Port Adelaide dealt huge finals blow by a resurgent Isaac Heeney and Sydney in Round 15
Back-to-back wins had Port Adelaide believing again. But with it all on the line Saturday, Ken Hinkley’s side produced its worst start to the season – and the Swans took full advantage.
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Rejuvenated Sydney breathed fresh life into its season on Saturday, the Swans overcoming shocking inaccuracy to deal Port Adelaide’s finals ambitions a blow with an impressive 19-point win.
Fresh from their second bye of the season and with arguably their strongest line-up of an injury-ravaged season, Dean Cox’s men led from start to finish to move within striking distance of the top eight with a 6-8 record.
In a game where Sydney largely held sway against disappointing Port, Callum Mills, Isaac Heeney, and Brodie Grundy were the prime movers around the ball, but in perfect conditions at Adelaide Oval, the Swans struggled mightily in front of goal.
The wasteful visitors led by 16 points at three-quarter time having amassed a score of 5.16 for all of their good work.
The Swans got the radar working in the final term, kicking 4.1 to snuff out any chance of a Power comeback.
Thankfully for Sydney fans, the Power didn’t fare much better kicking for goal in a disjointed display that brings its post-bye bounce to a grinding halt.
Back-to-back wins had Ken Hinkley’s men believing again, but the coach will be left wondering why so many of his charges were below their best as his side slipped to a 6-8 record.
Zak Butters was not one of those, the star onballer outstanding in a strangely muted performance by the Power, with the final scoreline not telling the true story of how poorly they played.
“Sydney was really up to the game coming off their bye, you could see they’d had some time off, and we were similar,” Power coach Ken Hinkley said.
“Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve been able to produce what they did to us a little bit, but today we certainly didn’t start the game the way we needed to, and we chased the whole day.
“Their pressure was really strong early and once you create that mindset in the opposition, you can tend to make some more perceived mistakes.
“We couldn’t get any entries, we had 35 entries for the day, so if you don’t get entries, you’re gonna find it really to hard score.
“To be fair, the scoreboard was flattering.”
AMARTEY A-MISSING
With so much on the line, Port got off to a terrible start, recording its first goalless opening term of the season, with the return of 0.2 its lowest first-term score since Round 7 of the 2022 season.
Playing his first game of season after pre-season ankle surgery, Errol Gulden was lively early with Callum Mills and Chad Warner also influential as the visitors dominated play.
But for all of the Swans’ midfield superiority, they led the inside 50 count 15-5 at one stage, the visitors didn’t capitalise on the scoreboard, kicking a wasteful 1.6 to lead by 10 points at the first break.
Joel Amartey, who came into the side along with Tom Papley, Matt Roberts and Gulden, was one of the worst offenders on a ground that he has fond memories of.
Almost a year to the day after he kicked a career-high 9.1 from 10 kicks in a win against Adelaide, Amartey booted 0.3 in the first half from gettable set shots.
Amartey’s woes continued, the big forward finishing with 0.6 and two out on the full.
“It wasn’t ideal, but to give ourselves opportunities … that’s probably the first thing to look at,” Sydney coach Dean Cox said post-match.
“That’s something that we’ve probably lacked, certainly marks inside 50, an ability to have shots, but previously, we were the second-best set shot team (in the competition).
“Tonight, we were nowhere near it, so it was one of those frustrating nights ahead of goal.”
BUTTERS’ BEST
Butters was far and away Port’s best player in the first half, with a game-high 21 possessions and a goal inside the first minute of the second quarter that sparked a bright patch for the home side.
Jason Horne-Francis rolled through another shortly after, but the Swans regained the ascendancy despite their ongoing accuracy issues.
Will Hayward bucked the trend in eye-catching fashion, the star Swan booting back-to-back running goals in a minute to set up an 18-point lead at the main break, with the Power managing just two goals in the worst halftime score of the season.
Scoreboard
POWER 0.2 2.4 4.6 7.10 (52)
SWANS 1.6 4.10 5.16 9.17 (71)
PHELAN’S BEST POWER: Butters, Powell-Pepper, Rozee, Burgoyne, Richards. SWANS: Heeney, Mills, Blakey, Grundy, Hayward, McInerney, Warner, Roberts.
GOALS POWER: Rioli, Richards, Powell-Pepper, Horne-Francis, Georgiades, Butters, Byrne-Jones. SWANS: Hayward 3, Heeney 2, McLean, McInerney, Campbell, Blakey.
INJURIES POWER: Berry (illness – late withdrawal). SWANS: Nil.
UMPIRES Foot, Fischer, Broadbent, Dore
33,576 at ADELAIDE OVAL
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
JASON PHELAN’S VOTES
3 Heeney (Syd)
2 Mills (Syd)
1 Butters (Port)
Originally published as Port Adelaide dealt huge finals blow by a resurgent Isaac Heeney and Sydney in Round 15
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