Sorry Dees cop whack
PORT Adelaide has responded perfectly to being overrun by St Kilda last week by dismantling an insipid Melbourne by 51 points at the Gabba on Thursday night.
While coach Ken Hinkley saw a much-improved fourquarter performance from his men, his counterpart Simon Goodwin cut a frustrated figure from the opening bounce.
The Power kicked the first six goals and never looked like being caught.
Karl Amon did as he pleased on a wing for Port, with Travis Boak and Ollie Wines powerful through the midfield.
Melbourne’s skill level was well below, and the season looks in serious trouble ahead of next Wednesday’s trip to Adelaide to face the Crows.
Goodwin lamented his side’s failure to capitalise on Max Gawn’s ruck dominance against Brisbane Lions last week, and while it improved that area of its game in the first term, the effort did not last.
Melbourne held a 10-5 advantage in the clearances at quarter-time but by the next break, it trailed 17-15.
It is hard to fathom how a team with Gawn at the helm, and players such as Christian Petracca, Jack Viney and Clayton Oliver at his feet, cannot gain consistent control of the stoppages, especially given Gawn is almost always giving his teammates first crack. \
Port was smashed by the
Saints in the same area last week but hit back strongly in the final three quarters against the Dees.
Amon is not the biggest name in Port’s midfield unit, but he was the man who most torched Melbourne in the first two quarters at the Gabba.
Stationed on a wing, mostly opposed to Nathan Jones, Amon gathered a game-high 17 possessions to go with two clearances before the main break.
His left boot was damaging and he rarely wasted a disposal, then took a good oldfashioned hanger soon before the siren to give the small crowd in attendance something to cheer about. Some of his best work came when he worked into defence to help out and used his lethal kick to set up another Port attack.