Port Adelaide travels to the sunshine state to take on a dangerous Gold Coast Suns outfit in Round 4 of the 2013 AFL Premiership.

Port Adelaide
Form: W W W
Ranked: 2nd

Gold Coast
Form: W L L
Ranked: 13th

Last time

Port Adelaide seals a comfortable win over the Suns at Metricon Stadium with Kane Cornes putting in a highly acclaimed tagging performance against superstar Gary Ablett Jnr.

Round 9, 2012: Port Adelaide 17.16 (118) def Gold Coast 10.10 (70) at Metricon Stadium

Memorable because: Matthew Broadbent breaks out as a genuine key midfielder with a 25-disposal performance and two goals.

Form Guide

Past 2: Power 1 v Suns 1

The fine print

AFL Round 3
Gold Coast Suns v Port Adelaide
Saturday April 20
Metricon Stadium
Nerang-Broadbeach Road, Carrara QLD
First bounce: 7:40pm (local time) / 7:10pm (SA)
Broadcast: Live on FOX and Seven (SA)
portadelaidefc.com.au coverage starts at 7:00pm (SA time)
Twitter: #pafclive #aflsunspower
Buy tickets
After match function at Emerald Lakes Golf Club opposite Metricon Stadium

Our top three

1. Justin Westhoff
Westhoff’s best start to a season ever continued last Sunday against the Crows with a four-goal performance in the second half against the Crows. He is the current leader for AFL Fantasy points by virtue of his three consecutive, over 20-possession efforts and swags of goals. His good start to the season has added another dimension to Port’s forward line playing up-field as a mobile attacker and drifting back to scoop up supply across half-forwad. A difficult player for opponents to match up against, Westhoff is currently the Power’s most dangerous player when on song.

2. Travis Boak
His Showdown Medal came on the back on 30 possessions and three goals, but stats alone don’t do Boak’s start to the season justice. The quality of his football combined with the excellent leadership he has demonstrated during the early days of his captaincy are significant. His third-term performance against the Crows helped to bring the Power back up from the mire of a 1.7 second term and his inspirational ‘captain’s goal’ in the dying moments of that quarter drew the scores level and helped set up a barnstorming final quarter effort from the team. His best game last year was against the Suns at Metricon – his form now suggests he’s in store for another good showing.

3. Kane Cornes
Like Boak and Westhoff, Cornes is having his best start to a season ever. He currently averages 29.7 disposals for the year at an incredible 79.8% average disposal efficiency. But Cornes gets a nod in our top three this week in anticipation of a big tagging effort against arguably the best player in the competition, Gary Ablett. Last year, Cornes kept the perennial ball-winner to 25 touches while getting 24 himself in a praised effort. His contribution on Saturday night could be the difference between four points and none.

Final word

Port Adelaide carries three wins worth of momentum and confidence into Saturday's game, but this is a danger match.

The Gold Coast plays its best footy at home and it already has one win on its turf – a surprise come-from-behind victory against the Saints in Round 1.

Gary Ablett was instrumental in that win though and keeping him quiet is a must for the Power this weekend.

There are plenty of other strong performers for the Suns though, with names like Harley Bennell, Jarrod Harbrow, Dion Prestia and David Swallow all prominent in the first three rounds.

There is a real intrigue to this game too - Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley helped to establish the Suns when acting as an assistant to Gold Coast principal Guy McKenna, while former Power coach and captain Matthew Primus now assists McKenna at the Suns and has an acute knowledge of many of Port Adelaide’s players.

As has been the case for the first three weeks of this season, Port Adelaide’s success will come through multiple scoreboard contributors and the team defence that has been so critical to its positive start to the year.

Port expects a fired up Suns outfit against their former mentor, but will be determined to secure a 4-0 record for the year with a good away showing.

Current odds
Port Adelaide 1.50 – 2.60 Gold Coast Suns