REDEMPTION. Respect. Pride. Vengeance. All these words have been tossed around about how Port Adelaide should approach Thursday night’s Grand Final re-match with Geelong at AAMI Stadium.
But as assistant coach Jason Cripps so aptly pointed out, there is no premiership cup on the end of round one. The Power, while accepting the loss as inexcusable, have put the disappointment of last year’s Grand Final behind them and are now determined to make amends the only way they can – by making it back to that last Saturday in September.
Last season Port Adelaide staged a gutsy come-from-behind win over Fremantle at Subiaco in round one and in front of their home crowd the Power will be looking for an equally inspiring start to 2008.
Recent form: -
Recent results against Geelong:
AFL Grand Final, 2007, Geelong 24.19 (163) d Port Adelaide 6.8 (44), MCG
Round 21, 2007, Port Adelaide 16.10 (106) d Geelong 15.11 (101), Skilled Stadium
Round nine, 2007, Geelong 16.20 (116) d Port Adelaide 8.12 (60), AAMI
Round 15, 2006, Geelong 9.14 (68) d Port Adelaide 8.10 (58), SS
Round 16, 2005, Geelong 18.18 (126) d Port Adelaide 7.5 (47), SS
Strengths:
If you cast your mind back to four weeks before the 2007 Grand Final, you might recall that it was Port Adelaide that ended Geelong’s 15-game winning streak.
The visiting Power matched it with the white-hot Cats at Skilled Stadium and held their nerve to claim a thrilling five-point victory. Sure, Port Adelaide stumbled on the biggest stage in Australian Football, but it will serve as valuable experience for the young Power side.
Port Adelaide, with the exception of Michael Wilson and possibly Troy Chaplin, is at full-strength and boasts a midfield capable of taking it to a Geelong side that, in 2007, had nine All-Australians.
Kane Cornes has done the job on Brownlow Medallist Jimmy Bartel in the past and Dom Cassisi has tamed Gary Ablett Jr.
Geelong will be without onballer David Wojcinski, which could give Shaun Burgoyne, Danyle Pearce, David Rodan and company a decisive speed advantage on what promises to be a dry AAMI Stadium deck.
Port Adelaide has improved its already devastating attacking style of play over the summer and Thursday night promises to be a good, old-fashioned shootout.
Potential weakness:
Port Adelaide started to prepare for life after Darryl Wakelin towards the end of 2007 with emerging full back Alipate Carlile breaking into the side to play ten games. But, when push came to shove in the preliminary and grand finals, Wakelin regained his spot in the 22 at Carlile’s expense.
Now, with Wakelin having swapped his boots for the boardroom, Port Adelaide’s defence rests solely on the young shoulders of Carlile, Michael Pettigrew, Jacob Surjan and Troy Chaplin and also experienced campaigners Toby Thurstans and Peter Burgoyne.
The Power have already indicated their reluctance to play All-Australian Chad Cornes as a defender, but Damon White surprised down back during the pre-season and could be another tall option this week.
Geelong was the highest scoring team last year and with names like Cam Mooney, Paul Chapman and Steve Johnson in the forward line, round one will provide a tough test first-up for the new-look Power defence.
They’re sweating on…
The club has written last September’s Grand Final nightmare off as a “bad day” in an otherwise “great year” and hopefully, on Thursday night, each of the 22 players is on the same page.
Some individuals used the loss as motivation for the pre-season, while others preferred not to watch the tape again. The existence of any emotional scarring at Alberton has been dismissed, but no competitive beast likes to be embarrassed that way and you can bet the Power will keen to make amends on Thursday night.
Danger men:
Warren Tredrea: He’s fit, lean and ready to regain his mantle as a dangerous forward in Port Adelaide’s attack. Last year was always going to be tough for the skipper after he spent the majority of the pre-season recovering from knee surgery, but Tredrea still managed to contribute 31 goals in 20 games. The four-time All-Australian looked the goods in Port Adelaide’s final NAB Challenge hit-out against Fremantle and will provide valuable support for Justin Westhoff, Brett Ebert and Daniel Motlop in the forward 50m.
Toby Thurstans: The former premiership forward has already put his hand up for the big jobs in defence and, this week he’s likely to go toe-to-toe with All-Australian Cam Mooney. Carlile, while strong, quick and smart, probably lacks the experience to go with the seasoned Cats’ big men, which leaves Thurstans in the box seat.
Thurstans, 27, is the oldest member of Port Adelaide’s defence and will need to lead by example on Thursday night.
Danyle Pearce: Pearce played a couple of superb NAB Cup games and appears physically stronger than in his previous three years at Alberton. The exciting youngster was a solid contributor in 2007, but will need to show further improvement this year if Port Adelaide is to secure more September action.
All-Australian tagger Cameron Ling will inevitably give clearance king Shaun Burgoyne a tough time on Thursday, while Kane Cornes, Matt Thomas and Cassisi could have their hands full with Bartel, Corey and/or Ablett. One of Port Adelaide’s strength last year was its midfield depth and Williams will again rely on runners like Pearce, Steve Salopek, Rodan and Travis Boak to pop up when his stars are feeling the heat.
It’s not generally known:
Shaun Burgoyne led the Power in clearances last season with 113, which was 14 more than the second-placed David Rodan (99).
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.
