Port Adelaide 2020

[Bandit]

Dixon clunking the marks makes a huge difference to how port look in attack.

[LMA]

Can we keep a lid on it, they have beaten the bottom 3 teams plus Gold Coast when they were worse than a bottom team.
Also havent had to play Freo or WC away.
McGovern late withdrawal today
Continue to get kissed on the dick.
What odds Lachie Neale is out next week?

Clearly tongue in cheek comments

[LMA]

Dixon clunking the marks makes a huge difference to how port look in attack.

Still running under the ball alot though for mine but he's been very good.

[Booney]

In the immortal words of Lloyd Christmas “I like it, I like it a lot”.

There’s plenty of positives that have come from the 2020 season so far for Port Adelaide and one that this column will focus on is the buy in from the players into pressuring the opposition when we don’t have the ball. This isn’t something that can be turned on and off during a game. Ball movement can, signals can be sent from the bench to slow things down if the on field leaders haven’t already made that call. On the flip side players can instinctively sense when you’re on top and your ball movement is working and you keep pushing. But pressure, pressure on the ball carrier, the intent to hunt the ball when in dispute, this doesn’t come and go. If it goes, it’s gone. It’s that simple. Right now though all Port players are all in when it comes to pressure on the opponent when we don’t have it and I am loving it. The best part is I feel this is being driven but some of the youngest members of our side, Butters, DBJ, Rozee, Marshall, SPP.

I’ve been fortunate enough to be involved with some junior footy ranks as my son played through the grades and I’ve always tried to emphasise to the kids that from a personal level and as a team you need to set yourself standards and those shouldn’t be what you aspire to reaching one day, they should be the minimum standard you set out to achieve in every training session and every game and right now Port have set a new standard for pressure and this is the minimum. This level of intensity is the new bench mark.

As a result of that intensity we again dominate the inside 50’s ( despite getting carved up in the clearances around the ground and in the middle although I thought Lycett nullified Naitanui pretty well ) and have West Coast running at 66% disposal efficiency and they have 61 turnovers. 1 in every 3 of their possessions wasn’t effective. Pressure. 15 tackles inside our forward 50. Pressure. The coaching group must be thrilled with what they’re seeing. I am.

Now we get to the results of that pressure and turnovers, we get time and space ( not Pendlebury basketball style ) to move the ball into our forwards and didn’t the big bloke lap it up on Saturday! Finally the big hands clunked some marks in contested situations, he led into space created by the smalls moving to help him and he gets the rewards. Dixon cops his fair share for not hitting the scoreboard and at times this has been fair, at other times it’s been harsh as he brings players into the game around him but Saturday was his turn to fill his boots and he took it. Marshall again has an impact, just so keen for him to turn 8 touches and a goal into 15 and 4, but while we’re winning and all the forwards are contributing ( Westhoff again with 2 ) he’s playing his role.

Defensively the worst hair cut in the Port squad, Tom Clurey, did an excellent job both on the ground and in the air, he, like the other Tom do their best aerial defensive work on the ground. Watch them the next time they’re in a contest with a key forward, they get body on body well before the ball is in the area and get the forward off balance and between them they hold strong on the weekend and take 15 marks to 13 from the 4 West Coast stay at home forwards. Good job, Tom and Tom.

Behind Dixon I struggled to work out who was my best, the likes of Wines, Boak, Rockliff, Houston, DBJ, Amon, Motlop, Rozee, basically our whole midfield, all had moments and all came in and out of the game as did Butters who gets a special mention for two efforts in the last quarter. One was a one-on-one in the air with Jetta where Butters took the spoils with a sound mark and the other was when he crashed the pack taking out 3 Eagles to allow milestone man Brad Ebert a second goal in his 250th. What a warrior Ebert has been. What a warrior Butters will be.

This week ends clash with Brisbane shapes as a beauty, I can’t wait for Saturday night as this will be the best gauge of what season 2020 holds for us so far.

Boon’s best – Dixon, Ebert, Hartlett, Clurey, Westhoff, Boak ( honourable mention to Butters and Lycett )

[Lightning McQueen]

I'm not getting too far ahead of ourselves, we still haven't been anyone above us yet.

[stan]

I'm not getting too far ahead of ourselves, we still haven't been anyone above us yet.

To be honest we are poo and look like we are not interested, Port on the other hand have embraced the hub life.

Kind of helps when you pants Adelaide at home, then come up North looking for a fight. Puts you in the right frame of mind.

[Lightning McQueen]

I'm not getting too far ahead of ourselves, we still haven't been anyone above us yet.

To be honest we are poo and look like we are not interested, Port on the other hand have embraced the hub life.

Kind of helps when you pants Adelaide at home, then come up North looking for a fight. Puts you in the right frame of mind.

You're totally right, AFL in general looks very lethargic and the standard seems way below par, I just think it's more of a case that Port hasn't slipped as far back as some of the other clubs.

[The Bedge]

I'm not getting too far ahead of ourselves, we still haven't been anyone above us yet.

Hard to beat anyone above you when you've been on top end of every week

[Lightning McQueen]

I'm not getting too far ahead of ourselves, we still haven't been anyone above us yet.

Hard to beat anyone above you when you've been on top end of every week

You're not just a hat rack hey?

[Sheik Yerbouti]

Brisbane/Port $10 eq favs for the Grand Final

[locky801]

Brisbane/Port $10 eq favs for the Grand Final

if ones ever played

[Dutchy]

Heard last night Port only took 32 up to the GC, must have missed this, is there a list of those they didnt take? Boon?

[Booney]

Heard last night Port only took 32 up to the GC, must have missed this, is there a list of those they didnt take? Boon?

Those who travelled :

1. Tom Jonas
2. Sam Powell-Pepper
3. Ryan Burton
4. Todd Marshall
5. Dan Houston
6. Steven Motlop
7. Brad Ebert
8. Hamish Hartlett
9. Robbie Gray
10. Travis Boak
11. Tom Rockliff
12. Trent McKenzie
14. Miles Bergman
15. Karl Amon
16. Ollie Wines
17. Tom Clurey
18. Zak Butters
19. Mitch Georgiades
20. Connor Rozee
21. Xavier Duursma
22. Charlie Dixon
23. Jack Watts
24. Kane Farrell
26. Riley Bonner
29. Scott Lycett
32. Sam Mayes
33. Darcy Byrne-Jones
34. Dylan Williams
38. Peter Ladhams
39. Justin Westhoff
40. Jarrod Lienert
44. Jackson Mead
50. Cam Sutcliffe

Left behind :

Buzza, Hayes, Garner, Drew, Atley, Burgoyne, Woodcock, Patmore, Grundy, Frederick, Cox, Pasini.

[Booney]

We've played Adelaide, so no Showdown to come.

We've played West Coast and Fremantle, so no trip to Perth (?).

We've played Gold Coast and this week Brisbane, so no trip to Queensland (?).

We'll play GWS after a weekend back in Adelaide leaving Sydney and the 10 Victorian sides to play.

Given I doubt we'll head into Melbourne to play St Kilda, it looks increasingly unlikely, I think our only trip away from home will be to play Sydney on the Gold Coast or perhaps in Sydney if restrictions between SA/NSW change.

With people from WA permitted to enter SA without quarantine it's fair to assume as the Victorian based sides work their way through WA they'll come through Adelaide on the return leg.

Bar Sydney away it's conceivable Port could host all the Victorian based sides in Adelaide and it's also conceivable to think we'll play them after they've been in Perth for two weeks and are heading back to Melbourne via Adelaide.

[Dutchy]

Need Marshall to let them come into the state, otherwise you might be playing the games in Sydney/Brisbane

[GWW]

Port play poorly at AO, so its in the club's interests to keep playing in Queensland (and perhaps NSW) as much as possible.

[The Bedge]

Buzza, Hayes, Garner, Drew, Atley, Burgoyne, Woodcock, Patmore, Grundy, Frederick, Cox, Pasini.

Where do these guys get to play with no PA in the SANFL?!

[The Bedge]

We've played West Coast and Fremantle, so no trip to Perth (?).

WCE was a Port home game - so may still play then in Perth?

[Jim05]

We've played Adelaide, so no Showdown to come.

We've played West Coast and Fremantle, so no trip to Perth (?).

We've played Gold Coast and this week Brisbane, so no trip to Queensland (?).

We'll play GWS after a weekend back in Adelaide leaving Sydney and the 10 Victorian sides to play.

Given I doubt we'll head into Melbourne to play St Kilda, it looks increasingly unlikely, I think our only trip away from home will be to play Sydney on the Gold Coast or perhaps in Sydney if restrictions between SA/NSW change.

With people from WA permitted to enter SA without quarantine it's fair to assume as the Victorian based sides work their way through WA they'll come through Adelaide on the return leg.

Bar Sydney away it's conceivable Port could host all the Victorian based sides in Adelaide and it's also conceivable to think we'll play them after they've been in Perth for two weeks and are heading back to Melbourne via Adelaide.

Still plenty of options up their sleeve and as late as a day ago Gil didn’t rule out that there may be double up games if need be

[Booney]

Need Marshall to let them come into the state, otherwise you might be playing the games in Sydney/Brisbane

If they come via WA they can, you don't need to isolate from WA,NT or Tas.