Port are legit.
We’re not going to lie, despite their 8-2 start to the season, we weren’t yet convinced that Port were legit. Their defeat of Richmond, in one of the games of the season, has changed our minds. Not just for the win but for how it was achieved. After twice surrendering big leads, they ran away from the Premiers in a blistering final quarter.
How the Game Was Won
The Power were made to work hard for these four premiership points and work hard they did. While it took them to the final quarter to break the Tigers, it was achieved through a relentlessness at and around the contest. By the games end they had won 80 more disposals and just about doubled the Tigers in clearances and inside 50s.
Ollie Wines and Travis Boak were relentless in the middle to combine for 37 contested possessions and 17 clearances. It was no surprise that they would be at the centre of Port’s scene setting goal to open the final term.
The Power simply refused to be denied. Despite trailing at 3/4 time, it was apparent early in the final term that they were the only possible winner of this match. They would ultimately keep the Tigers scoreless for the quarter and kick away to a deserved victory and send an ominous message to the rest of the competition.
What the Coaches Said
Port Adelaide
Ken Hinkley praised his team’s resilience post match. “I think they’ve been really resilient this year,” he said. “They’ve been challenged a number of times, and we’ve talked about that a lot, and tonight was another one of those challenges against a great team. An amazing team in Richmond off a four day break. Didn’t have their captain. A lot of credit goes to Richmond they way they played and we were able to be dominant in that last quarter. Maybe we got a reward for some of the work we put in for the first three quarters.”
Richmond
Damien Hardwick identified the centre clearance as a pivotal battle ground in the contest. “I think it was a great game up until three quarter time. I thought we tried our hardest but the centre bounces are so important here,” he said. “We know its an easy ground to defend if you get the ball in your front half. It’s pretty easy to get numbers behind it. The weight of numbers tolled in the end. I think centre bounces were five to 20. So your automatically 15 times going into your forward half which is really hard to get out of here.”
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PORT ADELAIDE 4.4 8.6 10.11 13.15 (93)
RICHMOND 3.3 7.3 11.6 11.6 (72)
GOALS
Port Adelaide: Gray 3, Dixon 2, Ladhams 2, Amon, Butters, Houston, Rockliff, Wines, Woodcock
Richmond: Riewoldt 3, Aarts 2, Chol 2, Lambert, Lynch, Martin, Stack
BEST
Port Adelaide: Gray, Boak, Wines, Butters, Rockliff, Amon
Richmond: Bolton, Short, Riewoldt, Vlastuin, Chol
INJURIES
Port Adelaide: Rozee (heel) replaced in selected side by Sutcliffe
Richmond: Nil