PORT ADELAIDE remained unbeaten at the top of the ladder after a 29-point win over Fremantle in the first of its games in the Queensland hub.

In doing so, Port became the first ‘hub’ team to win a game while based on the Gold Coast.

Here are some key things we learned from the game at Adelaide Oval.

1. Home away from home.

Alberton Oval will always be Port Adelaide’s spiritual home while the club has made Adelaide Oval a “Portress”. It remains unbeaten at Jiangwan Stadium in Shanghai and now it is the only team yet to register a loss at Metricon Stadium / Carrara. 

Until yesterday, Adelaide and Port Adelaide were unbeaten at the Gold Coast venue but the Crows’ steep loss to the Suns means they now have a 11-1 record there, while Port is now 8-0 including two wins there in the first three rounds of this season. Strangely, the club which calls the venue home – the Gold Coast Suns – actually has the worst record of any of the AFL teams there winning just 31 of its 93 games or just 33.33%. The 300-strong crowd that witnessed Port’s win over the Dockers, due to COVID-19 restrictions, was the lowest at the venue for an AFL game.

2. Wines is back.

Some questioned whether there was a place for Ollie Wines in the Port Adelaide side, after strong wins without him in the first two matches of this season. But the vice-captain put in a strong shift against Freo to prove he is definitely in the side’s best 22.

Wines had 25 disposals, six clearances, three tackles and a goal, which proved to be the game sealer in the last quarter. It was his first run at AFL level since the sides last met in Round 23, 2019, after he dislocated his shoulder and required surgery in a pre-season training incident in January. His goal was the icing on the cake for a man who has endured a difficult 12 months.

3. Percentage again.

Port Adelaide went into the game with a league-leading percentage of 290.6% and top of the ladder. While it dropped percentage, to finish the weekend at 243.8%, history and stats guru @sirswampthing on Twitter pointed out that Port Adelaide holds the highest percentage of any club in the AFL era after three rounds, and the highest percentage to that point in the season in nearly 120 years.

4. Lycett licking lips.

Ruckman Scott Lycett has been used to, throughout his career, being part of a strong ruck duo. At West Coast he shared ruck duties with Dean Cox, Nic Naitanui and Nathan Vardy at various times. When he got to Port, the big man spent time sharing with Paddy Ryder and at times Pete Ladhams. But doesn’t he love being the main man?

Lycett would have been licking his lips when it was confirmed Dockers ruckman Sean Darcy would miss Sunday night’s match-up with a knee injury. Fremantle would need to rely on Rory Lobb to lead the ruck, despite his preference to play up forward. Lycett would completely dominate the ruck battle, winning 37 hit-outs to Lobb’s 17 and Port finished on top in the overall hitouts (44-20) and clearances (37-27). For good measure Lycett also had 12 disposals to Lobb’s seven, along with four tackles and four clearances.

5. Port has depth

Last week pundits raved about Port Adelaide’s young players as Todd Marshall and the 2018 Draft trio Connor Rozee, Zak Butters and Xavier Duursma combined with Steven Motlop to brush aside the Crows. This week all five of those were relatively quiet and others stepped in. It was some older heads who showed how it was done against the Dockers with Travis Boak continuing his consistent season and Wines, Charlie Dixon, Tom Jonas, Trent McKenzie and Brad Ebert among Port’s best.

Duursma’s hamstring injury, which saw him depart the game early in the third term, will open the door for Port to showcase more of its depth. 33 players were taken to the Gold Coast but removing the injured Ryan Burton and Duursma, that leaves 31 players vying for 22 positions – and the coaches will no doubt be having some healthy debate over who comes in to face West Coast on Saturday.