AFL round 7: Port Adelaide vs North Melbourne, full scores and SuperCoach points
Ken Hinkley has launched an impassioned defence of Jason Horne-Francis after the Power star’s emotions got the better of him against the Kangaroos.
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Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley launched an impassioned defence of Jason Horne-Francis after the young bull’s emotions got the better of him in a feisty win against his old side North Melbourne.
The Power led from start to finish at Adelaide Oval on Saturday, but had to stave off repeated comeback attempts from the brave Roos.
The home side led by just six points late in the third quarter after Horne-Francis gave away a free kick and a 50m penalty in an off-the-ball clash, with the fired-up young star strongly counselled by Hinkley, Connor Rozee and Zak Butters during the three-quarter time break.
A furious Horne-Francis tried to walk away from the trio before being physically pulled back to the conversation by his teammates.
“I was just trying to help him a little bit and calm him down because he’s an emotional player,” Hinkley said.
“I love that about him, he’s such a fierce competitor, and he’s playing against North Melbourne, who we all understand where he came from.
“I think the thing we miss a little bit with Hornet is he has to work damn hard for any free kick, yet he can give them away a little bit easy, I think.
“I would recommend that he gets to earn his free kicks a lot more than most people, and I’m not saying he does everything perfect, I just think he gets held onto and all sorts of treatment, but he keeps playing hard and going at the footy.
“Sometimes it boils over … players like that don’t always get it perfect for themselves or the team, but god you admire the way that they go about it.
“He was frustrated and he let his frustrations boil over into stuff he couldn’t control.
“When he gets like that we’ve just got to try to bring him back down.”
The irony of Butters, himself a fierce competitor whose emotions can get the better of him, helping calm his young teammate down wasn’t lost on the vice-captain.
“We’re pretty similar,” Butters said with a wry grin.
“I told him that we’ll look back on it and have a laugh in half an hour … I said ‘Let’s win the game of footy and we’ll go from there’.
“It’s like trying to cage a raging bull, it’s pretty tough at times, but I’d much rather that than have to work someone up to compete.
“I’d much rather him be that aggressive and want to get after the contest.”
Fellow Power leadership group member Willem Drew told The Advertiser of Horne-Francis: “He’s a very emotional player and such a competitor. He just wants to win, he wants to play well. He was obviously pretty angry there and a few of the boys were trying to calm him down, Kenny was doing the same thing. He knows he got a bit fiery there but, to his credit, he pulled it back and played a really good last quarter.”
Butters earned the Peter Badcoe VC Medal, awarded to the player who best demonstrates the ANZAC spirit and qualities of skill, courage in adversity, self-sacrifice, teamwork and fair play during the game.
“I’m obviously very honoured with what it and the whole round means to the AFL and others who have done this country so proud,” Butters said.
“What it represents is so many good traits that I like to think that I possess on a footy field.
“It’s special.”
The Power’s season is back on track with the win that improved its record to 4-3 after a disastrous start.
“At 1-3, most people were saying we were staring at 1-5,” Hinkley said.
“But we turn at 4-3, so April has been ok for us albeit we could be better.”
NORTH WON THE FIGHT, JHF WON THE FOOTY WAR
It wasn’t easy but Port Adelaide made it three wins in a row on Saturday after Jason Horne-Francis and Zak Butters inspired the Power to a gritty nine-point win against brave North Melbourne to spoil Luke Parker’s 300th AFL game milestone.
The resurgent Roos had lost their previous four games by an average margin of just under 10 goals, but trailed by eight points after a stunning George Wardlaw goal with just under five minutes remaining in the fiery clash.
But Port showed great resilience to hang on for the win that improved its record to 4-3, while the Kangaroos fell to 1-6 with the result, their 13th loss at Adelaide Oval from 13 attempts.
Horne-Francis was outstanding against the club that selected him first overall at the 2021 draft, but he let his emotions get the better of him in a fiery close to the third quarter.
The Kangaroos kicked three goals in three minutes, with the last to Luke Davies-Uniacke who received a free kick and a 50m penalty after a spiteful off-the-ball clash between Horne-Francis and Jy Simpkin that led to a heated push-and-shove.
The Power led by 12 points at three-quarter time with a hot-under-the-collar Horne-Francis counselled by Ken Hinkley, Connor Rozee and Butters.
The Roos peppered the goals, but Mitch Georgiades and Ollie Lord booted key final-term goals to secure the win.
CLARKO PLEASED WITH RESPONSE
North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson got the response he was after from his players after their Good Friday embarrassment, but not the win they so desperately needed in a spirited nine-point loss to Port Adelaide.
Clarkson was pleased with the effort and application his players displayed despite the result, which came on the heels of four heavy defeats, including the 84-point Good Friday drubbing at the hands of Carlton.
“The fact that we were still in the contest late in the game was something that we’ve been working really hard on over the good part of 12 months,” Clarkson replied when asked what pleased him about the performance.
“That’s why we were so disappointed with the last three weeks where we fell away and didn’t give ourselves a chance.
“We were right in the game and just couldn’t get over the line unfortunately.
“For our lads to reset at quarter-time with a five-goal deficit, we outscored them from that point in the game, but couldn’t peg it back.
“In terms of the character of the lads to be able to bounce back from a really disappointing day on Good Friday and really compete hard against a good side … we were pleased we were in the contest, but obviously disappointed that we just couldn’t find a way to get ourselves in front.
“The players were disappointed with what transpired on Good Friday, we all were, and to be fair the whole competition should be.
“It wasn’t a good enough effort by us.
“We were a lot better (against Port) and that’s going to give us chances to be in games of footy.
“We couldn’t question the endeavour of our boys today.”
DOESN’T MISS OFTEN
A fired-up Horne-Francis brought the energy as the Power edged to an early lead, but the Kangaroos started brightly too.
Nick Larkey had the opportunity to slice the Power’s lead to just six points late in the first quarter, but copped a fearsome ‘commentator’s curse’ as he lined up for a very gettable set shot 25m out.
“He doesn’t miss often, this bloke, back him in,” Jason Dunstall said in Fox Footy commentary.
Sure enough, the big Roo’s horror shank barely snuck in for a point.
It proved almost immediately costly too, as Willie Rioli goaled seconds later, with Port slamming through four unanswered majors to lead by 29 points at the first break.
Dunstall put the moz on Larkey again in the second.
“Now, this one he will not miss … he doesn’t miss two regulation kicks,” Dunstall chimed shortly before Larkey sent his set shot out on the full.
THIRD TIME LUCKY
Power fans, already displeased with a few contentious umpiring calls, were further frustrated by some shocking skill errors as the resurgent Roos made their move in the second quarter.
After marking just outside the goalsquare, Georgiades played on and sent his mistimed snap spiralling harmlessly away from goal.
To rub salt in the wounds, Sam Powell-Pepper somehow booted his free kick into the man on the mark from the top of the goalsquare.
A little class was needed, and Horne-Francis provided it with a superb goal from a quick snap in heavy traffic.
PARKER’S PARTY
Parker enjoyed an excellent first half in his milestone game, the 32-year-old with 14 possessions and a crucial goal in the second term.
It capped some excellent play and helped his side finish the half strongly.
Further inflaming tensions in the stands, Paul Curtis went down off the ball in a clash with Lachie Jones and goaled from the resulting free kick then Larkey marked strongly and ran into an open goal with a minute left in the half to slash the margin to 12 points.
In a quarter to forget for the home side, Josh Sinn also left the game with a concussion.
There didn’t look to be any intent to harm Sinn in the Curtis tackle that saw the Power player’s face driven into the turf, but the Roos will be sweating on the assessment of the Match Review Officer.
Originally published as AFL round 7: Port Adelaide vs North Melbourne, full scores and SuperCoach points
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