A DAY FOR CELEBRATION for Port Adelaide after a dominant 44-point victory against the Eagles in the SANFL.

Alberton Oval provided picture perfect conditions on a day when the club commemorated the thirty-year anniversary of Port Adelaide’s 1994 Premiership against Woodville-West Torrens, an honour not lost on Magpies coach Hamish Hartlett.

“We were really excited to see the past players form a guard of honour for us as we ran out. It certainly gave us a bit of extra energy and we wanted to respect those guys and honour what they’ve done for the footy club by playing a really strong brand of footy ourselves. Hopefully those guys were proud of what they saw this afternoon,” Hartlett said.

15:00

Highlights: Port Adelaide vs Woodville-West Torrens | PTV

Port Adelaide and WWT clash in Round 17.

After a tightly fought opening term, the Magpies switched gears and were relentless with their defensive pressure and offensive ball movement, kicking thirteen goals to four after quarter time. 

Tom Anastasopoulos (23 disposals, six marks), Hugh Jackson (25 disposals, seven clearances) and Will Lorenz (21 disposals, two goals) were standouts in the middle of the ground, who alongside defensive anchor Tom Clurey (20 disposals, seven marks) were able to slingshot the ball forward and overwhelm the Eagles defenders.

Tom Anastasopoulos enjoyed a well-rounded performance, tallying 23 touches and ten score involvements. Image: Brandon Hancock.

“We encouraged the boys to play with a lot of freedom, and made sure we played our brand of footy as best as we could in all phases of the game. Offence was always going to be a key part of that so it was really nice to see some strong passages of play from the back half to the forward line and for the boys to finish in front of goal,” Hartlett said.

Sunday’s match also provided a club debut for new recruit Jacob Moss. The former basketballer and soon-to-be category B rookie didn’t look out of place in Hartlett’s defence, in what was his first game of football since under 15s.

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SANFL Showreel, R17: Tom Scully highlights | PTV

Enjoy Tom Scully's standout SANFL performance for Port Adelaide.

“I was really happy with Mossy in the way he played. What we’ve loved about him so far is his competitiveness and his desire to learn. I thought he played his role exceptionally well today. He defended when he needed to, took some nice marks and was really reliable with ball in hand. A fantastic game for him considering he hasn’t played a game in five or six years,” Hartlett said.

With Ivan Soldo (17 hitouts) returning to the side from injury, Hartlett’s side was spoilt for choice in the talls department, dominating the ruck battle. Soldo shared the load with Dante Visentini (29 hit outs, six tackles), who continues his rich vein of form.

Ivan Soldo and Dante Visentini each proved to be a powerful force in the ruck, dominating across the ground. Image: Brandon Hancock.

“Vis(entini) has been outstanding in the past five or six weeks, probably the most dominant and consistent patch of footy that he’s played for us since his time here. We need to be mindful of giving Ivan some minutes on ball as well, but we’re really encouraging those guys to work on what they’re doing up forward as well. We saw Vis in particular later in the game get some opportunity up forward where he presented well and got his hands on the footy.”

A Showdown awaits next Saturday at 3:20pm, when the Magpies will look to build on today’s emphatic win and spoil the Crows’ finals aspirations.

SCOREBOARD

Port Adelaide: 2.2, 8.6, 10.9, 15.13 (103)

Woodville-West Torrens: 4.4, 6.6, 6.10, 8.11(59)

Best: Jackson, Lorenz, Clurey, McEntee, Anastasopoulos, Szust

Disposals: Anastasopoulos, Jackson 23, Lorenz 21, Clurey 20, Szust 18

Goals: Scully 3, Lord, Lorenz, Szust 2, Burton, Charleson, McCallum, McEntee, Short, Sinn