PORT Adelaide has slaughtered Sydney by 112 points to fly into the top four after holding the ladder leaders scoreless in the opening term.
The Power surged to a 71-point lead before the Swans notched their first score, eventually steamrolling to a 22.16 (148) to 5.6 (36) victory at Adelaide Oval on Saturday.
Their third consecutive win leaves Ken Hinkley's charges a chance to sit second on the ladder should results fall their way on Sunday.
Sydney, having lost five of their last six games, now lead the competition by just four points.
The loss is the biggest in John Longmire's 13-year tenure as coach.
Rubbing more salt to the wound, the Swans have also lost eight straight matches against the Power.
Port young gun Mitch Georgiades and Willie Rioli both kicked four goals, while Willem Drew kept Swans ball magnet Chad Warner to just 19 touches.
Drew also led the game with 32 disposals, well supported by Ollie Wines, Zak Butters and Jason Horne-Francis.
The hosts, eager to celebrate defender Aliir Aliir's 150th match in style, brutally overpowered the Swans from the first bounce with seven goals to none to build an early 45-point lead.
Such was their dominance that Sydney, trailing 20 inside-50s to five, recorded a forward-half kicking efficiency of zero per cent in the opening quarter.
Darcy Byrne-Jones continued the onslaught, scoring a major just 30 seconds into the second term.
A rushed behind gave Sydney its first score near the 20-minute mark before Isaac Heeney broke through with his side’s first major.
It is the fourth match since 1997 that the Swans have been held to less than 10 points at half-time.
In the end, Port cruised home with nine goals to four across the second half.
Hayden McLean was Sydney's only multiple goalscorer with two, while Errol Gulden led with 25 disposals and Brodie Grundy produced eight clearances.
Former Port ruck Peter Ladhams featured in his first game of the season after coming in for key forward Joel Amartey (managed) as a late swap.
Sydney returns home to host Collingwood at the SCG, while Port Adelaide travels to the MCG to play Melbourne.
Georgiades goes from extra to leading man
At the beginning of 2024, Mitch Georgiades was fourth banana in Port Adelaide's tall forwards basket, sitting behind Charlie Dixon, Todd Marshall and Jeremy Finlayson. And on the comeback from a knee injury that ended last year's campaign in April. And he sustained that injury in the SANFL. Now, due to various circumstances, he has become the Power's number one forward, kicking multiple goals in 11 of his 15 appearances this year, and 25 in the last eight rounds. Georgiades has become a major weapon in Port's arsenal and will require a lot of attention from opposition coaches if they want to stop the Power surge.
The joys of a new home
Players love nothing more than registering a win against their former club, and for Aliir Aliir the happiness just keeps coming. Since crossing from the SCG at the end of 2020 the defender has faced the Swans four times for four wins, including last year's thriller where he spoilt Ollie Florent's after-the-siren shot inches short of the goal line. Saturday night was his 150th and he enjoyed every moment of it. No wonder he's always grinning.
PORT ADELAIDE 7.3 13.8 17.9 22.16 (148)
SYDNEY 0.0 1.3 3.4 5.6 (36)
GOALS
Port Adelaide: Georgiades 4, Rioli 4, Dixon 3, Houston 2, Evans 2, Sweet, Rozee, Ratugolea, Horne-Francis, Byrne-Jones, Boak, Wines
Sydney: McLean 2, Hayward, Adams, Heeney
BEST
Port Adelaide: Drew, Georgiades, Horne-Francis, Houston, Butters, Rozee
Sydney: Gulden, Blakey, Heeney, Grundy
INJURIES
Port Adelaide: Nil
Sydney: Nil
SUBSTITUTES
Port Adelaide: Quinton Narkle, replaced Darcy Byrne-Jones at three-quarter time
Sydney: Luke Parker, replaced Corey Warner in the second quarter
Crowd: 37,051 at Adelaide Oval
