IF at first you don't succeed, try, try again. A week after seeking the perfect start to the AFL home-and-away season, Port Adelaide tries again to claim the success it deserved but was harshly denied against Brisbane.
With the same spirit shown at the Gabba, more on the scoreboard, less work for club doctor Mark Fisher (who would be bulk billing) ... and Port Adelaide will be back on the winners' list, starting this season's 12-game program at Adelaide Oval with victory against Hawthorn.
And, most importantly, there will be the appropriate finish to the second public tribute to club great Russell Ebert after his State funeral at Alberton Oval in November.
Port Adelaide returns to Adelaide Oval six months after the disastrous home preliminary final against the Western Bulldogs ended with questions - and dismay - about the efforts of the players in a game that ended before it began.
Their intent certainly was not to be questioned from the 11-point loss to Brisbane at the Gabba on Saturday night. A team that does not want to be defined by the 2021 preliminary final result put up a strong response to start changing the narrative on Port Adelaide.
"We all understand who we want to be - we want Port Adelaide to be a good football team," senior coach Ken Hinkley says. "We know what defines a good football team by the way it plays.
"We want to be that football club that is really consistent. We have gone some way to creating that. But we still have a bit to do.
"Last week was a really good example of what we expect. This game is tough, it is hard and it is brutal. You don't always get to win. But you must have a way about you that lets you hold your head up.
"If we can play like that consistently, we will be okay."
SECOND CHANCE
"Eager, determined, hard working."
Port Adelaide development coach Tyson Goldsack, who has worked with the defensive group at Alberton, could not have been more enthusiastic of how Sam Skinner has forced his way back to AFL football - and into the line-up this weekend.
Skinner - 24, 198cm, 98kg - gets his second chance in the AFL after playing just three games in his four seasons (2017-2020) at Brisbane where his opportunities were limited by the need to have three rounds of reconstructive knee surgery.
Skinner enters the Port Adelaide defence to partner captain Tom Jonas and the "miracle man of the week" Trent McKenzie, who has overcome all concerns from a hyperextended left knee, in the key defensive roles. His work during the pre-season underlines how Skinner has earned his selection on merit more so than necessity from the absence of All-Australian Aliir Aliir (ankle) and Tom Clurey (knee).
Fellow defender and team leader Darcy Byrne-Jones gave a clear insight on what Port Adelaide fans can expect from Skinner saying: "Sam is a big man and aggressive in the air. He has had to tone down some of his aggression at training so that the guys don't get hurt. That is the kind of player he is. If he does come into the team, the Hawthorn forwards would be pretty nervous standing under him with high balls, that is for sure."
SECOND NEW FACE
Josh Sinn, draft pick No. 12 in the 2021 AFL national draft, was close to selection for the season-opener. He gets his AFL start on Saturday night, becoming the second new face in AFL ranks for Port Adelaide in 2022.
Sinn follows Jackson Mead, who remains in the line-up as the medical substitute.
Noted for his accurate left-foot kick, Sinn begins his AFL story with the Port Adelaide coaching panel knowing the 19-year-old will not be unsettled should his personal assignment be changed by the team's need to cover injuries or to adapt to a tactical challenge from Hawthorn.
"We are really excited by what Josh will bring - he can play inside, he can play outside, he can play both ends of the ground. He does bring great flexibility," Hinkley said.
SECOND EFFORT
Actually, it is the fourth time this season that Port Adelaide has had to work to an attack without All-Australian key forward Charlie Dixon (ankle) - but the second time in AFL home-and-away football that the go-to men in attack are the new combination of rising star Mitch Georgiades, Todd Marshall and Greater Western Sydney recruit Jeremy Finlayson.
After delivering two goals of the team's 10 against Brisbane, this group is challenged to rediscover the synergy that delivered half the team score against Adelaide in the summer Showdown at Richmond Oval.
Forwards coach Nathan Bassett has challenged his forwards to focus on their second efforts saying: "It is much about their consistency at the contest - and their follow-up (work). (Against Brisbane) it was not so much about their aerial contests. It was more about the opportunities missed - and the lack of follow-up when the ball was on the ground."
SECOND OPPONENT
Hawthorn is at the start of a new era. After 17 seasons of working to former Port Adelaide assistant coach Alastair Clarkson's successful program, the Hawthorn players now take direction from Brownlow Medallist and former captain Sam Mitchell.
"They are quite brave and aggressive with the ball," notes Hinkley from the small sample of Hawthorn games under Mitchell's watch. "They reflect what Sam was as a player. He certainly would encourage his players to play - and I hear it in their speak - with freedom. He's letting them play ...
"They are already well drilled. Their defence and offence is not too far apart.Their game is not favouring one (theme) more than another. They have brought in two good players (experienced pair, captain and ruckman Ben McEvoy and sharpshooter Luke Breust); they are a strong, hard, tough footy team. So it will be a battle for us.
"It will be challenging ... and in this competition, where you are looking to win, the opposition always creates a problem. We need to concentrate on what we do well."
How does Hawthorn play under Mitchell? The statisticians at Champion Data last week - in Hawthorn's 20-point win against North Melbourne - noted that the ball movement from defence went via the MCG boundary 63 per cent of the time. Adelaide Oval does have a different profile than the G, however.
The refit at Hawthorn is noted by Mitchell picking the rawest line-up (with average experience of 69 AFL matches) fielded by the club since round 7, 2010.
SECOND SALUTE
Tuesday, November 16 last year at Alberton Oval - the memories of Russell Ebert's life made for an emotional farewell to Port Adelaide's greatest player.
Saturday night at Adelaide Oval - 54 years after Ebert started his club-record career of 392 senior games - needs to be remembered as the night Port Adelaide honoured its greatest son with its football.
"We want to show great respect to Russell and his family," said Hinkley. "Our players won't miss (understanding the significance of the night)."
Ebert wore No. 7 at the start - before honouring club tradition by donning the No. 1 guernsey as captain from 1974-1978 - and was back in the No. 7 in his return from North Melbourne in 1980. Wingman Xavier Duursma will step out of the No. 7 jumper on Saturday night to wear No. 50.
All that is left to achieve is making Adelaide Oval a seventh heaven on Saturday night.
BIRD SEED
(the little stuff that counts most)
Where: Adelaide Oval
When: Saturday, March 26, 2022
Time: 7.10pm (SA time)
In honour of: Russell Ebert
Last time: Port Adelaide 13.9 (87) d Hawthorn 7.11 (53) at the Docklands, west Melbourne in round 16, July 3 last year
Overall: Port Adelaide 21, Hawthorn 16
Past five games (most recent first): W W L L W
Scoring average: Port Adelaide 94, Hawthorn 89
Tightest winning margin - Port Adelaide by four points (84-80) at the MCG, in round 18, August 3, 2003; Hawthorn by three points twice, (64-61) at York Park, Launceston, in round 11, June 2, 2018; (97-94) at the MCG in the preliminary final, September 20, 2014.
Biggest winning margin - Port Adelaide by 117 points (188-71) at Football Park, in round 13, June 17, 2005; Hawthorn by 165 points (197-32) at the MCG, round 21, August 13, 2011.
By venues - Adelaide Oval (4-1), Football Park (8-6), MCG (4-4), Docklands (2-0), Waverley Park (1-1), York Park (2-4).
By States - South Australia (12-7), Victoria (7-5), Tasmania (2-4).
