PORT ADELAIDE and Melbourne will meet in Round 1 at the MCG for the second time on Saturday.
Last time the sides met at that venue in Round 1 it was in 2013, when under new coach Ken Hinkley the Power shocked the home side to win by 79 points.
The sides have previously met 10 times at the MCG with the Demons enjoying eight wins by an average margin of 31.5 points.
The Power’s two wins were by an average of 42 points.
Overall Port Adelaide has won 20 of the 33 meetings between the sides.
Port Adelaide’s record at the MCG reads 19 wins, one draw and 25 losses in 45 games there, but it has won four of its six matches there in the last three seasons.
Saturday’s game will see the Power’s Jack Watts come up against his former side for the first time, having missed last season’s encounter at Adelaide Oval.
Port Adelaide will have four AFL debutants and two club debutants in its side. The last time the Power had six debutants was in that Round 1 encounter in 2013 against the Demons when Ollie Wines, Jake Neade and Kane Mitchell debuted alongside Angus Monfries, Campbell Heath and Lewis Stephenson.
In Round 1, 2010 Mitch Banner, Cam Hitchcock, Andrew Moore and Jackson Trengove debuted along with recruits Jay Schulz and Scott Harding, when the Power beat North Melbourne.
Melbourne will have two club debutants of its own with former Collingwood VFL best and fairest Marty Hore and North Melbourne recruit Corey Wagner to pull on the Demons guernsey for the first time.
The game will be Power star Robbie Gray’s 200th and Melbourne’s All-Australian ruckman Max Gawn’s 100th.
Melbourne was the No.1 centre clearance team in the AFL and by a wide margin in 2018, so Max Gawn and co will again be critical in that part of the ground.
The Demons gave up an average of 108.5 points in their two JLT Series losses, which goes to show how leaky they can be particularly without the suspended Steven May.
The teams
Port Adelaide has made just one change to the side which played in its final JLT Community Series game against North Melbourne with the injured Jarrod Lienert dropping out of the 23-man side.
Zak Butters, Xavier Duursma, Willem Drew and Connor Rozee will make their AFL debuts, while recruits Ryan Burton and Scott Lycett will suit up for the Power for the first time after crossing from Hawthorn and West Coast respectively.
Brisbane recruit Sam Mayes is the travelling emergency.
A one-week suspension to Gold Coast recruit Steven May means a slight reshape of the Demons defence.
But they’ve been boosted by the return to full fitness of co-captains Nathan Jones and Jack Viney, along with star forward Jake Melksham.
Marty Hore will make his AFL debut while North Melbourne recruit Corey Wagner will shape up in Demons colours for the first time.
The coaches
Michael Voss – Port Adelaide senior assistant coach:
“They played a really strong brand of footy.”
“Clearly, they bring a real contested element to the game that’s going to test us – we have to match them in that part of the game.
“They’ve certainly been talked about as a top-four side so playing round 1 against Melbourne, quality opposition, it’s a really big task for us.
“We’re quite happy to step into that unknown now because we go in with an element of certainty because we’ve prepared really well, the players have done everything right, they’ve completed everything we’ve asked of them. They should go in with real confidence and belief that we can get the job done.”
Simon Goodwin – Melbourne Coach:
“They’re a different looking team, there’s no doubt about that.”
“They’ve got four debutants that they’re going to play and eleven new players from Round 23.
“They’re playing quick, exciting footy but we know what we’re coming up against.
“We know the style that they want to play and we know the way we want to play so it should be a good game.”
