WHEN it comes to defining moments in a season, it’s hard to go past Brett Ebert’s match-winning goal after the siren against Hawthorn in round 20 last year.

The plucky five-point win in Launceston triggered a winning streak that propelled Port Adelaide to the last Saturday in September.

The Power have regained their footing in 2008 with three wins on the trot, and victory over the unbeaten Hawks could again prove significant in their surge towards the finals.

Port Adelaide’s recent form: beat Essendon by 64, beat St Kilda by 21, beat West Coast by 24, lost to Brisbane Lions by 20 and lost to Crows by nine.

Recent results against Hawthorn:
Round 20, 2007, Port Adelaide 12.15 (87) d Hawthorn 12.10 (82), Aurora
Round 10, 2007, Hawthorn 17.7 (109) d Port Adelaide 10.15 (75), AAMI
Round 11, 2006, Port Adelaide 22.13 (145) d Hawthorn 7.7. (49), AAMI
Round 13, 2005, Port Adelaide 29.14 (188) d Hawthorn 10.11 (71), AAMI
Round 16, 2004, Port Adelaide 15.15 (105) d Hawthorn 7.11 (53), MCG

Strengths:
In round seven, the Power used the quick Telstra Dome surface to advantage, completely dismantling Essendon with 24 goals from 38 scoring shots.

Port Adelaide’s onball brigade of Steve Salopek, Travis Boak, Danyle Pearce, Adam Thomson and Shaun and Peter Burgoyne put the Power into overdrive, leaving the undermanned and outclassed Bombers in their wake.

For Saturday’s clash, Hawthorn will be without premier onballer Luke Hodge (hamstring) and possibly also livewire Chance Bateman (hand).

Kane Cornes has a proven track record against Hawks skipper Sam Mitchell and with the in-form Salopek, Boak and Burgoyne brothers likely to go head-to-head with Shane Crawford, Jordan Lewis, Brad Sewell and Clinton Young, the Power might just be able to find an edge at the stoppages.

Potential weakness:
It took seven weeks, but against Essendon Port Adelaide recaptured the form that, last year, set the club on track.

The Power moved the ball quickly and cleanly into a multi-pronged forward line, which once again looked dangerous with Daniel Motlop, Robbie Gray, Justin Westhoff, Brett Ebert and Warren Tredrea all getting among the goals.

Now, the challenge is for Port Adelaide to repeat the performance against a genuine premiership contender. The Hawks, like most top sides, will deny the Power midfielders space in the corridor and, on a big Launceston deck, will also try to get the Port Adelaide players lost out wide on the wings.

They’re sweating on:
Lance Franklin. Buddy is the hottest property in AFL right now, a talented and athletic 196cm forward who has set the football world alight in 2008, averaging nine shots on goal per game.

On Monday, Kane Cornes declared no one player in the league could halt Buddy at full throttle, and said it would be a team responsibility to limit the Franklin’s supply.

Buddy is capable of booting nine goals straight, but is also prone to the yips, as in round six when he kicked 1.7. Power fans should start praying he forgets to pack his kicking boots on the flight to Launceston.

Dangermen:
Daniel Motlop: Motlop’s mercurial seven-goal haul was a feature in round seven, but more pleasing for coach Mark Williams was the former Kangaroo’s defensive pressure.

Motlop and Westhoff continually forced the Bombers defence into error, and their ability to keep the ball inside attacking 50 will be invaluable against the hard running Hawks.

Kane Cornes: Cornes played one of his best-ever games against Hawthorn in round 20 last season, with 38 touches, three goals and a superb shut-down performance on playmaker Mitchell. Mitchell will be the Hawks’ go-to man without Hodge, and Cornes’ ability to nullify the skipper’s influence could help Port Adelaide gain ascendancy in the middle.

Alipate Carlile: ‘Bobby’ has accepted some of the biggest jobs in the AFL this season, taking on heavyweights like Jonathan Brown. Hawthorn’s forward line is largely structured around Franklin, but, on Saturday, Carlile is likely to have the equally important job of minding Jarryd Roughead. Roughead narrowly missed selection in the 25-man Victorian team last week and has a habit of punishing teams that are blinded by Buddy.

It’s not generally known…
...that Port Adelaide’s score of 29.14 (188) against Hawthorn at AAMI Stadium in round 13, 2005 is the club’s highest ever score in an AFL game.

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.