AFL 2021 St Kilda v Port Adelaide: Inside the hidden factors that made Port win so impressive
The door to the top four was wide open for Port Adelaide. But they had to deal with more than just the Saints. Here is what else Port had to overcome.
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Ken Hinkley was reluctant to rank it.
When asked if Saturday’s 13-point victory over St Kilda at Marvel Stadium was the club’s best win this year – alongside the Round 4 home success over reigning premier Richmond on a night the Power lost young guns Zak Butters and Xavier Duursma to injuries – he simply called it a “really strong performance”.
Hinkley said earlier in his press conference that he could not be more pleased with the result, given the Saints were chasing a fourth triumph in a row, both teams had a lot to play for and his squad had been stretched by regular injuries to key players.
But Karl Amon, who was one of the Power’s best on the day, shed a little more light on how much it meant.
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“I’m not going to lie, we spoke about it before the game that if we could get this win, it was going to be huge for our season,” Amon told News Corp.
“You reflect on it now, especially how it went down, really tight in the last few minutes, it’s a super win from the boys and one of the best wins we’ve had so far this year.
“St Kilda have been in really good form the past month … so in terms of the season it’s a massive win for us.
“Hopefully it sets our season up from here.”
Brisbane’s loss to Richmond on Friday night placed even more importance to Saturday’s match, ensuring the Power leapfrogged the Lions into fourth spot by winning.
Amon said the opportunity to do so was not spoken about pre-game.
“All our focus was on St Kilda, they’re in really good nick at the moment, so for us to stand up in a pressure situation was really good for the boys,” the wingman said of a Saints side that beat Richmond and the Lions in its three-game winning streak.
Also adding weight to the result was the Power fielded comfortably its least experienced side of 2021 on Saturday.
Missing were veterans Robbie Gray, Steven Motlop and Tom Rockliff, as well as Zak Butters, Connor Rozee, Orazio Fantasia and Kane Farrell.
In terms of total games played, Port Adelaide’s 23-man squad boasted 1988 matches between them — the club’s combined fewest since Round 15, 2019 against the Western Bulldogs.
St Kilda was hardly Geelong, which cracked the 3000 mark last week, or Port Adelaide of 2020 when Brad Ebert and Justin Westhoff’s totals would regularly push it beyond 2600 games, but the Saints had 2110 games experience and three more 100-gamers.
The Power’s line-up included eight players with fewer than 30 matches to their names: Willem Drew (27), Peter Ladhams (25), Jarrod Lienert (23), Mitch Georgiades (23), Miles Bergman (16), Boyd Woodcock (10), Martin Frederick (eight) and debutant Jed McEntee, who came on late as the medical substitute.
“We spoke about that before the game, there were a lot of blokes who hadn’t played a lot of senior football coming into today,” Amon said.
“We’ve had a few injuries, especially from last week, and then for young boys to step up was really good to see.
“For those blokes, it was just about taking their opportunity and I thought a lot of them did that.
“We thought if they could play their role and we could play team, system football, it would go a long way to getting the result, which it did.”
Hinkley also played down the Power’s pre-match preparations as increasing the magnitude of the victory, pointing to other clubs doing similar this season.
Port Adelaide was up at 6am for a 7.45am flight then had a sterile corridor to Marvel Stadium, where the team “chilled out” in an upstairs room for about two hours before the game.
Some chatted away, others snoozed, played cards or listened to music.
The difference between the Power and those other clubs was that Hinkley’s team became the first in the AFL to fly into a locked down city battling a Covid-19 outbreak.
Port Adelaide players and staff also did not know where or what time they were taking to the field until late on Friday, when it was confirmed to be at Marvel at 1.15pm (SA).
“I’m not going to lie, it was a little bit challenging mentally,” said Amon, who listened to music and napped on a bean bag ahead of the clash.
“Twenty-four hours before the game and you don’t know what time or where you’re playing … but I think as a group we adapt to situations really well – we’ve had three fly-in, fly-out games from last year and this year.
“It was a bit of an unusual situation but it proved worth it when you get the four points.”
The strange preparation certainly did not seem to affect Amon, who enhanced his All-Australian credentials with a 26-diposal, two-goal and 10-tackle performance, or Port Adelaide in a crucial game for the club.
Best yet to come for Port’s teenage Saints destroyer
—James Mottershead
Ken Hinkley praised teenage sensation Mitch Georgiades after his side’s 13-point win against St Kilda.
Georgiades kicked four goals and was the difference between the two sides at Marvel Stadium, and Hinkley believes his budding star should be right in Rising Star calculations.
“It’s pretty handy to have someone kick four goals in a game,” Hinkley said.
“I think he’s right up there in the conversation of rising stars if you think about the position he plays.”
Hinkley said the cohesion between his key forward was a work in progress, and we haven’t seen the best of them yet.
“Mitch is growing each week. I’ve said all along that Mitch, Todd and Charlie together will continue to get better, and their best footy together probably won’t be played in 2021, it’ll probably be in the future.”
Hinkley praised the depth of his squad after they pulled off the win against the odds missing a host of their stars.
“I said at the start of the year we were going to need a squad to get through the year, and we used that squad pretty deeply today,” he said.
“I’m so proud of what the boys were able to do, but it is just one game of 22 and we need to keep collecting wins.
“That’s what the team’s been about for two or three years, they’ve been remarkably resilient and today was the same. They were tested and had to fight back from an early deficit and got on top in contested ball.
“It was never going to be a pretty game, but it was just a great result for us.”
Hinkley said Brownlow chance Ollie Wines continues to get better and deserves postseason accolades.
“He’s been in pretty good form, I can’t remember Ollie having even an average game this year to be fair to him,” Hinkley said.
“Ollie’s performance on game day just continues at a remarkably high level this year and I hope it continues.”
Port teenager pulls handbrake on Saints’ finals hopes
An undermanned Port Adelaide pulled off a 13-point win against the odds against a St Kilda side hoping to jump into the top-eight.
The Power, missing a host of their best players, will end the round inside the top four thanks to a four-goal performance from teenage sensation Mitch Georgiades.
St Kilda would have finished the round inside the top eight had they won, but despite winning the territory battle couldn’t capitalise on their forays forward.
St Kilda dominated general play and territory in the first quarter, but the contest was befitting of the atmosphere as both teams struggled to click into gear offensively.
A couple of left-footed goals from Jack Steele and Dan Butler made sure St Kilda took a deserved 10-point lead into the first break, despite not fully capitalising on a 15-7 inside 50 count in their favour.
Port managed to turn the tide in the second term and if not for inaccuracy could have put more space than seven points between the sides heading into the main break.
Brownlow fancy Ollie Wines was the Power’s most important player around the ball, while Karl Amon, who could feature in All-Australian discussions, kicked two second term goals.
A putrid display of goalkicking meant it took until 15 minutes into the third quarter for a goal to be kicked, courtesy of Boyd Woodcock.
And as is often the case, only a minute later Rowan Marshall answered with a flying snap that bounced through to cut the margin back to one goal.
The goal-for-goal battle continued when Georgiades kicked his third goal for the game in time on, but was broken when Wines soccered a goal through to give his side a 19-point advantage.
Jimmy Webster nailed a 50m bomb in the shadows of three-quarter time to bring his side back within 14-points, before a missed throw by Dan Butler resulted in a Max King goal to trim the margin to just eight points at the final change.
A goal just three minutes into the last quarter to Rowan Marshall cut the margin to just a point as they looked to have all the momentum.
But a steadier to Mitch Georgiades, who was the best forward on the ground, extended the Power’s lead back out to seven-points.
A late goal to Charlie Dixon, who had been well held all day, sealed a 13-point Port Adelaide win.
WEBSTER’S WEB
Jimmy Webster is one of the Saints’ most improved players in 2021 and has been a huge part of their watertight defence since they turned their form around.
The 28-year-old played a key role in blunting the Power’s attack, and by halftime had already made five intercepts.
Not only was Webster damaging with his intercept play, but his ability to get the Saints going forward was vital. To go with three score involvements to halftime, Webster had 227 metres gained and 13 disposals.
A third quarter steadying goal was the polish on Webster’s 22 disposal performance.
KING McKENZIE
Max King must hate seeing the Power on the fixture.
In the two sides’ previous game this season King was held to just two kicks and one behind, and Trent McKenzie made sure the budding superstar forward had no influence on the game.
At halftime McKenzie had not only kept King to four touches and one behind but had a game-high nine intercepts to go with 14 touches and 305 metres gained.
A fortuitous goal late in the third term to King added some respectability back into the matchup for King, but McKenzie finished with a game-high nine intercepts.
McKENZIE’S COURAGE
Brett Ratten praised Daniel McKenzie leading up to the game, but the improved winger was stretchered off after a sickening incident in the second quarter.
McKenzie tried to stop a certain Port Adelaide goal with a big tackle on Mitch Georgiades, but his legs went from under him and the Power forward’s complete weight landed on McKenzie after his head smashed into the turf.
He played no further part in the game.
GEORGIADES SHOW
The question for Port was always going to be who was going to kick the goals with Rozee, Butters and Gray out.
Enter Mitch Georgiades.
The 19-year-old stood up as the St Kilda defenders blanketed his more experienced forward partner Charlie Dixon.
Georgiades was by far and away the best forward on the ground and finished with four goals.
SCOREBOARD
SAINTS 2.4 3.5 6.9 8.13 61
POWER 1.0 4.6 7.11 10.14 74
MOTTERSHEAD’S BEST
Saints: Marshall, Webster, Crouch, Steele, Howard.
Power: Georgiades, Wines, Amon, McKenzie, Bonner.
GOALS
Saints: Marshall 2, Steele, Butler, Ryder, King, Webster, Hill.
Power: Georgiades 4, Amon 2, Woodcock, Wines, Mayes.
INJURIES
Saints: McKenzie (concussion).
Power: Woodcock (thigh).
UMPIRES
Fisher, O’Gorman, Fleer.
VENUE
Marvel Stadium
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
JAMES MOTTERSHEAD’S VOTES
3 Mitch Georgiades (PA)
2 Ollie Wines (PA)
1 Rowan Marshall (StK)
Ratten comes down hard of misfiring forwards
Brett Ratten has put it on his key forwards to respond after Port Adelaide smashed his St Kilda side in the aerial battle during the Saints’ 13-point loss.
Despite the Saints winning the inside-50 battle 53-43, Port Adelaide picked off the ball seven times from St Kilda’s attacks.
“Our kicks to our forwards weren’t great, and also the forward’s responsibility to the kicker didn’t help him by getting into position,” Ratten said.
“They took seven intercept marks down there and that doesn’t allow you to score. They took 17 contested marks for the game, which is just too much.
“The one-on-ones we got hurt and their ability to intercept the ball in our front half hurt us and that’s why we probably couldn’t score.”
Ratten said the Saints wouldn’t change personnel to fix the issue, simply because there was no on to come in.
The St Kilda coach instead put the onus on the 22 to fix the problem.
“We haven’t got too many players to pick from,” he said.
“That was the team that played against Brisbane the week before and we were very good in that space, so these fluctuations can happen.
“These are the players that need to respond for us and get back and make amends around the contest, that’s the important part.”
Ratten lamented St Kilda’s inability to stop Port from scoring.
“Our inability to defend, they had 24 shots and one or two out on the full, so we just allowed them to score,” he said.
“When you leak like that, or lose the contest, that’s where Port got some energy and momentum and it’s pretty tough after that.”
The Saints have been one of the form sides of the competition since the bye, and despite the loss Ratten doesn’t believe his side has lost any momentum.
I think so (we still have momentum), we won inside-50s and clearances, but as I mentioned the defensive side of our game wasn’t where it needed to be, and we need to address that,” Ratten said.
“I think there have been some steps forward and you’re not going to win every game, it’s the way you go about it.
“I think there were some signs for us today, and that was the message to the players too, it wasn’t all doom and gloom today, we had some things in our control today.”
Ratten confirmed St Kilda will leave Victoria on Saturday night and players and staff will hard quarantine in their hotel rooms upon arrival in Perth before travelling to Joondalup.
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