AFL Round 11 Fremantle v Port Adelaide: All the news, analysis and fallout as the Power’s season slips away
After what happened on Saturday night, only Richmond, North Melbourne and West Coast sit below Port Adelaide on the ladder. And, again, the Power showed little as the game slipped away.
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Port Adelaide’s final season under Ken Hinkley is threatening to bring its worst finish since the coach took charge in 2013.
Saturday night’s 49-point loss to Fremantle at Optus Stadium was the Power’s fourth consecutive defeat.
After a strong start, they had no answer for Fremantle, led by ruck Luke Jackson.
The Power managed just two goals after half-time, to Fremantle’s nine.
It’s the third game in four outings it has lost by at least seven goals.
The 15.10 (100) to 7.9 (51) results leaves Fremantle just percentage outside of the top eight. But it has the Power stranded on only four wins from 11 games and in 15th position on the ladder.
Only Richmond, North Melbourne and West Coast are below them.
Port’s worst finish under Ken Hinkley is 11th, which was in 2022, when it won only 10 games.
The Power has the bye next week, before playing away again in round 13, this time against GWS.
Not so clear
The night didn’t start so bad for Port.
Despite Fremantle being the fourth best side in the AFL for centre clearances, Port (13th), dominated this part of the game in the opening term, winning the count 5-1.
The Power led by as much as 10 points during the quarter, but trailed by two points at the first break.
Ollie Wines and Willem Drew did most of the damage, with the pair combining for 21 touches for the quarter.
But in the second term, they had no answer as Jackson took control of the game.
The ruck helped the Dockers level up the centre clearance stats at six apiece by half-time.
The Dockers extended their lead to eight points at half-time, but only because Willie Rioli, in his 100th AFL game, snuck in a goal from the goal square for Port just before the siren.
Lone hand Luke
The conversation about how Fremantle should use ruck pair Jackson and Sean Darcy is not going to go away any time soon.
Darcy did not play against the Power, leaving Jackson to lead the ruck by himself.
He, again, thrived, with 21 disposals, eight clearances and a goal.
It’s the sixth time this season that Jackson has played while Darcy has been sidelined. And the Dockers have won four of those games – against the Giants, West Coast, the Western Bulldogs and now Port.
In the three games Darcy has played without Jackson, the Dockers have won two – against Adelaide and Richmond. The loss Came against Melbourne.
Fremantle has lost both games when both rucks have played – against Collingwood and St Kilda.
Don’t waste your chances
Fremantle’s win came without major contribution on the scoreboard from its main forwards.
Josh Treacy, Jye Amiss and Shai Bolton had kicked 50 goals between them this season, before Saturday night.
There was some rain around, and the ball was slippery at stages.
Amiss and Bolton each kicked one on Saturday night.
The Dockers had one fewer entry inside their attacking area than Port Adelaide.
Yet ended up with 25 scoring shots to 16.
Murphy Reid kicked four goals and Sam Switkowski and Isaiah Dudley two each.
At the other end, Mitch Georgiades looked the only Port player likely to score, kicking three goals in the first half.
Inside 50m entries are no indication of how well the Dockers go though.
Against Collingwood, in round 9, at Optus Stadium, Fremantle went forward 62 times, compared to the Pies 34. Yet the home side lost by 14 points.
Drew the tackle
Drew led all comers for tackling with 10.
It was a terrific response after not laying one a week earlier in a 76-point loss to Geelong.
Over 118 games, that game against the Cats was just the second time Drew has not put on one tackle. And the last time was in 2019, round 4 against Richmond.
He averages better than six tackles a game, his best 16, against Collingwood, in round 19, 2023.
With Jason Horne-Francis missing, Wines did his best to keep the ball moving forward, with 33 possessions and seven clearances.
Scoreboard
FREMANTLE 3.3 6.6 10.8 15.10 (100)
PORT ADELAIDE 3.1 5.4 5.6 7.9 (51)
BEST
Dockers: Jackson, Chapman, Reid, Serong, Johnson, Ryan.
Power: Drew, Wines, Rozee, Atkins, Evans, Bergman.
GOALS
Dockers: Reid 4, Switkowski 2, Dudley 2, Pearce, Johnson, Jackson, Frederick, Voss, Amiss, Bolton.
Power: Georgiades 3, Rioli 2, Finlayson, Bergman.
INJURIES Dockers: Simpson (shoulder). Power: Rozee (shoulder), Byrne-Jones (concussion).
40,466 at Optus Stadium
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
BRAD ELBOROUGH’S VOTES
3 Luke Jackson (FRE)
2 Heath Chapman (FRE)
1 Willem Drew (PORT)
Originally published as AFL Round 11 Fremantle v Port Adelaide: All the news, analysis and fallout as the Power’s season slips away
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