getting the job done in the midfield battle.
“The better our ball movement the better he will be and it wasn’t tonight, it was a bit scrappy, not a lot of free football,” he said.
“But he was moving nicely and working well with Mitch Georgiades out there.
“It certainly helps getting better use of your midfielders and that was probably an area we didn’t really get a good look on was centre bounce or stoppage around the ground.
“There wasn’t a lot of stoppages but their midfield was pretty dominant so we have to go to work on that.”
Lukosius LAUNCHES one from outside fifty to score his first goal in Power colours 🚀
— Fox Footy (@FOXFOOTY) February 21, 2025
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Showdown intel: Poor Port off the pace, Crow ‘experiment’
– Matt Turner
Expectations this may be the year Adelaide finally snaps its major-round drought will only grow after a promising pre-season Showdown display on Friday.
The Crows looked slick against Port Adelaide in Mount Barker as Jake Soligo and Riley Thilthorpe booted three majors each to be among the game’s standouts.
Adelaide was ahead by 32 points after three 28-minute terms, before the sides gave more opportunities to reserves players late in the day.
Port Adelaide was scored against easily at times, coughing up six consecutive majors when the Crows took control during the middle of the match.
The Power entered the clash light on key defenders and looked like it copped another hit when Ryan Burton limped off early with a shin issue, but he returned later, in a relief for Ken Hinkley’s side three weeks from round 1.
It was an impressive performance from Adelaide considering star Izak Rankine (illness), recruit Isaac Cumming (managed), wingman Lachie Sholl (knee) and consistent defender Max Michalanney (thumb) were unavailable.
Port forward Sam Powell-Pepper and Crows half-back Wayne Milera showed positive signs in their first games against other clubs since suffering season-ending injuries last year.
POSITIONAL CHANGES
Jeremy Finlayson and Rory Laird returned to defence for their respective sides.
Finlayson came on at the seven-minute mark of the opening term and went straight to Crows veteran Taylor Walker.
The usual forward has been training in the Power backline since Esava Ratugolea (knee) followed Brandon Zerk-Thatcher (back) in sustaining pre-season injuries.
Finlayson looked like he might lock in a round-1 berth when Burton went off.
They may be fighting for one spot to face Collingwood at the MCG on March 15.
Long-time midfielder Laird finished last season in the backline, had trained there all summer and on Friday was running around at half-back, the spot he was a dual All-Australian in 2017-18.
Second-year Crow Dan Curtin started forward, spent time on a wing, then returned to attack as the coaches seemed to experiment with where he was best suited.
The versatile West Australian looks a near certainty to play St Kilda in the first round.
ROOKIE WATCH
Joe Berry showed the class that appealed to the Power when it selected him with its first pick, No. 15, in last year’s national draft.
Receiving the footy at half-forward with his first touch, the 18-year-old turned immediately onto his left boot and neatly delivered the ball to Jason Horne-Francis, who set up Darcy Byrne-Jones for a goal.
In possession and with a new haircut, Berry looks a lot like fellow smooth-moving and sharp-kicking left-footer Kane Farrell.
Berry also took a nice mark inside 50 and provided a goal assist to ex-Collingwood small forward Joe Richards.
Adelaide’s top draftee, Sid Draper, had some nice moments playing through the midfield.
One of which was a quick clearance and pass inside 50 to Ben Keays, who goaled from 35m.
NEW RECRUITS
Former Gold Coast swingman Jack Lukosius struggled to get into his first match in Power colours across the first two terms before hitting Mitch Georgiades on the chest with a beautiful long kick early in the third period.
His next possession was a kick out on the full.
But a long-range goal into the breeze from beyond 50m gave Port fans a taste of what he would bring to the team’s new-look forward line.
The Power’s ball movement did not help him.
Richards’ hard running led to a goal and he connected nicely throughout the day with fellow Wangaratta product Berry.
Alex Neal-Bullen and James Peatling’s work in traffic and tackling were sharp for the Crows.
Melbourne premiership player Neal-Bullen featured, as expected, at half-forward and Peatling went through the middle and switched into attack at times.
HOT TAKE
Could fourth-year Crow Soligo win his first Malcolm Blight Medal this year?
He finished third last season and seemed primed to take another leap this coming campaign.
The 22-year-old midfielder’s workrate was exceptional, particularly in the second term, when he booted two goals, almost kicked another and helped Adelaide push to a 35-point lead after two periods.
He added a third major in the third term.
Plenty of Crows people talked up Josh Rachele’s summer – senior coach Matthew Nicks called it one of the best pre-seasons he had seen in a long time.
But his housemate Soligo, who has always flown more under the radar, can hardly be entering the campaign in better form after also impressing in the internal trial in Port Pirie last week.
POWER’S SHOCK FAILED MOVE AMID EMBATTLED SPONSOR’S WOES
-Simeon Thomas-Wilson
Port Adelaide’s attempt to take the field in this evening’s match simulation against Adelaide with the GFG Alliance logo on its guernsey covered up failed.
It is understood the Power decided to cover the logo of one of its major sponsors in the wake of the South Australian government ousting GFG Alliance from the Whyalla steelworks.
But the club couldn’t do it in time for its hit out against the Crows in Mount Barker this evening.
In the wake of the bombshell move by the SA government the Power contacted kit supplier Macron to get new guernseys without GFG’s logo for the season.
Power chairman David Koch said “let’s see how it all pans out” when asked if the club would scrap its partnership with GFG after the events of this week.
Originally published as Adelaide v Port Adelaide: All the news, intel and key takeaways from pre-season practice match
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