PORT SIGNAL WARNING
EVERY time Port Adelaide have dared to dream of September this season it very quickly turned to despair but at long last the Power is back in the eight, and the way they’re playing might just stay there.
It may last just 24 hours this round but with two winnable games of the season left (against North Melbourne and Fremantle), Port Adelaide are finding form at the right time.
Yesterday’s 47-point win over Sydney made it consecutive victories for the first time since Round 6 and saw them leapfrog Adelaide into eighth spot by 0.3 per cent – thanks to Cam Sutcliffe’s goal after the final siren.
They blew the game open with a five-minute onslaught to start the third quarter and when Charlie Dixon put them 34 points up with a brilliant sidestep and left foot snap, the roar that the Power hasn’t always heard at Adelaide Oval this season, returned.
The Power played with genuine team spirit.
They tackled hard, ran for each other, celebrated each other’s goals like they were the match winner and when Swan Ryan Clarke cannoned into Riley Bonner late he was set upon by a Power mob.
Port’s forward pressure was immense, Connor Rozee dominated and they laid 26-6 tackles inside 50m including two to Todd Marshall that resulted in two goals, and Marshall was still going late in the final term when he ran down James Bell with his eighth tackle of the game.
The new-look ruck combination of Paddy Ryder and Peter Ladhams took control, the forwadline was functional and the half-back line almost impenetrable.
Dan Houston’s arrival as a bona fide midfielder has come at the perfect time for Port – right as Travis Boak starts to cop the heavy tag.
Houston’s ball use makes him dangerous and he’s able to win his own footy as well.
He had nine disposals and two clearances in the first quarter against Sydney on his way to 17 for the game.
His highlights reel included a one-handed mark against Josh Kennedy on the wing, a second-quarter set shot goal and a perfectly weighted pass to hit Ryder inside 50m.
“The Power played with genuine team spirit”