AFL round 3 Essendon v Port Adelaide: Bombers overcome week from hell to beat Power 72-60

When one of your key players is struggling the team struggles, but Ken Hinkley came away from Thursday night’s loss to Essendon rueing the fact that six of his leaders were down on form.

Ronny Lerner

6 min read

7:07AMMarch 28, 2025

News Sport Network

Port Adelaide were let down by their senior players on Thursday night during their 12-point loss to Essendon at Marvel Stadium, according to coach Ken Hinkley.

Players such as captain Connor Rozee, Jason Horne-Francis, Travis Boak, Willem Drew, Willie Rioli and Sam Powell-Pepper struggled to have an impact on the game as the plucky Bombers kicked the last four goals to seal a gutsy comeback victory.

“The disappointing part is that our key players, our better players, were the ones who we needed to stand up. They just weren’t quite at that level all the way through game,” Hinkley said.

Port coach Ken Hinkley was left to rue the fact that his senior players were all down on form on Thursday night. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

“I think collectively our more senior players were a little bit down on us tonight.

“You’ve just got to accept that they can’t play great footy every week but we had too many down together. I think that was the key to tonight.

“We always have some fluctuations and unfortunately tonight we had too many players together down probably around the ball as much as anywhere I reckon.

“You’ve got to have 23 players and you’ve got to have more of the better players to win these games of footy. We didn’t have more of the better players.”

The Power were also done few favours by having key talls Todd Marshall (achilles), Jack Lukosius (knee) and Ollie Lord (shoulder) out injured, on top of Charlie Dixon retiring at the end of last year, which meant the bulk of the marking responsibility in attack fell on Mitch Georgiades’ shoulders.

“We’re thin on our talls, but that’s going to be a challenge for a little period time,” Hinkley said.

“It’s challenging to manage, but we knew what we had coming in ... it’s not like we can use that as an excuse.”

Hinkley was disappointed with his team’s skill level and their work in the clinches.

“When the game was up for grabs, they dominated us in the contest,” he said.

“They were a bit stronger and more willing to keep going for the whole way.

Port captain Connor Rozee leads his team off the field on Thursday night. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

“It wasn’t a pretty game of footy ... there were just bad turnovers for both teams, particularly in the first half.

“For us they continued for more of the second half than it did for Essendon.”

It’s been an inconsistent start to the season for Port Adelaide whose thumping win over Richmond has been sandwiched in between a pair of bad losses to Collingwood and Essendon.

“Our form’s not where it needs to be, that’s fact,” Hinkley said.

“We’re still getting ourselves going and we need to really quicken that up as best we can, and AFL seasons are tough.

“We need to make sure we get ourselves back on track and back into the competition.”

Meanwhile, Hinkley was hopeful that defender Miles Bergman hadn’t done serious damage to his hamstring. The initial signs are that he suffered only a corky.

He played out the game and was one of the Power’s better performers with 26 disposals and 10 marks.

PRESSURE DIALS UP ON PORT SUCCESSION PLAN AFTER BOMBER BLITZ

The scrutiny on Port Adelaide’s controversial coaching handover is set to dial up a few notches after a gritty Essendon outfit ran over the top of them in the final quarter on the way to a 12-point win at Marvel Stadium on Thursday night.

For the most part, the contest was a scrappy, error-riddled slugfest and the skill level on display was more befitting of the early game on Sunday rather than the bright lights of primetime football.

The inaccurate Bombers were at risk of kicking themselves out of the game for most of the night, but after trailing for the best part of three quarters, and slipping 11 points behind early in the final term, Essendon exploded into life, kicking the final four goals to win 9.18 (72) to 8.12 (60).

The Bombers have responded after a tough week. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

The hosts refused to throw the towel in. Their work rate lifted another gear, as they ran over the top of the Power who were out on their feet as their pressure nosedived when the match was up for grabs.

The Bombers ended up smashing the Power in contested possessions 122-94 and the weight of numbers in forward entries (59-44) finally overwhelmed the visitors.

Excitingly for Essendon, it was their youngsters who were central to the key moments in the final quarter.

At the 15-minute mark, Isaac Kako danced around Logan Evans 50m out on the boundary and centred it to his mate Nate Caddy who took a towering mark against Aliir Aliir. From 25m out directly in front, Caddy put his team up by eight points.

And debutant Saad El-Hawli’s first involvement at senior level was one to remember. Shortly after being subbed into the game in the final quarter, he engaged in a one-two from deep in defence and after running through the centre square, he hit up Kako who passed it to Nic Martin and the classy wingman made no mistake from 40m out.

Saad El-Hawli makes an instant impact

The youngsters at the Bombers stood up late. Picture: Michael Klein

Zach Merrett led from the front again with 34 disposals and Xavier Duursma was instrumental against his old side, especially in the decisive last quarter, as he recorded a career-best 29 possessions (11 contested). Jade Gresham also played one of his best games for the club with 20 touches, seven tackles and a goal.

The Bombers headed into the game as the worst defensive team in the competition, having conceded an average of 136 points in their opening two games.

But they were unrecognisable from that same team to snap Port Adelaide’s eight-game winning streak against them which started back in 2019 and featured an average winning margin of 43 points.

SCOTT PRAISES DONS’ CHARACTER

Essendon coach Brad Scott was rapt with the way his backline responded on Thursday night during their 12-point win against Port Adelaide after their horrific showing against the Crows last week.

The likes of Ben McKay and Zach Reid copped the full brunt of the criticism for the Bombers’ concession of 161 points to Adelaide on Saturday.

But, aided by the return of star backman Jordan Ridley, they combined to restrict the Power to just 60 points, after being “hung out to dry” by their teammates in Round 2.

“Our key defenders had a really tough week last week and I thought they were outstanding tonight,” Scott said.

Saad El-Hawli (left) and Ben McKay celebrate. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

“It was pretty solid. The criticism’s warranted because the opposition kicked 160 points last week so I’m not interested in answering to the criticism, I focus on the facts all the time, whether you win, lose or draw, and what you’ve got to work on.

“The most pleasing thing is when you have a disappointing performance, you get to choose how you respond to it.

“You can capitulate and it’s all too hard and the pressure’s overwhelming or you can respond and I think that’s a pretty good measure of character.”

EVANS’ COSTLY ERROR

Evans’ handball intended for Joe Berry early in the final term on Port’s defensive 50m line completely missed the mark. It opened the door for Gresham to collect the crumbs and dish it off to Mason Redman who unloaded a long bomb from 50m out to level the scores.

Ken Hinkley’s side are now 1-2. Picture: Michael Klein

DONS BURN EARLY CHANCES

The Bombers made a strong start to the game, thanks to some ferocious pressure that was sorely lacking last week, but they could only manage 2.5 in the opening term.

When the momentum shifted Port Adelaide’s way for the first time, it was their turn to be wasteful, kicking five behinds in a row, but three consecutive majors gave them a 12-point lead just after quarter-time.

BOMBERS OVERCOME WASTEFULNESS

The second stanza was an ugly affair as both teams broke down badly going into their respective forward lines, but Essendon ramped the pressure back up at the start of the third term, and recorded 10 of the first 13 inside 50s. However, again, they failed to translate that dominance onto the scoreboard as they slipped nine points behind midway through the quarter.

The Bombers continued to pepper the goal face with five of the last seven scoring shot for the quarter, but could only manage 1.4 as their method of forward delivery left a lot to be desired. But they finally broke the shackles in the final quarter with the most exhilarating play of the match.