AFL Round 11 North Melbourne v Port Adelaide: All the news, analysis and fallout from big Power win

Port Adelaide stormed to a commanding win over North Melbourne — giving Jason Horne-Francis the last laugh against his old side. But, two injuries to key players have soured the victory.

Ryan RosendaleSports Reporter

@RosendaleRyan

5 min read

May 26, 2024 - 8:35AM

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Port Adelaide spearhead Charlie Dixon will return for Thursday’s clash against Carlton but the availability of skipper Connor Rozee and small forward Willie Rioli remains uncertain.

Both Rozee and Rioli finished the 59-point win over North Melbourne on Saturday worse for wear with Rozee rolling his ankle in the first-term and Rioli subbed out at quarter-time with a calf strain.

Rozee was treated in the rooms at the first break before returning to the game but he spent the majority of the contest inside 50, the Power electing to take a conservative approach given he was returning from a hamstring injury.

Connor Rozee is dealing with an ankle concern after being hurt in his return game. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Port coach Ken Hinkley said the decision for Rozee to play more forward than midfield was purely due to the rolled ankle despite the contentious decision to play him against Geelong two weeks ago with a hamstring injury backfiring.

“We definitely played him (Rozee) a lot more time forward because we managed him after he rolled his ankle five minutes into the game,” Hinkley said.

“That made it a bit harder for him. So once that happened, we were mindful that he was first up, and we were mindful that he’s a really important player to us, so we took him forward a fair bit of the second half particularly.

“Hamstring was okay. It’s just an ankle. We’ll wait and see how it pulls up. It didn’t look too bad but hopefully he’s okay.”

Willie Rioli watches on from the bench. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Hinkley said the club wouldn’t take a risk with either player and while excited by Dixon’s inclusion, they would continue to manage the veteran throughout the season.

“There’s no reason why he (Dixon) won’t be (playing) so he’ll come in,” he said.

“We managed him for that reason, so he could play next Thursday night, and he’s still pretty important to us.

“We’ll help and he’ll have a big part of that (about being rested). We’ll have a lot of chats around when’s the right time for him to be managed and looked after. We are now seeing that we do get a better return from him.

“And he’s been able to play pretty consistent footy for us so far this year and that’s the second game he’s missed. So that would not be something that we think would be different in the second half of the year. It might be two games, maybe three games.”

Saturday’s win was Port’s third in a row with the Power now sitting at 8-3.

HORNE-FRANCIS HAS LAST LAUGH AGAINST OLD SIDE

Port Adelaide has heaped further pain on North Melbourne’s season with Saturday’s 59-point win at Blundstone Arena seeing the Roos slump to a 0-11 start.

The Roos competed well for a half for the second-straight week, before Port well and truly turned the Power on post-half time to slam on five third-quarter goals to break the game open.

It ended up being the difference in the 16.11 (107) to 7.6 (48) win with Port Adelaide beating North in Hobart for the second straight season and winning its third straight game ahead of a clash with Carlton next week.

Todd Marshall (five goals) was the difference inside 50 in the dominant third-term, booting three in the opening 15 minutes despite going off with a concussion scare early in the second-quarter.

Jason Horne-Francis starred against his former side on Saturday. Picture: Steve Bell/Getty Images

Skipper Connor Rozee was quiet by his usual standards on return from injury, spending large stages of the game inside 50, while Ollie Wines was Port’s best after being subbed out with heart palpitations in last week’s win over Hawthorn.

With Port holding an 11-point lead at quarter time, North were able to restrict them to just two majors in the second but their inability to convert their strong defence into offensive potency on the scoreboard.

The Roos won both disposals (178-159), hit outs (17-15) and contested possessions (58-54) for the half and despite being ahead in all three come the final siren, they weren’t able to end up ahead on the scoreboard.

The only concern out of the contest Port Adelaide was an early calf injury to small forward Willie Rioli who was subbed out a quarter-time.

Cameron Zurhaar just keeps the ball in. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos

Todd Marshall booted five goals. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos

HORNET FLIES TO 50

It was rather poetic that former number one pick Jason Horne-Francis notched up his first major milestone against his former club. Playing for the second-time against the club he left after just one season, Horne-Francis produced a dominant first-half in his 50th game. He had 13 disposals, five clearances and a goal to half-time with his impact on the game no doubt leaving Roos supporters wondering what could have been had they been able to hold onto the 20 year-old.

RETURN OF THE TAG

After a 17 disposal and five clearance display in the fourth-quarter comeback against the Hawks, it was no wonder Port star Zak Butters copped plenty of attention against the Roos. That came in the form of North veteran Liam Shiels in the first-half of the contest. Despite kicking two goals in the first-half, Shiels kept Butters to just five first-half disposals. The switch post-half time from Butters to Horne-Francis again proved effective – Shiels restricting his former teammate to just four disposals after a 13-disposal, eight-clearance first-half – but this allowed Butters to lift his output to 10 disposals in the third-term.

WHERE’S THE WIN?

Now just 1-31 after their last 32 contests, it’s hard to see where the Roos next victory will come. Set for a bye in round 12, the Roos face West Coast (Optus), Collingwood (Marvel), Melbourne (MCG) and Western Bulldogs (Marvel) in the next month. But with the Eagles proving a much tougher challenge than many expected coming into the season, they could very well be sitting 0-15 come June’s end. “We were hoping we were going to win more games of footy, but the reality is we’ve had some pretty significant hiccups over the course of the last two or three years,” Roos coach Alastair Clarkson said.

“We see where we’re at and what we’ve got in front of us and we just roll our sleeves up and get to work. We’ll get there in the long run, but it’s just a little bit frustrating.

“We’re doing a lot of good work behind the scenes to try and progress as a footy club, but the scoreboard suggests that we’re not going so well because we haven’t won a game, but we feel like we’re making some progress despite the win’s not being there.”