Form guide
Port Adelaide
Form: WWWWWLLLLLWWWLL
Ranked: 8th
St Kilda
Form: LLWLLLWLLLLWLLL
Ranked: 16th
Past 5: Power 2 v Saints 3
Past 23: Power 13 v Saints 10
Last time
Port Adelaide hosted the Saints in the opening round of 2012 and took out a famous four-point victory at AAMI Stadium.
Round 1, 2012: Port Adelaide 13.11 (89) def St Kilda 13.7 (85) at AAMI Stadium
The fine print
AFL Round 17
Port Adelaide v St Kilda
Saturday 20 July
Etihad Stadium
Bourke Street, Docklands, Victoria
First bounce: 7:40pm (AEST) / 7:10pm (ACST)
Live Social: #pafclive #aflsaintspower
Pre-match function at Bells Hotel, 157 Moray Street, South Melbourne, 4:00pm
After match function in Victory Room B, Level 1, Etihad Stadium
Buy tickets
Match information
Broadcast guide
The three
1. Travis Boak
It’s hard to go past Travis Boak as the club’s in-form player following his sterling performance against the Hawks last Saturday. Boak had over 30 possessions and was the only player to influence around the ground for all four quarters. Boak’s strong first year as the Port Adelaide captain has been studded with standout efforts and he recently became the club’s first player to crack the top forty in the league’s official player ratings. His class around stoppages and his ability to set up play inside 50 will be essential on the fast Etihad Stadium deck.
2. Angus Monfries
Monfries booted four goals against Essendon at Etihad Stadium a fortnight ago and will be returning to familiar territory again on Saturday, having played with the Bombers for eight seasons before joining Port. He was one of the Power’s better forwards against Hawthorn and looked dangerous in the club’s only other match at Etihad this year when he had numerous scoring opportunities against the Blues. He was brought to the club to impact in the midfield and up forward and has delivered on that in various ways throughout the year. Another bag, or at least helping create some scoreboard impact, would be a good result for him against the Saints.
3. Hamish Hartlett
‘Hammer’ was the best on ground the last time these sides met – netting maximum votes for both the club’s best and fairest and the Brownlow Medal count. He's been Port's best in a number of games this year and is one of the few players in the league who can turn a game on his own boot. He struggled against Hawthorn last week and is learning to break a tag, but could play himself back into form against the Saints. If he does, his work with the ball in his hands will add some X-factor to a must-win game for his team.
Final Word
Port Adelaide are slim favourites for Saturday and its record at Etihad Stadium has surely played on the minds of punters leading into this game.
The Power hasn’t won at this ground since it defeated Richmond at the end of 2010 and has since played and lost at the ground eight times.
While this Port Adelaide side is nothing like the one that has lost the majority of those matches, it still hasn’t taken four points away from its other two games at the ground this year, despite having plenty of opportunity to do so.
The team’s balance should be injected with some experience for Saturday in the form of versatile forward Justin Westhoff and potentially veteran Dom Cassisi – both play their roles superbly.
But the Power also loses its most experienced player and undoubtedly one of its best taggers in Kane Cornes due to suspension.
Although it was comprehensively beaten by the Hawks last week, Port will take some valuable lessons away from that game and its other recent loss against the Dons.
While one of those lessons would be a simple emphasis on kicking straight in front of the sticks (unlike its effort against the Bombers where it returned 3.9 in the final quarter) another would be a valuable reinforcement of the need to play pressure footy well.
Port knew the Hawks were the best contested side in the league and it actually managed to win more contested ball in the game last week.
But it was the high-pressure brand of footy Hawthorn brought to the game that forced the Power to overuse the ball and cough up possession on numerous occasions.
The Power has run over opponents when it has combined its own pressure-football with its strong fitness base.
Just look at the results it had against Collingwood and Sydney in late June.
Bringing both parts of that important combination on Saturday night will keep the Power in line for a positive result.
If it doesn’t, it will face a stiff challenge from a St Kilda side playing good footy and steeling itself for a big game.
Current odds
Port Adelaide 1.70 – 2.15 St Kilda
