Zak Butters

The Greater Western Sydney Giants have booked a preliminary final appearance after a masterful display of fast football at Adelaide Oval on Saturday evening. The crowd was left stunned as Port Adelaide had no answers to the Giants clinical ball movement and midfield dominance. Veteran Giants forward Jesse Hogan was magnificent booting four goals along with his nine marks and 17 disposals on the night. Lachie Whitfield (33 disposals) and Stephen Coniglio (30 disposals) were unstoppable for the Giants, Coniglio racking up an unbelievable 13 score involvements for the match. 

Willie Rioli had two early goals on the board for Port, only to see his efforts matched by Giants superstar Toby Greene. The scoreboard showed just a three-point lead to GWS at quarter time, but the statistics suggested unless Port could turn around a clearance dominance by the Giants then things would turn ugly for the home crowd. That is exactly what happened. 

The Port Adelaide Power kept a top two finish in their sights as they overcame a determined Fremantle Dockers, to score a confidence boosting win on the road. It was the first time the Power had won at Optus Stadium and they will look to maintain their momentum by entering the finals with three consecutive wins. The Dockers tried hard but were let down at times with sloppy errors in the midfield and forward line, as they trial a group of young players before their disappointing season finishes.

The Dockers started strongly by making fifteen forward entries to seven in the first quarter which was based on them winning more clearances and contested possessions than Port Adelaide. Early rewards came when Michael Frederick and Luke Jackson had scored a goal each for Fremantle by the nine minute mark. The Dockers applied elite pressure on the Power in attack and in the midfield, inhibiting Port's opportunities to move the ball. However, a perfect centering kick from Todd Marshall to Sam Powell-Pepper who marked (caught the ball) and kicked accurately from a set shot, opened Port's account at the nineteen-minute mark. Port then lifted their intensity. After a boundary throw-in in attack, Zac Butters snapped a clever goal over his shoulder to bring the scores level.

The AFL recently listed the 40 nominees for the 2020 All-Australian team. Out of those, 22 were selected. The 40 nominees were:

BRISBANE: Harris Andrews (2019 AA), Hugh McCluggage, Lachie Neale (2019 AA)

CARTON: Jacob Weitering

COLLINGWOOD: Taylor Adams, Brayden Maynard, Darcy Moore, Scott Pendlebury (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2019 AA, nominated 2009, 2015, 2016, 2018)

ESSENDON: Jordan Ridley

FREMANTLE: Nat Fyfe (2014, 2015, 2019 (captain) All Australian, nominated 2011, 2013), Luke Ryan, Matt Taberner

Port Adelaide kept a firm grip on top spot on the AFL ladder with a rampant 75-point win over crosstown rivals the Adelaide Crows on Saturday night at Adelaide Oval.

With the season’s first batch of fans – 2240 in total – present at the ground, the Power completely outclassed a struggling Crows outfit that lost defender Jake Kelly early to concussion, then Captain Rory Sloane with a thigh injury that kept the Adelaide favorite sidelined for all of the second half.

The winning margin was the highest by Port against their local rivals while also restricting the Crows to their lowest total score in all previous “showdowns”.

Early in the first quarter there was no indication of the drubbing that eventually took place as Adelaide produced eight of the first nine entries inside the 50 meter arc, resulting in goals to Rory Sloane and young forward Darcy Fogarty. That was where the joy ended for the underdog Crows as Port completely dominated proceedings from then on, finishing on the positive side of the ledger for a total of 57 entries inside 50 compared to just 30 for the shell-shocked Crows.

Port was continually first to the contested ball, and it was the young guns that once again shone for the Power just as they had done in 2019. Connor Rozee (17 disposals, 8 clearances, 6 tackles) continues to play at a level that belies his experience, Xavier Duursma (17 disposals, 3 goals) is on fire and Zak Butters (21 disposals, 7 marks and 8 tackles) completed the domination of the second year Power draftees.

After quarter time when Adelaide trailed by just 13 points, it was one-way traffic with the Power brushing aside the Crows with ease. Half time saw Port’s advantage balloon to 32 points as the Crows showed frustration in giving away two late 50 meter penalties that resulted in Port goals.

When the Port Adelaide veterans decided to join the party, there was no stopping the boys wearing the old-school “prison bar” jumpers made famous by the original Port Adelaide that dominated the South Australian Football League back in the day. Justin Westhoff and Charlie Dixon chipped in with three goals each while Steven Motlop added two more plus the mark of the day with a screamer that had the 1,400 odd and spaced out Port supporters in raptures.