PORT ADELAIDE faces Brisbane at the Gabba in a huge Round 3 clash on Saturday evening.
The last time Port traveled to Brisbane to face the Lions was early in 2017, where the Power ran out 83-point winners thanks to four goals apiece from Robbie Gray and Charlie Dixon.
Both teams have undergone significant change since then, and Saturday’s clash is tipped to be one of the games of the round between the two undefeated sides.
Chris Fagan’s men are coming off a 44-point thumping of the reigning premiers in Round 1 and a gutsy come-from-behind win against North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium last week.
Gun recruit Lachie Neale had a career-high 43 disposals against the Roos, while Charlie Cameron (four goals), Lincoln McCarthy (two goals) and big man Oscar McInerney (two goals) were superb up forward.
Port will also be confident heading into Saturday evening’s clash after a very strong win on the road against Melbourne in Round 1, followed by a composed 16-point victory against Carlton in the wet at Adelaide Oval.
Travis Boak has been in sensational form to start season 2019, collecting back-to-back 30+ possession games as he returns to a more permanent midfield role.
Tom Rockliff will return to the Gabba for the first time since being recruited to Alberton in the 2017 trade period as a free agent.
The ball magnet has hit the ground running after a strong pre-season, racking up 44 touches against the Demons and 37 disposals against the Blues and will be looking to continue that form against his former side.
The teams:
Ken Hinkley has confirmed Port will make three changes for its clash with Brisbane in Round 3, with co-captain Ollie Wines, key defender Dougal Howard and small forward Sam Gray coming into the side.
Jack Watts (injured), Karl Amon (injured) and Todd Marshall (omitted) are the outs from the team that defeated Carlton by 16 points at Adelaide Oval last weekend.
Brisbane will go into the blockbuster contest with the same side that defeated North by 20 points in Melbourne last weekend.
The coaches:
Ken Hinkley
“It’s a big game, they are absolutely flying – I went and watched them last week – they are in good nick.
“They beat the reigning premiers by a margin and they just kept at it all day last week and won the game.
“They’ve got a lot of good players all over the field now.
“It will be interesting because it will be the Lachie Neale and Tom Rockliff show a little bit about who gets the most (of the footy).
“Game to game is so much different. Team to team is different, and for us it’s starting off how we want to start off and hopefully that keeps Lachie and his teammates out of the game.
Chris Fagan
“Port Adelaide have had the wood on our club for quite some time, they gave us an 80-point thrashing in my first year at the Gabba.
"I don't know the stats, but we're aware of the fact they're a team that has dominated us, just like North had last week.
"On our journey if we want to be any good we've got to start beating a few of these teams, so it's natural enough we set ourselves to do that."
Fagan on Rockliff’s return to the Gabba:
“He's a good player and he’s well respected at our footy club.
“He made a choice to go to Port which we all understand, that he's happy with and we're satisfied with.
“It'll be interesting for him.
“I reckon the onus is on the guy coming home to play against his old club, there's a bit more pressure on him than there is on us.
“That's the way I see it.”
AFL preview: Power v Lions
A look at our upcoming Round 3 clash with the Lions