Power and Tigers locked in testing battle for top-four status at Adelaide OvalMichelangelo Rucci,
The Advertiser
30 June 2017PORT Adelaide (fourth, 8-5) this season has not beaten a team in the AFL top eight.
By contrast, Richmond (sixth, 8-5) has beaten a side ranked above it – Melbourne (fifth, 8-5). And the Tigers have won against another top-eight team, West Coast (seventh, 7-6).
In this AFL season of erratic form lines – and last-minute thrillers, four of which have hurt Richmond – there will be that reflection at the end of the home-and-away season: “If only ...”
“It is what it is - we can’t do too much about it,” says Power coach Ken Hinkley of the commentary that comes with Port Adelaide’s status in their year’s race to September’s top-eight finals, in particular to a top-four finish for the first time since 2007.
There is plenty to be done in reshaping this repetitive tag slapped on the Power players on Saturday night at Adelaide Oval in a top-eight battle that does more than continue the musical chairs theme for AFL rankings this weekend.
Or will it?
Does Richmond’s scalp appease those who are eager for Port Adelaide to put a significant notch in its belt?
Or is there a reluctance to accept the value of a win against the Tigers, a team that - like Port Adelaide - has just one very bad result and many competitive battles this season?
And would Richmond get the credit is craves – and new merit as a top-four contender – by beating the Power at Adelaide Oval?
This is the 29th Port Adelaide-Richmond game in an AFL premiership race.
There is an extraordinary similarity in how the Power and Tigers have reached this match after accepting the need to change their playbook after failure last season.
In defence, Port Adelaide - with the new, young partnerships formed around Jack Hombsch, Tom Jonas and Tom Clurey – is the league’s meanest unit conceding just 77 points a match.
Dustin Martin of the Tigers avoids a tackle by Bryce Gibbs of the Blues. Picture: Getty Images
Richmond, with the sound tandem with key defenders Alex Rance and most-improved David Astbury, is No. 2 giving up 78 points.
In attack, Port Adelaide – with the main man being Charlie Dixon who leads the league in contested marks – is protecting its defence with league-best numbers for inside-50s.
Richmond – with its lone tower being Jack Riewoldt – is No. 3 for creating inside-50s ... and has Dustin Martin, the league’s most assertive player for taking the ball inside-50.
Like a fairytale, the Power and Tigers can stand face-to-face asking “who is the fairest of them all”.
The question is, how will the rest of the AFL react to the answer?
KEEP YOUR EYE ON1. MATCH-UPS. Coaches will repeatedly say it is players who win matches. And the pundits will note it is the coaches who put the players in roles that decide games. Port Adelaide has some critical decisions on how to work its defence around a Richmond attack that has a “smalls” around key forward Jack Riewoldt. Deciding who stands Riewoldt - either the man for every challenge in Tom Jonas or the close-checking Tom Clurey - shall make for an interesting debate between senior coach Ken Hinkley and defence coach Nathan Bassett.
Charlie Dixon of the Power celebrates a goal against Collingwood Picture: GETTY IMAGES
2. STYLE. Richmond has changed up its playbook (as has Port Adelaide) after disappointing results last season when the Tigers ranked 13th. There certainly is no fear among the Tigers to back in their team-mates when they are facing one-on-one contests. Richmond leads the AFL for long kicks. Port Adelaide leads the league for contested marks (with key forward Charlie Dixon leading the AFL in this category). It is a duel for “brave” footballers.
3. DEFENCE. Port Adelaide ranks No.1, conceding just 77 points - a record in the club’s AFL journey. Richmond is at No. 2, giving up an average 78 points. Again, the match-ups are testing of the coaches. “Richmond are quite small in their front half so we’ve got to think about some of those options,” says Hinkley.
4. ATTACK. Solid defences at both clubs has been built on keeping the ball in the forward half. Port Adelaide is ranked No. 1 for inside-50s with an average 61.1 inside-50s. Richmond is No. 3 at an average of 57.3. One of these systems has to crumble. This makes the hit-out to advantage - and first use - theme with competing ruckmen Patrick Ryder (Power) and Toby Nankervis (Tigers) critical to the game’s script.
5. GRAY or MARTIN. Who has the greater influence on the match result - and scoreboard. Will it be Port Adelaide’s new master in attack, Robbie Gray? Will it be Richmond’s gamebreaking midfielder who slips forward, Dustin Martin? And who is tougher to shadow? It is the game within the game.
THE QUOTEWe can’t deny it (Port Adelaide has not beaten a top-eight team for its eight wins this season). It’s there. We’ll deal with it and get our opportunities.
WHO’S HOTROBBIE GRAY (Port Adelaide)
A whopping 146 SuperCoach points last week, well over his season average of 94 points a game.
WHO’S NOT
DION PRESTIA (Richmond)
Just 58 SuperCoach points for the midfielder last week and a season average of 78.
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