AFL Round 16: Port Adelaide defeats Hawthorn but gives ground after dominant first half
Port Adelaide gave fans the best of both worlds against the Hawks with their clearance game, but it’s an area where Ken Hinkley’s men must show consistency to be a genuine contenders.
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Port Adelaide is now right where it wants to be come the end of the home and away season, in the top four.
But whether the Power can stay there over the next seven weeks, following the percentage-boosting win over Hawthorn, will be influenced by whether Ken Hinkley’s side can regain consistency with its clearance game after we saw the great and then the needs to be improved by Port.
The Power were the No. 1 side in the AFL in 2020 when it came to clearance differential (+4.8) but coming into Round 16 Hinkley’s side was ranked No. 9 (+0.1) in the competition.
The Power’s ultimately comfortable win over the Hawks was set up by a dominant first half by Hinkley’s side with the stats at the main break frighteningly ugly for those in brown and gold.
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Port were plus 24 in contested possessions, plus 18 for inside 50s and plus 10 for clearances.
Hawthorn didn’t even win a centre bounce clearance, Port had eight, as the Power kicked eight in a row after Luke Bruest kicked the first goal of the game to take a 42-point lead into halftime.
“We are capable of doing that but you have to turn up and do it,” Hinkley said.
“The boys were really good inside and got the ball in our half and we were able to play a game that we like to play and we got a good result out of it so that was really important.”
But whether it was some stern words from Alastair Clarkson, or the Power just easing their intensity, the Hawks were able to fight their way back in the clearance battle.
After having an advantage of 10 at halftime the Power finished just four up (41-37) come the final siren.
Hinkley said the Power had been going OK in terms of their clearance game this year.
“I think we have had a pretty solid season in lots of our games, with the ladder position we’ve got,” he said.
“Like every other team we haven’t had it perfect all the way through. We’ve had moments where we have been really good and moments where we have been a bit off.
“The pleasing part is that we have been pretty consistent in most facets of the game and that allows us to be in the position we are in now.”
But with Melbourne and its star-studded midfield next up in a Thursday night clash — that has had the stakes risen after the Demons’ shock loss — Port Adelaide ruckman Scott Lycett said the Power needed to improve their consistency in their clearance game.
“It’s going to be a really good test for us (against Melbourne) and it is going to be one of those games where we need to get the midfield right,” Lycett said.
“We were a bit inconsistent again tonight, when we get it right with our contested footy and clearances we are pretty hard to stop so if we get it right it will be on from the very first bounce.
“They (Hawthorn) obviously had something to play for, and a big occasion with (Shaun) Burgoyne’s 400th so they probably got a rocket at half time and changed a few things up that maybe we weren’t ready for.”
Lycett said key in this was the Power reading the changes from their opponents.
“We just have to realise that they are going to come out and do something different and we need to adjust to it quicker because we want to try and control the game for the whole four quarters,” he said.
“I think it’s just about getting back to the basics. We have shown signs this year of the team we were last year but teams work you out and in the first half we were going pretty well and teams are smart enough to realise that what they are doing isn’t working and they need to do something different.
“And that’s something I think we can get better at. We have to see that they are going to change something up and adapt to that.”
BUTTERS BACK
The return of Zak Butters might be able to help this.
After an earlier return than many were predicting, Butters played his first game since Round 4 in the SANFL.
And after finishing with two goals and 21 disposals for the Magpies, Hinkley hinted Butters’ spell in the SANFL will be a short one.
“He will push for next Thursday,” Hinkley said.
“He got through the game … and I’m not in any way being disrespectful to the competition but Zak Butters is an AFL player every day of the week and he just needed to get a game under the belt to give him the confidence he can play.
“He won’t be perfect if he comes in next week or the week after, he will be there making us better for every week he is in the team.”
Hinkley said Butters’ looming return would be a huge boost.
“He is a lot of things to us, he is a pressure player, he is a scoring threat for us,” he said.
“He is just a hard worker for us and an important part of the team.”
ROZEE SHINING AGAIN
Another key in Port Adelaide staying in the top four will likely be if Connor Rozee can continue his good form of late.
After going without a goal from Round’s nine to 11 there were some questions about the young star’s form, but Rozee has responded in impressive fashion.
Rozee now has 10 goals in his last four games, and while he was public enemy No. 1 among Hawthorn fans after he received a free kick when Tom Mitchell bumped him off the ball, Hinkley said he was pleased with how the youngster had responded.
“He has continued to work hard and work on his game. It is sometimes like a footy season, it rolls your way a bit and sometimes it’s a bit harder for you,” he said.
“And Connor has had to work really hard to get some momentum and he definitely has that now, and he’s a talented player but he still has a lot of growth in him.
“So as good as he has been sometimes the expectation probably gets ahead of where it should be and we just need to manage that he keeps working at his game and he will get the rewards eventually because he is a high quality worker on his game.”
‘OLLIE WAS SPRAYING ME’
Arguably the true memorable moment from the Power’s win over the Hawks was Lycett again showing some agility not expected from a ruckman.
The Power big man skipped past two Hawks players in full flight, ignoring the ropeable Ollie Wines, to kick it to Mitch Georgiades in Port’s forward 50.
Georgiades spilt the mark, but kicked the goal, although Lycett wished he also did the former.
“It would have been nice if Mitch took the mark, I know he kicked the goal but it would have looked a lot better if he took the mark,” he said.
“Ollie Wines was spraying me from the side saying I should have given it to him but I knew I had the pace so I said bugger you I’m going myself and backed myself in.”
It was the best piece of agility by a Power big man since Lycett himself thrilled the crowd at Adelaide Oval with a thrilling run against Essendon.
It was maybe three bounces I’m not counting,” he said.
“I don’t do them very often so you have to remember them.”
Power spoils party as Hawks fight hard
A fairy-tale win for Shaun Burgoyne in his 400th match was always going to be a tough ask for a rebuilding Hawthorn outfit, whose best efforts were not enough to match the flag-aspiring Port Adelaide in a brave loss on Saturday night.
The Hawks never seriously challenged their more fancied opponents but were gallant in defeat, refusing to relent despite an ugly halftime deficit and trimmed the margin back to a more respectable 34 points by the final siren.
Burgoyne was applauded for each of his 10 touches by a proud Hawthorn home crowd, who celebrated their three-time flag hero’s milestone with unquestionable gusto.
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The Power were forced to fight for the four points, but returned to the top four through a win which keeps its premiership hopes alive and well.
Ollie Wines continued his blistering season with 43 disposals (including 23 contested possessions) 13 clearances and seven tackles in a near-perfect performance, blemished only by his ball use which resulted in 11 clangers.
Karl Amon’s presence on the outside of the contest was corroborated by his 17 kicks and nine marks, while Darcy Byrne-Jones amassed 29 disposals at 86 per cent efficiency off half-back.
Port’s win was soured by a concerning injury to Kane Farrell at the nine-minute mark of the opening term, when he hyperextended his right knee in a Newcombe tackle and was helped off the field by trainers.
But the activation of medical substitute Martin Frederick would soon prove impactful, with the sixth gamer sidestepping his way around milestone man Shaun Burgoyne and kicking truly to put through a memorable first career goal.
What a player 😠#Silk400 | #AFLHawksPowerpic.twitter.com/fLpbYxiYrq
— AFL (@AFL) July 3, 2021
Hawthorn’s spirited early efforts kept it within touch of the Power for most of the opening term, but Port’s class soon combined with a growing command at the coalface as Dixon and Marshall began to trouble Hawks defenders with four first-half goals between them.
Port’s lead quickly inflated to alarming lengths for a Hawthorn side desperate to cause an upset for its triple premiership legend, and a 42-point halftime difference threatened to rob the game of its atmosphere — its spectacle further tarnished by the swarm of seagulls that swirled around the unusually opened Marvel Stadium.
But the Hawks persisted and when Luke Breust wound back the clock with a snap on the run late in the third term, the home crowd rediscovered its voice, willing their side back into the contest as the lead was slowly cut back to 29 points by the last break.
But the Power stayed switched on, and through an impressive Charlie Dixon bender at the final term’s 18-minute mark had the game sealed.
HONOURING SILK
Hawthorn 400-gamer Shaun Burgoyne was welcomed onto the ground by a guard-of-honor from a host of people who had played a role in his extraordinary 20-season AFL career.
As part of the emotional pre-game tribute, Burgoyne’s wife, Amy, and four children Ky (14), Percy (12), Leni (8) and Nixie (5), were a part of the guard-of-honour that also included games-record holder Brent Harvey, indigenous greats Gavin Wanganeen and Syd Jackson, and ex-teammates Jarryd Roughead and Isaac Smith.
Shaun Burgoyne runs out for the 400th time. ðŸ pic.twitter.com/AzhAbFlj4Z
— 7AFL (@7AFL) July 3, 2021
Burgoyne tossed the coin before the game and was presented with a special boomerang memento of his milestone by Port Adelaide captain Tom Jonas.
The 38-year-old started the game at halfback on Mitch Georgiadis, who was born just over six months before Burgoyne played his first game with Port Adelaide in 2002.
SHAUN OUT-BURGOYNED IN GAME 400
‘Silk’ has weaved his way out of trouble with his trademark poise and class over his 20-year career, but ironically, he was on the receiving end of his own tricks in his 400th game when he was sidestepped by Martin Frederick.
Port’s 21-year-old medical sub made the evergreen, 38-year-old Burgoyne finally look as if his illustrious career was, in fact, nearing its end. More importantly, though, Frederick steadied well to kick an exciting goal — the first of his emerging career.
A first goal to remember ðŸ¬
— AFL (@AFL) July 3, 2021
Welcome to the big time Marty Frederick ðŸ‘#AFLHawksPowerpic.twitter.com/g2r9h5ODJe
A ROSY SEVEN-POINT PLAY
Connor Rozee had the Hawks fuming when he was paid a free kick in front of goal after he appeared to exaggerate a high tackle early in the second term.
Rozee’s kick was off-line to the delight of Hawthorn fans, but a frustrated Tom Mitchell then knocked the livewire forward to the turf and gave up a down-field free kick to Charlie Dixon, who made no mistake from the goal line and extended the Power’s lead.
Rozee was jeered and booed by the Hawks crowd for the match’s remainder, finishing with a goal from 14 disposals.
BURGOYNE’S LAST-GASP ATTEMPT
Burgoyne was swung forward by Alastair Clarkson late and was presented the opportunity to cap off celebrations with a quick snap on goal in the dying stages. But the ball kept right, sailing through for an anti-climactic minor score.
GRAVE FEARS FOR POWER SUPERBOOT
Port Adelaide suffered an early blow in Saturday night’s Marvel Stadium clash with Hawthorn after losing Kane Farrell to a knee injury in the opening term.
Farrell twisted his right knee in a tackle from Hawk Jai Newcombe deep in the Power’s attacking zone, with the vision of the incident on the big screen bringing an audible groan from the crowd inside the ground.
The 22-year-old was assisted from the ground – in significant pain – before he was assessed by the medicos on the sidelines and ruled out of the contest.
The substitution was made, bringing Martin Frederick into the game, as a crestfallen Farrell took his seat in the back row of the interchange section.
Farrell’s ailment comes just as the Power were beginning to get some some respite from a wretched run with injury.
Young star Zak Butters kicked two goals in his return to action in the SANFL on Saturday, while Tom Clurey made it through with the Magpies. Xavier Duursma is set to play in the SANFL next week, his first game since Round 4.
Western Bulldogs champion Luke Darcy feared the worst.
“You’d be really worried about the ACL in that situation,” Darcy said, during the Seven call.
“Fingers crossed it all works out for Farrell.”
Farrell, who has played 33 games for the Power, underwent tests on the ligament on the boundary.
After playing the first two games of the season, Farrell, considered one of the best kicks in the game, returned to the Power side in the Showdown in Round 8.
He has played in every game since, booting four goals.
SCOREBOARD
Hawthorn: 1.4 1.5 4.8 7.11 (53)
Port Adelaide: 3.2 8.5 9.7 13.9 (87)
LEONARD’S BEST
Hawthorn: Worpel, Mitchell, Hardwick, Bramble
Port Adelaide: Wines, Amon, Byrne-Jones, Dixon, Aliir, Jonas,
GOALS
Hawthorn: Bruest 2, O’Meara, Koschitzke, Worpel, Howe, O’Brien
Port Adelaide: Dixon 4, Marshall 2, Mayes 2, Bergman 2, Rozee, Frederick, Georgiades
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
LEONARD’S VOTES
3 — Ollie Wines
2 — Karl Amon
1 — Darcy Byrne-Jones
INJURIES
Hawthorn: Nil
Port Adelaide: Kane Farrell (knee)
UMPIRES
Stephens, Brown, Findlay
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