The Lowdown: The ‘Grim’ problem facing Port Adelaide on brutal run towards finals
Port Adelaide can’t afford to put a foot wrong on the run towards finals with 13 teams in the hunt for eight spots. SIMEON THOMAS-WILSON sees a “grim” flaw in the Power’s side in The Lowdown.
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The Crows bounced back, the Power struggled against the Suns on the Gold Coast. Simeon Thomas-Wilson names his likes and dislikes.
DISLIKES
1. Port’s key forwards
On the bright side for Port it gets Georgiades back from a one-match suspension. But ahead of the season-defining run home it is looking grim when it comes to the Power’s key forward stocks. Charlie Dixon was back in the side but only ended up with a goal and nine disposals with his biggest impact on the match arguably the bizarre incident that ended up with fellow key forward Todd Marshall suffering another hip injury. The veteran key forward has had three weeks off because of his suspension in the SANFL but still looks like he is sore with every step he takes.
It’s a sad watch for an absolute warrior who has put his body through the absolute ringer in his AFL career. Jeremy Finlayson is also a hard watch for the Power right now. At one stage in 2022 he was arguably the Power’s most important player because of his versatility, and he started 2023 in hot form as well. But the form faded towards the end of last season and he was the sub in the semi-final and then was meant to start 2024 outside of the team but Ollie Lord’s injury gave him a reprieve. What is happening in his personal life cannot be underestimated, but right now the Power need him to rediscover some form on the field. Since he came back into the side after his ban for using a homophobic slur he has kicked four goals in eight games. He had a chance to give the Power a sniff late on against the Suns, but blasted wide. You had a feeling he would do that when he took the mark.
2. Not hungry enough, not tough enough?
Gold Coast’s Malcolm Rosas definitely crossed the line with his cheap and cowardly off-the-ball strike on Logan Evans, and he should get a lengthy ban for it. But throughout the day it just looked like the Suns were more hungry and tougher than the Power. Despite a top-four spot up for grabs, too often the Power would be walking – especially defensively. The Suns have never played finals but they looked like they were a more mature team than the Power. Port do still have plenty of young players, but the Power have been regulars in finals for the past couple of years outside of 2022. The Suns got at Jason Horne-Francis and found a way under his skin on multiple occasions. He will learn from this, but when the stakes are so high he needed to be better.
3. Read the moment
There’s moments where you realise just how much clubs operate inside the footy bubble at times. Adelaide having Riley Thilthorpe doing more running out on the ground while his teammates enjoyed singing the Crows song was one of them. Yes Thilthorpe was the sub and the Crows fitness staff would have wanted him to do more running to keep his conditioning up ahead of an expected return to the 22 against Essendon on Friday.
But it was his first game back since his knee injury that has kept him out for most of the year. Let him take part in the song and then get him out on the ground to do his required running. The Crows haven’t had a lot of moments to really celebrate this year. With Thilthorpe such a big part of their future, surely they could have let him celebrate his return with his teammates in some form.
LIKES
1. The name’s Bond
You are never going to know unless they get a go. Up until a couple of weeks ago, when Matthew Nicks raised his name as a player pushing for selection, it was widely expected that Hugh Bond was in real danger of being a player who didn’t make a debut for the Crows with his contract at the end of the season. He struggled with injury for most of last year, and those who had watched him said his kicking wasn’t good enough. But as a lockdown defender Bond had a promising debut against St Kilda on Saturday night. He kept Jack Higgins goalless and all of a sudden has become an interesting prospect for the Crows. Yes it is great if your defenders have polish with the ball, but sometimes just being able to defend is what you want of your backmen. Mitch Hinge should be available again for the Crows this week, but it would be harsh on Bond if he doesn’t get a second chance at AFL level against the Bombers on Friday night.
2. Showing signs
Adelaide fans are just looking for signs now and they got some positive ones from the Crows on Saturday night. As mentioned above Bond had a solid debut as a lockdown defender. Zac Taylor was the sub in his first two weeks in the side, given the chance to actually play a full game he showed some impressive ball skills and finished with 18 disposals and eight tackles. Billy Dowling had 20 disposals, five tackles and a goal. Luke Nankervis continues to impress off halfback and Riley Thilthorpe’s cameo off the bench had Crows fans extremely excited. Do they give Dan Curtin a look as a midfielder at AFL level as he continues to impress in the role at SANFL level? With finals out of the question, that is just what the Crows fans want – reasons to be optimistic about 2025. After taking some steps forward in 2023, Adelaide has taken plenty back in 2024. But while they are still green shoots, there are some signs that should fill Crows fans with some optimism that the slide can be arrested in 2025.
3. Frank the tank
It will be fascinating to see what Port Adelaide does with Francis Evans this week, and going forward. He’s a hardworking, no-fuss sort of player that is well liked at Alberton, but is often the sub for the Power when he is in Ken Hinkley’s side. But sometimes, he just shows something. Against Gold Coast on Sunday he did. The Power were off going forward for much of the day against the Suns. When Port did actually look like threatening the Suns as it attacked, Evans was featured heavily in this. After coming on as the sub for the concussed Lachie Jones he finished with 18 disposals, eight marks and a goal in his best performance of this season by a country mile. It should be enough to get him a starting gig against Richmond on Saturday, but in keeping with his Port career so far you can’t be entirely sure, especially with Willie Rioli playing in the SANFL on the weekend. Last year he was the one bright spark in the heavy Showdown loss to Adelaide in Round 20, with four goals, but was set to be the sub the following week against former side Geelong until injury and illness struck and he was elevated to the 22. Mitch Georgiades will come back in, probably for Todd Marshall, can the Power find room in its 22 for Evans and Rioli this week?
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