Charlie Dixon boots six goals to lead Port Adelaide to Round 4 victory over West Coast
The football world has become used to false dawns and Port Adelaide going hand in hand in recent years. But 2020 is different. Led by a superstar forward, this team is ready to contend for the ultimate prize.
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Ken Hinkley wanted a clearer picture of where his Port Adelaide side sits in 2020, the Power illustrated to the rest of the AFL they are indeed the real deal this season.
There has been plenty of impressive stuff from the Power in their unbeaten start to the season but the way they restricted and dominated the West Coast Eagles for much of the game at Metricon Stadium showed that after false dawns in the past couple of years Port are ready to at least contend for the ultimate prize.
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The dwindling number of doubters will say it was the Eagles in Queensland and they didn’t show up in the first half, but it was a statement sending win by the Power.
The tone was set in the first quarter, whenever an Eagles player got the ball a Port player were there and ready to hit them hard and West Coast could not get the footy into the corridor.
The Eagles came out to play in the third, kicking three straight to open the quarter and put the pressure back on Port Adelaide but the Power showed the grit top sides need to see off this wave and come back with one of their own and cruise to a fourth-straight win.
KING CHARLIE
Eagles fans would have been dreading what Charlie Dixon could do to their backline when Jeremy McGovern was a late withdrawal.
Dixon showed why he was ranked the second best forward in the AFL, putting the Eagles to the sword in a throwback to the old-fashioned big centre half forward.
It has been mentioned plenty but if Dixon can remain fit for the Power in 2020 then Port fans can well and truly dream.
Charlie Six-on
— Port Adelaide FC (@PAFC) June 27, 2020
âš¡ 12.11 (83)
🦅 6.5 (41)#AFLPowerEagles#weareportadelaide
We knew he had the talent, but after putting in the work in the off-season and then in the COVID-19 imposed break Dixon just looks to strong and fit for defenders.
He finished with six goals for the day, but the way he took out Eagles defenders and allowed partner in crime Todd Marshall to take an easy mark and kick a very important goal during the third showed just how much of a threat Dixon is in 2020.
Port Adelaide fans would have had their hearts in their mouth when Dixon went straight down the race in the third quarter but to the relief of Power fans he emerged for the fourth quarter and continued his dominance.
PRESSURE POWER
The press used to be West Coast’s brand, Port are quickly making it their own.
It was a frantic opening by Port on the Gold Coast and the Eagles couldn’t deal with how they attacked the footy in their front half.
The Power had an incredible nine tackles inside their forward 50 during the first quarter.
It meant the ball kept staying exactly where Port wanted, and with their key forwards in fine form they capitalised on this.
Port players have a spring in their step and are playing with confidence, it shows in the way they hunt the footy.
WEST COAST WOES
They showed a little glimpse of the side we’ve seen in recent years but the Eagles can’t get out Queensland quicker.
Day time conditions, a dry footy, a response was expected by the Eagles after two poor weekends where they struggled with the wet and slippery surface in Queensland.
But their woeful time in a hub continued in a slow start to the game.
When they got their hands on the ball they were too slow and lacking any imagination – choosing to go backwards on some downright strange occasions.
“They are not facing the game at all,” Brad Johnson said on Fox Footy during the first half.
The Eagles did emerge from their slumber and troubled the Power during the third quarter, but the damage had been done.
A looming block of fixtures in Western Australia should mean the Eagles rise up the ladder in as the season goes on but they will not look back on their time in the Gold Coast fondly.
PORT ADELAIDE 4.4 6.7 10.11 13.11 (89)
WEST COAST 1.2 2.4 5.4 6.5 (41)
Goals: Port Adelaide: C Dixon 6 B Ebert 2 J Westhoff 2 H Hartlett K Amon T Marshall. West Coast: J Kennedy 4 L Ryan T Kelly. Umpires: Mathew Nicholls, Nathan Williamson, Eleni Glouftsis.
Official Crowd: 450 at Metricon Stadium.
HINKLEY: FITNESS KEY FOR DOMINANT DIXON
Port Adelaide’s 48-point win over West Coast has sent a statement to the rest of the competition but Power coach Ken Hinkley says his side had already made three declarations of their intentions already.
The Power continued their unbeaten start to 2020 with their most impressive performance of the season over the Eagles at Metricon Stadium.
But Hinkley said while impressive it hadn’t confirmed Port’s intentions — the Power had already made them clear.
“We’ve beaten four teams in an AFL competition which suggests that you are going OK,” Hinkley said.
“I just reckon it’s tough, you take wins when you get them … we’ve had a few times when we’ve had the other stuff knocked out of us.
“It’s the AFL, every team is a test.”
Charlie Dixon led the way for Port with six goals to go to the top of the Coleman Medal standings.
Hinkley said it was a dominant performance from his key forward, who has made a fine start to the 2020 season.
“He’s just fit, it helps, it helps him enormously,” he said.
“We’ve said forever he’s really important for us (but) he hasn’t kicked goals.”
After being blown away by the Power in the first half, the Eagles did come out to play in the third quarter — kicking three unanswered goals to spark hope they could emerge from their Queensland slumber.
But Port wrestled back the momentum and kicked three goals of their own to extinguish any West Coast hope of a comeback.
Hinkley said that was what he was most impressed about from the win.
“That was incredibly pleasing, as a coach that’s what you want to see and try to create and as a team they were able to do it,” he said.
“The Eagles are a really good side in the middle and to stand up and transfer the ball we did in the back half of that third quarter was really pleasing.”
Hinkley said the club would celebrate veteran Brad Ebert’s 250th game, which he marked by kicking two goals, on Saturday night as they continue to enjoy life on the Gold Coast.
EAGLE ON REPORT FOR HEADBUTTING
West Coast defender Will Schofield has been reported for headbutting.
The Eagles backman appeared to make contact with Port Adelaide young gun Zak Butters during a third-quarter tangle on Saturday.
The incident sparked a brief fracas between players from both teams and Butters was awarded a freekick.
Will Schofield has been reported for this incident with Zak Butters. pic.twitter.com/UN4GHndM9L
— AFL.com.au (@AFLcomau) June 27, 2020
“He’d be disappointed. He appears to have headbutted Zak Butters,” Fox Footy commentator Alastair Lynch said.
Schofield, a late inclusion for Jeremy McGovern, has endured a tough day tangling with dominant Power big man Charlie Dixon.
Fox Footy commentator Gerard Healy said Schofield would be lucky to avoid suspension.
The headbutt came during a period where Port Adelaide answered a challenge from West Coast before kicking clear to lead by 37 points at three-quarter-time.
Docker Michael Walters successfully had a one-match ban for headbutting thrown out at the tribunal last season.
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