Seventh vs Eighth will face off in round 14 of the 2013 AFL premiership this weekend and amazingly Port Adelaide are that eighth place side. Going into this season if anyone, even the most ardent Power fan, had told you they’d be pushing for a place in the finals late in the season you would have returned them a strange look indeed, but Port are now a genuine finals threat. This weekend at AAMI Stadium in Adelaide the Power host Collingwood, the seventh placed team, in a vital game that will greatly effect both teams ability to reach their goals this season, goals that have probably been re-evaluated since the season began. The Magpies have had a tough run with injuries so far this season but even they wouldn’t use that as an excuse for their position on the ladder. The Pies did however improve their win loss ratio with three straight wins before their bye last weekend. Port, after winning their first 5 games of the season, and subsequently losing their next 5, shocked the competition with a win over the reigning premiers Sydney last weekend. That win has sky rocketed the relevance of this game and will ensure a big crowd both attends, and watches this vital game on Saturday evening.
PREVIOUS FORM
The Power had a great win over Sydney last week.
After losing 5 games in a row, the Power have bounced back in sensational style in their past two games with an expected easy win over GWS followed by one of the upsets of the season, an 18 point win over a real premiership contender, the Sydney Swans. The Power didn’t start the game so well trailing by 17 points at quarter time but from then on they controlled the majority of play as they ran away with one of the best wins in the club’s history. The Port midfield led the way with Ebert, Cornes, Broadbent and Wingard all in the best and Justin Westhoff continuing his remarkable 2013 form around the ground and up forward. Chad Wingard was the real star though gathering 20 possessions and booting 3 crucial goals. The win catapulted the Power into 8th spot and places them in a position where they can genuinely think about making the finals for the first time since 2007 when they made the Grand Final.
The Magpies are coming off the bye this weekend, and before that they got their first mini winning streak of the season going by putting together three victories over the Lions, Demons and Bulldogs. While the standard of the opposition wasn’t high it was more about getting some wins on the board and increasing the measly percentage they had (compared to teams around them). Neither of the three wins were overly impressive, and as stated by coach Nathan Buckley and the players post match(s), there was not one four quarter performance. The last win over the Bulldogs was a great example of this as the Pies jumped out to a massive lead early on, only to be pegged back in the second half and notch a rather demure 34 point win. The Pies will have to play better this weekend though as Port are yet another step up in class as their draw starts to get harder now.
COLLINGWOOD PREVIEW
It’s been a stuttering season for the Magpies and most of it has come down to them not being able to get their best 22 on the field at any one time. Of course Dayne Beams or Clinton Young haven’t played a senior game yet and first choice players Alan Toovey and Alex Fasolo are out for the rest of the season. But within the gloom and doom that the media has tried to portray at Collingwood there has been plenty of shining lights, and one of them has been Paul Seedsman. Seedsman, in his third season has stepped up this year and is now a large part of the future of the club going forward. Still though the Magpies have their problems and the one stand out weakness all year has been the forward line, whether it be the forwards ability to effectively apply a vice like forward pressure, or the ability to assist consistent scorers Travis Cloke and Jamie Elliott. Coach Nathan Buckley may be waiting for the return of Lachlan Keeffe to senior action though as the 200cm + defender could become part of a rotation plan with Ben Reid up forward and down back. Andrew Krakouer is a big chance to return after some problems off field before the bye, while Alan Didak may also come into contention after being omitted for the Bulldogs game.
One positive this week is the almost certain return of Luke Ball who missed the Dogs game and the tough midfielder should be on the plane to Adelaide and should take his place in Saturday’s team. A few Pies players had minor surgery during the two week break with Scott Pendlebury getting his wisdom teeth taken out, while Travis Cloke had surgery on the finger(s) he injured earlier on in the season. Both are expected to take their place in the side this weekend. Collingwood need this win for so many reason, but more so for their confidence going forward because the draw only gets harder as it goes along. If the Magpies still have dreams about finishing top four they can not lose a game like this, they just can’t afford to.
The Magpies will need the likes of Ball and Krakouer back if they are to succeed where very few have so far in 2013, winning a game against Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium.
OPPOSITION ANALYSIS
It’s been a remarkable turnaround for Port Adelaide in 2013 as so far, after just 12 games they have already racked up more wins than last season. The change has come about largely thanks to new coach Ken Hinkley and his coaching group who have changed the way Port play, adding a defensive edge to the team that had been missing. Port had decent group of senior players when Hinkley arrived but he knew youth was going to be the approach going forward and that faith in the club’s youngsters has Port sitting in the top 8 with 10 games remaining. Port’s youngsters have delivered with the likes of Wines, Wingard, Neade, Hombsch, Jonas, O’Shea and Pittard all contributing to the rise up the ladder. Port still rely on the return to form of some of their experienced players though and none has returned to better form that Kane Cornes, who in his 14th AFL season may arguably be playing his best football. Port have talent on every line and it’s no shock to see where they are when you look at players they do have.
The Power midfield is probably their strength even if the stats don’t completely back this up. Port’s central brigade only ranks 11th for clearances but it does seem to be more effective than that, or at least it has been in the 7 victories that Port have had so far this season. The midfield is led by club stalwarts Kane Cornes and Dominic Cassisi along with ex Eagle Brad Ebert who has been a great recruit for the club. This season though the addition of Chad Wingard and Oliver Wines has really given this area a boost and will ensure the Power are able to be competitive against a Collingwood midfield that is still missing Beams and Dale Thomas. The ruck isn’t as strong as an region for the Power though with the club swapping between Matthew Lobbe and Jarrad Redden throughout the season and it now seems that Lobbe is now the number one choice. Port Adelaide only rank 13th for average hitouts but their opponents this week are struggling even more, currently sitting last in the hit outs category, which is a clear sign that Darren Jolly isn’t playing anywhere near his best at the moment. Most AFL games these days are won or lost in the midfield and the battle between these two highly talented groups will go a long way to deciding this game.
Chad Wingard has made an immediate impact this season.
Port’s forward line is dangerous and at the same time still slightly unsettled. Schulz, Westhoff and Monfries are the three main stays of this forward line but surely Port want to include John Butcher in this group going forward, and the young tall may well be recalled this weekend. There has been one great assistant to the scoring this year though with Chad Wingard, despite spending plenty of time in the midfield, sitting second on the club’s goal kicking table with 22 goals. Wingard kicked an all important goal last week and if you ask any club in the AFL goal kicking midfielders are as valuable as any other playing stock. There’s really no shock that the Magpies and Port find themselves side by side on the total goals list as scoring is usually a great indicator of where a team is on the ladder anyway. If there’s one area Port may be able to exploit the Magpies it may be on the fast break going forward with the speed of Neade and Wingard and the goal accuracy of Monfries and Gray, if the Power can clear the ball out of the middle, or the Magpies forward line they will do some damage. Collingwood has improved their counter attack defense a little bit lately though with the inclusion of Ben Sinclair and Marley Williams to cover the loss of Alan Toovey. The Magpies defense is still strong in a traditional manner with Brown, Reid and Maxwell all able to restrict the influence of any calibre of tall forward in the competition.
Port’s backline had to change leading into 2013 as they lost Troy Chaplin to the Tigers during the trade period. The hope was that youngster Jackson Trengove would fill that absent key position defender spot but injuries have slowed him this season and Alipate Carlile has been left alone at times down back with very little tall assistance. Somehow though Ken Hinkley has created a defensive mindset amongst his team that has covered some of the weakness that the club has down back. Port currently have only conceded the 4th least amount of points, and while the Magpies don’t sit too far back in 7th it’s a remarkable achievement for a young and developing team to be so effective in restricting the opposition from scoring. That’s not to say that Port don’t have a defensive structure in place though, with Carlile well supported by a group of youngsters that include Pittard, Heath, Jonas, Broadbent and O’Shea, which shows what Hinkley has in mind going forward. How Port cope with Travis Cloke this week will be one of the big questions, as the leagues’ best contested mark is as dangerous as any forward in the competition at the moment. This may not be where the match is won or lost but what happens inside the Magpies forward zone will have a large bearing on the match, that’s for sure.
The next three weeks will tell us more about just how good the “new” Port Adelaide are, with games against the Magpies, Bombers and Hawks following on from their win over Sydney. They passed the first test successfully last week and it will be interesting to see how they fare over the next few weeks. Hinkley will continue to build on his policy to develop the list through getting games into youngsters although he’ll be hoping captain Travis Boak is right to go this week. Trengove is also an outside chance of returning but the likes of Butcher and Boak are the more likely inclusions. The Power will carry a lot of belief into this game and if their inspirational skipper does return this could be a tight battle throughout.
TEAMS
Port Adelaide
B: Jackson Trengove, Alipate Carlile, Thomas Jonas
HB: Tom Logan, Jack Hombsch, Cameron O’Shea
C: Kane Cornes, Domenic Cassisi, Angus Monfries
HF: Chad Wingard, Justin Westhoff, Andrew Moore
F: Robbie Gray, Jay Schulz, Jake Neade
Foll: Matthew Lobbe, Oliver Wines, Travis Boak
Int: Brad Ebert, Hamish Hartlett, Matthew Broadbent, Jasper Pittard
Emerg: Matt Thomas, John Butcher, Paul Stewart
In: T.Boak, J.Trengove
Out: M.Thomas, C.Heath
Collingwood
B: Nathan Brown, Nick Maxwell, Heritier O’Brien
HB: Jordan Russell, Heath Shaw, Marley Williams
C: Steele Sidebottom, Brent Macaffer, Luke Ball
HF: Jamie Elliott, Quinten Lynch, Dane Swan
F: Ben Kennedy, Travis Cloke, Josh Thomas
Foll: Ben Hudson, Scott Pendlebury, Jarryd Blair
Int: Kyle Martin, Ben Sinclair, Paul Seedsman, Sam Dwyer
Emerg: Andrew Krakouer, Martin Clarke, Adam Oxley
In: L.Ball, B.Hudson, J.Russell
Out: D.Jolly (toe), B.Reid (hamstring), A.Oxley
TIP
The return of Luke Ball just might be the difference here.
With decent weather predicted for Saturday afternoon and evening in Adelaide on Saturday we should be in for a high quality game between two sides who have plenty of talent and are exciting to watch when they are on. Collingwood need this win though, there’s no other way of putting it, because a loss will damage any slight chance they have of finishing in the top four at the end of the home and away season. The return of Ball and Krakouer will add experience to a Pies side that seemed to struggle late in it’s last few games which may be a sign that some of it’s youngsters were really looking for the bye.
Certain teams seem to relish the bye and come out fired up the week after, as Port did last week so it will be interesting to see how the week off affects the men in black and white. The Powers’ midfield and defense will be relied upon to put pressure on the Pies ball carriers throughout the game. The Pies will be primed for this game though, and have a stunning record at this ground in recent times and I believe they will start the second half of the season in good fashion and record a tough win over an improving home side.
PIES BY 19 POINTS.
SportsMatt 