PORT ADELAIDE faces Adelaide at Adelaide Oval on Saturday afternoon in Round 16 of the Toyota AFL Premiership Season.
Port is coming off a frustrating 25-point loss to the Western Bulldogs, while the Crows faded late against Geelong to fall by 27 points.
Both sides will be hungry to respond in Showdown XLVII, with positions in the top eight becoming tighter as the season draws towards the business end.
The Power currently sit ninth on the ladder with a 7-7 record, while the Crows are in sixth with one extra win to this point of the season.
Earlier this season, it was Don Pyke’s men who prevailed by 20 points in front of nearly 50,000 fans at the Adelaide Oval.
The Crows jumped the Power, kicking six goals to two in the first half, before a four-goal-to-one third term all but finished off the game.
Port rallied late in the contest thanks to the positional move of Dougal Howard forward, whose two goals sparked an unlikely comeback.
With nine minutes remaining in the contest, Ken Hinkley’s men found themselves within reaching distance, but two late goals to the Crows ensured they kept the wood over the Power.
Tom Rockliff was a prolific ball-winner for Port, racking up 41 disposals, six marks and six tackles, while Travis Boak had the footy 28 times.
Howard and Sam Powell-Pepper each kicked two goals in the Power’s 20-point defeat.
For the Crows, Rory Laird (31) and Brad Crouch (30) accumulated plenty of the football, while Tom Lynch (3 goals), Taylor Walker (2) and Riley Knight (2) were potent up forward.
Key defender Alex Keath had arguably the best game of his promising career, being awarded the Showdown Medal for his defensive job and 26 disposals.
Adelaide has had the wood over the Power in recent times, with the Crows winning seven of the last eight contests between the sides.
In the overall standings, it is Adelaide with a 24-22 head-to-head record.
The teams:
Port Adelaide has made four changes for Saturday afternoon’s Showdown, with experienced duo Tom Rockliff and Justin Westhoff recalled after starring in the SANFL last weekend.
Dougal Howard and Karl Amon are back into the side also after missing last week through suspension.
Willem Drew, Kane Farrell, Joel Garner and Peter Ladhams were all omitted.
Adelaide’s Josh Jenkins and Wayne Milera have both recovered from injury for this weekend’s clash, while David McKay has also come back into the side after strong form in the SANFL.
Veteran Bryce Gibbs, and youngsters Ben Davis and Elliot Himmelberg were the three to make way.
The coaches:
Ken Hinkley
“I think they’re a pretty good team. I think they’re a pretty high-quality team. We know what the Showdown means, we get that.
“In our most recent history, Adelaide have dominated us, we have to get that back and we will get that back at some point, it’s just a matter of when that opportunity comes.
“We’ve got two boys who were suspended come back. They were in pretty good form and valuable parts of our side and the other two boys, you know Rockliff was coming off a long injury - we did the right thing with him. He probably deserved to get picked after 57 (disposals) and Westy couldn’t have done anymore.”
Don Pyke:
“Our guys are a proud group and they want to respond and play the sort of footy that we’ve been playing in recent times, but it’s all very well to talk about it, it’s all about actioning it and that’ll be our challenge tomorrow night, to bring what we need to bring against a good quality opposition to get what we want, which is four points.
“It’s an important game in the context of the town and it brings a certain excitement into the week, being a part of it.
“There’s a natural cross-town rivalry which is great so we really embrace that.”
The last five games:
2019 Round 8
Adelaide Oval
PORTADELAIDE 9.14 (68)
ADELAIDE 13.10 (88)
2018 Round 20
Adelaide Oval
ADELAIDE 13.18 (96)
PORT ADELAIDE 14.9 (93)
2018 Round 8
Adelaide Oval
PORT ADELAIDE 14.11 (95)
ADELAIDE 14.6 (90)
2017 Round 20
Adelaide Oval
ADELAIDE 18.22 (130)
PORT ADELAIDE 7.4 (46)
2017 Round 3
Adelaide Oval
PORT ADELAIDE 12.11 (83)
ADELAIDE 15.10 (100)
