“The guy’s played Port Adelaide footy” – David Koch post-game in the Power sheds.
Port Adelaide Football Club chairman David Koch’s joy was palpable in the Power rooms after his team defeated the Sydney Swans by 28 points. He’s been to the Sydney Cricket ground on several occasions and seen the Swans romp home or beat them by a whisker. Saturday’s win surely would be one of his sweetest moments at the club considering it was Travis Boak’s 200th game. Throw in the attendance of the Premier of the People’s Republic of China, His Excellency Li Keqiang and all the stars seemed aligned for the Power. The Premier could be seen in the rooms after the game with a very wide grin and wearing a teal, white and black scarf. No doubt he’ll be looking forward to the historic AFL game to be played in China later this year for actual premiership points between Port Adelaide and the Gold Coast Suns. But back to David Koch who told us his team had worked very hard over the summer months to improve. In our opinion Port Adelaide have been a very lack-luster football program, simply going through the motions and playing with little passion. There was absolutely none of that on display on Saturday. I mentioned to David that the “Alberton” spirit was alive and well in Sydney on Saturday and it really was. The Power boys played as a team and really shut down the Swans. I don’t buy into Sydney Swans coach John Longmire’s post match comments that were reported as “We just lost too many 50-50 contests, whether it’s in the air or along the ground, the scramble, the loose balls – just the general 50-50 balls”. In my opinion, Sydney were tactically beaten. Port Adelaide pressured them every time they got the ball and as mentioned in our game report, the Sydney Swans game plan has been sussed out by the other clubs. Port played a very similar game to how the Western Bulldogs did in last year’s grand final. The Swans were not allowed to play their typical free flowing, pace driven football. It was a magnificent effort by the Port Adelaide football club.
Travis Boak A Port Adelaide Legend
When football historians look back on the early 2000’s of the grand game of AFL, one name from the Port Adelaide football club will surely derive serious attention in Travis Boak. The skipper played his 200th game and it was a ripper from the champ. He gathered 26 disposals and kicked two goals. His team mates really stood up and made sure his milestone game would be a very memorable one. Boak led by example and put himself into the contest with 100% commitment that many a Power fan has witnessed over the years. Nobody gave Port a chance on Saturday and the upset result made the victory all the more sweeter for the Port Power team. It was inspirational to see a team play their hearts out and against massive odds for their mate and leader in Travis Boak.
The new 2017 version of Port Power
The Port Adelaide team and strategy had a very different look and feel about them when they took to the field at the SCG on Saturday. Ruckman Paddy Ryder added extra spice in the middle and around the boundary throw ins. Then there were the three debutantes in Brett Eddy, Dan Houston and Sam Powell-Pepper. Powell Pepper was sensational. His very first kick in AFL footy was a goal and then later he booted an absolute monster of a goal outside the 50 metre arc. The lad obviously has talent and whilst it’s only round 1, he’s going to be a handy target up forward. And gee it was good to see Charlie Dixon show some form. The guy could be anything and he kicked some clutch goals early in the game. Ollie Wines was pure genius, racking up 33 disposals and providing plenty of supply to his team mates. I really liked the game of defender Tom Clurey who had the very difficult assignment on Lance Franklin. Yes Lance did kick 4 goals and yes, he was one of Sydney’s better players, but Clurey really stuck to his job and made Franklin work hard for every possession and goal. I found that match-up to be an entertaining encounter. Another fellow from Port who I thought played very well was Jared Polec. He was very handy around the ground, providing support at the back, through the midfield and kicked a goal. We spoke to him after the game and was really impressed with his focused footy attitude. Chad Wingard, Brad Ebert and Aaron Young were also super impressive. Young and Wingard each kicked 3 goals and were dangerous around the forward packs.
A less “frustrated” Port Adelaide coach in Ken Hinkley
Whilst he wouldn’t admit it at the post-game press conference, Port coach Ken Hinkley wouldn’t have felt frustrated at his team’s game on Saturday. During the JLT pre-season series, he’s regularly used that word due to, in his opinion, how his team wasn’t implementing or sticking to his game plan. That wasn’t the case on Saturday. Power were a well-drilled team. They played solid, skillful disciplined football. There have been murmurs in football circles about the future of coach Hinkley and yes whilst it’s round 1, Ken couldn’t have started the season any better than by beating the well-fancied Sydney Swans. We like coach Hinkley’s football philosophy and here’s hoping he can acheive some much needed success for the Power team in 2017.
Where to for the Sydney Swans in 2017?
We didn’t tip the Sydney Swans to win on Saturday. The combination of the inclusion of Port ruckman Paddy Ryder and the milestone game of Travis Boak was going to be a tough obstacle to overcame. As we have mentioned several times, it’s obvious other AFL clubs have watched the Swans game films over and over again in trying to decipher a way to defeat them. Ok I concede that it’s only round 1 and yes Sydney have some class players in Luke Parker, Josh Kennedy, Lance Franklin and Heath Grundy. But does this playing group have the mental toughness and willingness to return to an AFL grand final after losing 2 out of 3 attempts? If you don’t close the deal when it counts then the following seasons are going to be tough. Believe me I’ve seen sides slide into the football wilderness after scarring grand final losses. Throw in the hungriness of teams like Melbourne, Port Adelaide, Adelaide Crows, Geelong, Essendon and the reigning premiers the Western Bulldogs and it’s going to be a massive obstacle to overcome for Sydney. I’ll happily give kudos and admit I was totally mistaken to the Swans team if they do reach the pinnacle in October, but the way I currently see things is that they wont be there.
A record breaking 400,401 fans say “It’s great to be at the footy again”
The opening week of AFL football has smashed the attendance records out of the park. Round 1 crowds totaled an incredible 400, 401 beating the old record by 29,189 set in 2013 of 371,211. These are really big numbers when you consider the population of Australia. I tell folks in the USA about the crowds that attend our footy which they annoyingly still call bloody rugby. Let me tell you I correct them every time on that score!! It’s Aussie Rules and it does!
