Round 9 2016

Port Adelaide v West Coast
Round 9, 2016

Kennedy kicked seven goals. Photo: aflphotos.com.au

Date

Sat, 21 May 2016 (4:05 PM CST)

Venue

Adelaide Oval

Attendance

38,695

Result

Won by 8

Score

WCE 14.10.94 - 13.8.86 PA

Brownlow

3 J.Kennedy (WCE)
2 M.Priddis (WCE)
1 R.Gray (PA)

Ladder

6th

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In an intense, often fiery clash, West Coast were able to overcome a travel hoodoo, the mid-game loss of Andrew Gaff to an ugly late hit and a fast-finishing Power to record a confidence-boosting 8-point win. The Eagles controlled play for much of the afternoon and led by 32 points during the last quarter but Port Adelaide rallied late and kicked the last four goals to almost pull off a miracle. Josh Kennedy shrugged off an interrupted preparation after joining the team in Adelaide at the last minute, kicking seven goals in an impressive showing, and Matt Priddis had a remarkable 27 contested possessions, but the game was marred by the sight of Gaff being stretchered from the field in the third term after a crude elbow from Power defender Tom Jonas.

Summary

		1/4 time		1/2 time		3/4 time		Final
Port Adelaide		3.1.19		5.3.33		9.6.60		13.8.86
West Coast		5.2.32		9.4.58		12.7.79		14.10.94

Goals: Kennedy 7, Cripps, Lycett 2, Hill, Shuey, Yeo

Best: Priddis, Naitanui, Kennedy, Cripps, Shuey, Lycett

Injuries: Gaff (concussion), Butler (cut head)

Reports: Cripps, Schofield, Shuey, Yeo for engaging in melee; Duggan for wrestling T.Boak

Named side

	West Coast				Port Adelaide
B:	5.Sheppard	16.MacKenzie	31.Schofield	B:	33.Byrne-Jones	42.Jonas	29.Pittard
HB:	6.Yeo	20.McGovern	25.Hurn	HB:	13.O'Shea	36.Hombsch	5.Broadbent
C:	3.Gaff	11.Priddis	14.Duggan	C:	21.Polec	16.Wines	7.Ebert
HF:	7.Masten	27.Darling	2.LeCras	HF:	3.Neade	22.Dixon	8.Hartlett
F:	33.Hill	17.Kennedy	29.Lycett	F:	40.Young	39.Westhoff	20.Wingard
R:	9.Naitanui	8.Redden	13.Shuey	R:	12.Trengove	1.Boak	9.R.Gray
I:	12.Wellingham	15.Cripps	26.Butler	I:	14.Stewart	15.Amon	24.Impey
	34.Hutchings				48.Krakouer
E:	18.Ellis	28.Cole	23.Jetta	E:	25.Austin	32.Howard	41.Ah Chee

No change

Quarter by quarter

Both sides went in unchanged, despite the speculation surrounding Josh Kennedy who arrived late into Adelaide. The match started in beautiful sunlit conditions.

First quarter

The Eagles got an early goal through Cripps after skipper Hurn crunched his counterpart Travis Boak in the middle of the ground. Boak was soon afterwards joined on the sidelines by Hamish Hartlett with an injured shoulder. Lycett had a chance to get his side's second after a strong tackle in the forward 50, but his set shot went across the face and Port Adelaide quickly goalled at the other end through Aaron Young. Young got on the end of another Port forward thrust to kick his second in as many minutes. Boak and Hartlett returned to the field and Port's intensity lifted but West Coast managed another goal to Yeo after a great move through the centre (and a 50-metre penalty paid only 5 metres out).

With both sides struggling with their disposal in a finals-like intensity, Kennedy eventually broke the stalemate with a kick around the body from the pocket after a promising buildup. Port has a chance to answer immediately through Jarman Impey, who got a free kick after slipping and copping a high tackle, but shanked his set shot. It was only a brief reprieve for the Eagles as Wingard quickly slotted Port's third to level the scores, but Kennedy then added his second from another mark inside 50. Another marking contest by Kennedy led to an advantage call and a set shot for Lycett, who missed from a tough angle. West Coast continued to push and Kennedy kicked his third after the siren to give the visitors a 13-point lead.

Second quarter

Port kicked the first of the term through Charlie Dixon after a strong pack mark, but Shuey answered quickly after a trademark head-high free kick. Kennedy then added his fourth after finding himself in the unusual role of a crumber. Both sides squandered chances, particularly Port with Wingard needlessly giving up a set shot from the pocket and Impey soccering a ball into the post as the home side pushed to gain some ascendancy.

West Coast finally had a chance to goal after Kennedy held off his opponent in a marking contest and spotted up Lycett, who made no mistake. Yeo gave away a silly free to Robbie Gray after the ball went out of bounds, giving the Power a chance to go forward but the backline was able to quell the attack. It was only a brief reprieve as Hartlett was able to mark in the clear and goal to reduce the margin back to 18 points. Kennedy had another chance to run onto one but Nathan Krakouer ran him down. He got a second opportunity after being paid a softish free and slotted his fifth. The Eagles pushed for another before halftime and 50 metre penalty against former Eagle Brad Ebert for dissent gave Wellingham a chance, but he pushed the set shot well wide. Kennedy was unlucky not to get a chance for a sixth with a strong tackle on Dixon just as the siren sounded.

Third quarter

West Coast got the first goal after a quick transition from defence and some good work from Lycett, who just rolled it through. Young then answered with his third after a defensive lapse left him open in the goalsquare. Redden had a chance from 50 but pushed his set shot wide. West Coast continued to control play in their forward half as Port youngster Darcy Byrne-Jones liped from the field with a leg injury. That sparked the Power Gray had a flying shot from 50 but missed, and some desperate defence prevented Ollie Wines from scoring. Gaff was collected high, late and crudely by Tom Jonas inside 50, knocking the midfielder out and sparking an all-in brawl.

After a lengthy break while Gaff was driven from the field on the motorised stretcher, Hill kicked the goal from the square to put the Eagles up by 30. Dixon took another strong grab down the other end but sent his shot wide. LeCras had a chance for his first but missed as well, as did Sheppard from outside 50 after the Power coughed up the kick-in. Port had a chance when Priddis was run down and caught holding the ball, but West Coast rebounded through the middle leading to another easy goal to Kennedy from the square. Port responded quickly through Dixon's third goal and Ebert and then Westhoff added others to reduce the margin to 19 points by the final change.

Fourth quarter

West Coast were forced to defend desperately on several occasions early as Hartlett hobbled off with a corked thigh. Young missed a chance for his fourth but the Power kept pressing as West Coast struggled to get any run going in Gaff's absence. They were able to kick the first goal against the flow as Hill found an open Cripps who dribbled the ball through. LeCras won a free kick after Gray was reported for tripping, but didn't make the distance from 54 metres and the ball was rushed over. Darling added another behind but West Coast won the ball from the kick-in and Yeo got a free kick in the pocket, again missing to give Port another let-off. They almost capitalised through Wingard, who hooked his kick. West Coast went straight through the middle, with the ball ending up with Kennedy who turned his man inside-out and kicked his seventh, putting West Coast 32 points ahead. Wingard answered quickly to keep Port in the game.

As the Eagles sought to lock the game down, Polec put through his first to narrow the margin to 20 points with eight minutes remaining. When Wingard added his third it was down to 14 points with six minutes left. The Power went forward again but Hill was able to save a shot on the goal-line. Hutchings nearly joined Gaff in la-la land after a solid bump from Gray but was able to stay on the field and win some crucial possessions. Butler was sent from the field with a cut head in the final minute and Young kicked his fourth, but it was too little too late as West Coast took their first away win since mid-2015.

From the coach

"It was an important game for us at this time of year. Port have got a lot on the line too. Every team is desperate to win. To come over here, with their home ground and their home crowd, and to have a win is really good. But we’re not getting carried away. The balance gets out of whack a little bit.

"The win is important, yeah. We recognise we haven’t performed at our best away in recent times. But we didn’t do anything with our preparation. We trained with t-shirts on, instead of jumpers. Maybe that was the masterstroke from our coaches? We just prepared as good as we could. We are going to confront really hard teams away from home, just as we are at home. Not a lot changed.

"...They were up for the fight, our boys and Port and it went down to the wire. We had some ascendancy with our talls at stages and they were really important for us. We understand they are a few men down in that area, so we tried to expose it a little bit, but it probably brought us undone a little bit in the second half. The game opened up and we didn’t adjust."

From the papers

The West Australian

A brutal opening to the match saw Port Adelaide duo Travis Boak and Hamish Hartlett and West Coast’s Chris Masten require treatment following heavy hits in the first quarter.

The teams traded blows on the scoreboard, too, with Kennedy giving the Eagles the upper hand.

His second and third majors in time-on gave the Eagles a 13-point lead at the first change.

Poor decision making and simple skill errors hurt the Power in the second quarter.

They dominated time spent in forward half, but it didn’t amount to anything significant on the scoreboard."

The Age

"The Eagles won by eight points, aided by seven goals from Josh Kennedy, who wasn't going to play because of the pending birth of his first child with his partner Lauren, but all the great moments and heroics and twists faded with the sickening blow to Gaff.

Port seemed to rise from events that will keep the AFL tribunal busy, but the Eagles also bravely stood their ground – but only just – in front of a hostile crowd as Port staged an admirable comeback.

Down 37 points at the 11 minute mark when Kennedy kicked his seventh goal, the Power, inspired by Chad Wingard, who suddenly rediscovered his form, got within 14 points with six minutes remaining.

Given the immense importance of this game to both sides, it was the Eagles' longest six minutes this season – and possibly their finest."

Adelaide Advertiser

"The Power trailed by as much as 37 points during the third quarter, following the ugly third-quarter collision that sparked an all-in melee and left Eagle Andrew Gaff on a stretcher.

But they kicked seven of the last nine goals of the night to turn what threatened to become a romp into an eight-point thriller.

Port had time to snatch it late in the final term when Chad Wingard booted his second on time-on to drag it back to a 14-point game.

They assaulted West Coast’s defence with repeat entries in the dying minutes but the Eagles defied the barrage.

Port’s desperation was finally rewarded when Aaron Young snapped his fourth goal to make it an eight-point game — but with just 10 seconds to play, it was too late."

East Perth report

Round 10 (21 May)

Peel defeated East Perth by 14 points in a slogfest in horrendous conditions at Rushton Park, the Royals having no answers for Dockers veterans Michael Barlow and Tendai Mzungu. Tom Barrass was outstanding for the losers with 22 possessions and eight marks, and Patrick McGinnity was well-suited to the condiitions with 20 disposals and a goal, but Jackson Nelson suffered an arm injury late in the match to further sour the day for the Royals.

Appearing for East Perth: Adamson, Barrass, Bennell, Brophy, Colledge, Giles, Jetta, Lamb, Lucas, McGinnity, McInnes, Nelson, Partington, Snadden (*first East Perth game). Reserves: Allen, Karpany, Mutimer, Tunbridge.

Injury list

In the leadup to the match the following players were listed as injured or unavailable:

Player		Injury		Expected duration
Sheed		Pectoral		3 weeks
Brown		Finger		3 weeks		(Placed on LTI list 24/3/16, replaced by Colledge)
Waterman*		Glandular fever		Indefinite

References

http://www.afl.com.au/match-centre/2016/9/port-v-wce

https://afltables.com/afl/stats/games/2016/131820160521.html