BELLIGERENTS
PORT ADELAIDEYear to date: WWLWWWWW
Last five at ground: not played
Currently ranked: 1st
MELBOURNE
Year to date: LLLWLLWLW
Last five at ground: not played
Currently ranked: 15th
HEAD TO HEAD
Power 15 v 11 Demons
LAST FIVE
Power 4 v 1 Demons
PLAYBILL
2014 AFL Premiership Season - Round 11Melbourne v Port Adelaide
Saturday 31 May
First bounce 1:10pm (ACST)
Hashtags: #pafclive #afldeespower
BROADCAST GUIDE
YOU’RE INVITED
Official post-game eventGap View Hotel
115 Gap Road
Alice Springs
Starts approximately 6:00pm
Selected players and officials in attendance
TIME MACHINE
Round 1, 2013. The start of a new era at Port Adelaide saw the Power travel to the MCG and take on the Demons in its first game under the stewardship of Ken Hinkley and captaincy of Travis Boak. The Power led at every change and eventually sealed a clinical 79-point victory with Jay Schulz bagging four goals and a Mark of the Year nomination.PORT ADELAIDE 5.3 11.7 16.13 19.19 (133)
MELBOURNE 3.1 7.2 7.3 8.6 (54)
Best: Hartlett, P. Stewart, Trengove, Monfries, O’Shea, Schulz
Goals: Schulz 4, Monfries, Stewart 3, Hartlett 2, Cornes, Heath, Moore, Pittard, Westhoff, Wingard, Wines
at the MCG
NUMBER CRUNCH
Points For: Power 999 v 569 DemonsPoints Against: Power 685 v 723 Demons
Kicks: Power 1935 v 1814 Demons
Handballs: Power 1462 v 1352 Demons
Marks: Power 836 v 785 Demons
Disposals: Power 3397 v 3166 Demons
Contested possessions: Power 1300 v 1231 Demons
Frees: Power 145 v 163 Demons
Tackles: Power 621 v 595 Demons
Clearances: Power 351 v 313 Demons
Inside-50s: Power 503 v 388 Demons
Rebound 50s: Power 296 v 354 Demons
FOUR POINTS
THE UNKNOWN CENTRE
Unfamiliar TerritoryOK. So the Power has played in Alice Springs before, but never for an official home-and-away game – same for the Dees. With temperatures for this debut premiership season game expected to dip to 21 degrees, the match will at least be played at familiar temperatures to the players of both sides. The Power played in Alice during last year’s pre-season campaign against the Eagles and came away with an encouraging win, so the team that runs out in the Power’s new indigenous guernsey will at least be familiar with the surface.
Gray’s century
Robbie Gray will play his 100th AFL game against the Demons in Alice Springs. While it will be a fair step down crowd-wise on the back of last week’s record-smashing attendance at the Adelaide Oval, the significance be unaffected. It’s been a remarkable turnaround for Gray who suffered a terrible knee injury against Collingwood in Round 4, 2012 and spent a full year in recovery. He’s been one of the Power’s most exciting players in 2014 and is surely a front runner for the club’s best and fairest at the mid-point of the year. A great story and plenty more to come from the leadership group member.
Artillery firing
While Jay Schulz may not be leading the Coleman Medal race after kicking just the one goal in last week’s game, the rest of the Power’s forward line and midfield relished the opportunity to share the load in attack. Angus Monfries booted four goals in three quarters last week, Chad Wingard had three in two, and Hamish Hartlett two in a minute - the Power can score quickly and in clutch moments, and that's part of its great strength up forward. Combined with Schulz's tendency to burst away for multi-goal hauls, the Dees will be on their best defensive guard against a lively Port Adelaide attack.
AFL Indigenous Round
Port Adelaide has a proud history when it comes to developing indigenous talent and seeing it tear the game apart. Since the club's establishment there have been a number of successful indigenous footballers developed by the club in the SANFL, including modern day greats drafted into the AFL system like Gavin Wanganeen, Andrew McLeod, Fabian Francis, Peter and Shaun Burgoyne, Ricky O'Loughlin, Eugene Warrior, Che, David and Donald Cockatoo-Collins, Byron Pickett, Shane and Troy Bond, Graham Johncock, Harry Miller, Aaron and Alyn Davey, and Tim and Terry Milera. With a proud history of success and a five Aboriginal players on its current list, it will be with a sense of pride that the entire playing group runs out onto the Alice Springs turf on Saturday.
