Port is spoiling its way up the ladder. They don’t always get noticed but Port Adelaide is leading the competition for one-percenters. That includes unselfish acts like knock-ons, spoils, smothers and shepherds. Defender Dougal Howard leads the competition in this statistic with 168 - 16 more than anyone else – but his backline colleagues Tom Jonas and Tom Clurey also feature in the top 20.
When Charlie Dixon is on he’s nearly unstoppable. The big man was relatively well held until the last quarter but showed what he was capable of in a destructive five-minute spell. He booted three of his four goals in that time and showed clean hands under a lot of pressure to take strong marks. Dixon could have probably had six if he had kicked straight earlier in the contest. While his four-goal return was his best of the season, it showed how important he could be for Port Adelaide heading into the finals.
The Power’s tackling spree continues. Port is the top-ranked team in the league for tackles with a total of 1083 this season, that’s an average of 72.2 per game. The next best is Gold Coast with an average of 70.7. Against the Saints, despite having more of the ball, the Power still managed 69 tackles to 58. Brad Ebert is Port’s best tackler with 92, ranking him eleventh in the competition but Sam Powell-Pepper is closing in on him with 76 despite missing four games mid-season. He had another seven against the Saints.
Dominant Port didn’t do enough on the scoreboard. On a day where players found it hard to kick straight, it could have been the difference between the Power finishing the round in second or fourth position on the ladder. While the Saints were wasteful in the first quarter and were goalless after spraying numerous shots on goal, the Power also booted five straight behinds to start the second quarter. In a period of dominance, the margin could have gone from 18 points to 48 points. And there were other times where Port players could have been more accurate. Robbie Gray was the chief culprit on Saturday evening with one goal four. The competition is so close these days that the Power needs to keep winning and start to boost its percentage if it wants to guarantee itself its best possible finish to the year.
The Power knows how to clear a pack. Port again won the clearance battle against the Saints. While it was only 32 to 30, the Power upheld its reputation as the league’s best clearance side. It now has a total of 615, or 41.3 per game. Ollie Wines has 97 clearances to be the Power’s best and the sixth best in the competition. Hawthorn’s Tom Mitchell leads with 126.
