BELLIGERENTS
PORT ADELAIDEYear to date: WWLWWWWWWWLWLLL
Last five at ground: WWWLL
Currently ranked: 5th
MELBOURNE
Year to date: LLLWLLWLWLLWLLLL
Last two at ground: LW
Currently ranked: 15th
HEAD TO HEAD
Power 16 v 11 Demons
LAST FIVE
Power 4 v 1 Demons
PLAYBILL
2014 AFL Premiership Season – Multicultural Round, Round 18Port Adelaide v Melbourne
Sunday 20 July
First bounce 12:40pm (ACST)
Hashtags: #AFLPowerDees
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YOU’RE INVITED
Official pre-game eventMarch from the Mall
Cnr Rundle Mall and Stephens Place
Adelaide SA
Meet: 11:00am
March commences: 11:20am
Official post-game event
William Magarey Room
Level 3, Riverbank Stand
Adelaide Oval
Commencing after the game
Selected players and officials in attendance
All welcome
TIME MACHINE
Round 11, 2014. In perfect but warm conditions in Alice Springs, Port Adelaide stormed out to an early lead before the Demons clawed their way back into contention. A late burst in the dying stages of the game put the result beyond doubt, but injuries to Travis Boak and Matt White would cause headaches for the Power going forward.PORT ADELAIDE 5.4 8.4 10.9 14.11 (95)
MELBOURNE 2.2 7.4 10.5 11.9 (75)
Best: Boak, Broadbent, Cornes, R. Gray, Hombsch, Pittard
Goals: Westhoff, Schulz, R. Gray 2, Mitchell, Polec, Young, Ebert, Wines, White, Boak, Neade
at TIO Traegar Park Oval
NUMBER CRUNCH
Points For: Power 1687 v 971 DemonsPoints Against: Power 1260 v 1353 Demons
Kicks: Power 3382 v 3189 Demons
Handballs: Power 2718 v 2410 Demons
Disposals: Power 6100 v 5599 Demons
Contested percentage: Power 37.39 v 37.22% Demons
Marks: Power 1478 v 1442 Tigers
Clearances: Power 647 v 532 Demons
Frees: Power 252 v 273 Demons
Tackles: Power 1138 v 1054 Demons
Rebound 50s: Power 546 v 652 Demons
Inside-50s: Power 912 v 654 Demons
FOUR POINTS
The magic ingredientPlenty of commentators cited the Power's lack of tall forwards for the poor result against Richmond.
Yes, it might have been useful to have an extra tall to support Jay Schulz and Justin Westhoff up forward, but at the end of the day, the Power was leaking goals from the middle of the ground.
Port lost out in clearances (41-50) and inside-50s (50-60).
When you think about the way the loss to the Tigers panned out, there was little doubting the impact Richmond's clearance work had on constructing their 32-point lead midway through the second term.
And for those calling on extra height up forward, there's every chance a John Butcher or Mason Shaw would have gravitated up field like their fellow attackers Schulz and Westhoff - Schulz can't slot his set shots from the centre of the ground.
The Power's inability to win inside, perhaps no better characterised by the contrasting performances of Travis Boak and the rest of the midfield group, was critical to the Tigers' big win.
Back at the Oval, the entire midfield group will be hungry to redeem against the bottom-ranked clearance side in the competition.
Delivering on expectation
For the first time since it entered the top four, Port Adelaide is now out of it.
Ranked fifth, the Power needs to bounce back this weekend more than ever.
If good sides, indeed top-four-worthy sides respond to losses with verve, then the Power's past two performances against Essendon and Richmond could be said to speak volumes.
That takes credit away from the hunger of the opposition - Essendon fighting to keep its finals hopes alive and Richmond desperate to reap a 'scalp'.
Now the Power is playing hunter again, and with Sydney and Fremantle looking ripe for finals action and Hawthorn and Geelong hitting their stride, this proud Power group will be keen to enter the bye with a strong, well-earned result...
Now the Power is playing hunter again, and with Sydney and Fremantle looking ripe for finals action and Hawthorn and Geelong hitting their stride, this proud Power group will be keen to enter the bye with a strong, well-earned result...
Farewell champion
...and a win for their old skipper.
Dom Cassisi's retirement this weekend will have his teammates hungry to deliver him a fitting send off.
Cassisi has enjoyed the best and worst the AFL competition can throw at a player, but for the man who wore the No. 1 guernsey as captain for four years, it's the chance to play with a committed group of players over 14 seasons that he'll cherish deeply (that and his 2004 premiership medal).
10 years on from that big grand final victory, Cassisi will be ready to play his heart out, and so will his teammates. That's another big reason to play well.
But the entire playing group knows the best way to deliver Cassisi the farewell he deserves is by recapturing that Port Adelaide philosophy of team-oriented, compelling play that has seen the masses click through the turnstiles and making the faithful in the outer roar.
But the entire playing group knows the best way to deliver Cassisi the farewell he deserves is by recapturing that Port Adelaide philosophy of team-oriented, compelling play that has seen the masses click through the turnstiles and making the faithful in the outer roar.
Demons of old
Melbourne will come into this game hungry to do what Essendon and Richmond did, and Port Adelaide will be well aware of that
Despite losing four of their last five games, the Demons have shown flashes of their potential under coach Paul Roos.
And given they pushed the Power in Alice Springs just over a month ago, and beat the Crows at the Adelaide Oval earlier this season, they'll be looking to get one back on the black, white and teal.
Melbourne is also the most experienced interstate team travelling to the Oval this weekend, having been Port Adelaide's opponent in the historic first AFL game at the Oval at the end of 2011.
Power fans will be hoping for a similar result to that...
