AFL Round 18: Port look good for finals tilt

By Josh Barnstable

This game has a bit of a finals feeling. The winner might end up in the top 8 while the loser will slip further away from the leading 8. On a beautiful sunny day at the best ground in the AFL in my opinion, the Power are underdogs to defeat Hawthorn on their home ground. The Power, surprisingly not wearing their new black strip which is the best Guernsey they have ever worn, and the Hawks, wearing the best clash jumper in the league. I tip Hawthorn with a lot of confidence, and I eagerly wait for the bounce of the ball.

Despite the game starting at 3:10 AEST, channel Seven still manage to find a way to delay the broadcast. The first quarter begins and the Hawks get the first goal through Brad Sewell before Warren Tredrea goals after marking on the lead. Josh Kennedy goals on the run, his first goal in AFL and then Jarryd Roughead kicks the Hawks’ 3rd from the goalsquare. The Power reply with goals to Justin Westhoff and Robbie Gray to cut the margin to 2 points. Brendan Whitecross also kicks his first goal in his short career, and what a goal it was. A long kick from 60m towards the Forward Pocket bounced at a ridiculous angle, and bounced through for a goal. The Power quickly replied through David Rodan before Luke Hodge goaled, giving Hawthorn an 8 point lead. A late goal to Tredrea just before the bell saw the margin cut to 2 points at quarter time, 5.1 to 5.3.

The second quarter starts and I hoped for more of what I saw in the first. Roughead kicks his second before Travis Boak celebrated his 21st birthday with a long kick that bounced at weird angles and through for a goal, almost identical to Whitecross’ goal. Brent Guerra goals on the run before Tom Logan goals from long range on the run, Hodge replies for the Hawks with a goal on his deadly left foot before Rodan and Shaun Burgoyne goal to give the Power the lead for the first time. Guerra answers before Gray kicks his second. Nick Salter shows his talent by marking and goals with a very good kick. I would now pick Salter to kick a goal to save my life. Buddy Franklin snaps a goal on his right boot before Gray kicks a ripper over his head to give the Power an 8 point lead going into half time, 12.5 to 10.9.

The third quarter begins and once again I’m hoping for the goals to keep coming through. Ben McGlynn goals on the run from 50m out to cut the margin to a point but that would be the closest the Hawks would be, as the Power kick away with goals through Westhoff, Salter and Gray with an excellent grubber kick along the ground, giving Port Adelaide an 18 point lead going into three quarter time, 15.8 to 11.14.

The final quarter gets underway and Chance Bateman goals on the run to give Hawthorn hope. Danyle Pearce caps off a brilliant game with a long kick from 60m that bounces through a pack of legs. Tredrea puts it beyond doubt with a big goal from 50m before Simon Taylor goals with his first kick of the afternoon, cutting the margin to 17 points. Westhoff marks and goals before Franklin finishes off his terrible afternoon with a brilliant goal. The siren sounds, and the Power fans go into a frenzy, knowing they are one step closer towards a finals berth, 18.13.121 to 14.19.103.

I think it’s safe to say, that the Hawks’ finals chances are gone. With tough games against St Kilda and Adelaide coming up, there is no way they can defend their premiership defence. The Power have a difficult draw coming up, with Fremantle (A), Carlton (H), Brisbane (A) and North Melbourne (H) coming up. It’s now whether they have the determination to keep putting in performances like this, and if they do they will be a strong team come finals.

Port Adelaide 5.1—12.5—15.8—18.13 (121)
Hawthorn 5.3—10.9—11.14—14.19 (103)

Goalkickers:

Port Adelaide-Gray 4, Westhoff 3, Tredrea 3, Rodan 2, Salter 2, Boak, Logan, Burgoyne, Pearce

Hawthorn-Roughead 2, Franklin 2, Guerra 2, Hodge 2, Whitecross, Kennedy, Sewell, Bateman, Taylor, McGlynn

Best:

Port Adelaide-Boak, Brogan, Westhoff, Burgoyne, Rodan, Gray, Pearce

Hawthorn-Bateman, McGlynn, Guerra, Brown

Crowd:

25,154 at AAMI Stadium

Votes:

3: Travis Boak (PA)
2: Dean Brogan (PA)
1: Chance Bateman (H)

Comments

  1. Nice write-up, but i hope Port don’t come near my boys!

    The weirdest thing happened to me after school. I got a text from my reliable source telling me that they had just walked past Alan Toovey at 2:20pm on the corner of Jonas Street, West Richmond.
    Toovey wondering aimlessly cut a lonesome figure wearing long daggy shorts in the freezing weather. This is NO JOKE!
    My contact yelled:”TOOVS!” but was unsure if Toovey heard him with all the noise the wind was making. LOL

  2. i wore shorts to school today. we were supposed to wear jeans for jeans for genes day but they are uncomfy lol

  3. Josh Barnstable says

    Haha…maybe your contact should have hit him with a crowbar from behind and that solves your Toovey problem i wore shorts to school today. we were supposed to wear jeans for jeans for genes day but they are uncomfy lol

  4. yer i know, my contact was like.
    “im sorry i didnt do anything for you”
    me: i was just… shocked and then made him swear that if he ever saw Nathan to get his signature.
    i didnt rock up to school today, im feeling sick :(

  5. Steve Healy says

    I thought jeans for genes day was a primary school thing, good report Josh and good work on doing 4 reports for Round 18.
    I’m suprised Toovey was actually outside today, I thought he’d be sleeping in someone’s roof with his other family members.

  6. Lol it was yesterday actually.
    But i was like..hes out?? HES SUPOSED TO BE TRAINING AND LEARNING HOW TO MARK PROPERLY!!!!
    Im sooo drained, I’ve been studying for like 4 hours and I haven’t even got to the second subject yet!!! I hate school!!

  7. Josh Barnstable says

    We had to decide today whether we would continue school and i was so tempted to say no but i didn’t :( thanks Steve, for some reason i wanted to watch more footy than normal in Round 18 so i did a report on each game available to me on TV. Good luck on Sunday with Melbourne. NOT!

  8. Steve Healy says

    Yea I always watch/listen/go 4 games a round. I presume your gonna watch Carlton V Geelong on TV. Im listening on the radio ATM.

  9. Josh Barnstable says

    Yeah i’m watching it tonight. Carlton by a goal ATM

  10. Steve Healy says

    Geelong by 1 point, Josh do you have foxtel?

  11. Josh Barnstable says

    Yeah Hogan kicked a goal. He is a good player. Nah i don’t. I used to about 6 years ago but not anymore.

  12. Steve Healy says

    Same, I had it about 6 years ago as well. I’ve been begging for it for ages but haven’t got it. Simpson just kicked a goal. Hogan is a great youngster, do you play Dream team or Supercoach?

  13. Josh take my advice..DROP OUT NOW..RUN AWAY TO CANADA!!
    nah im only joking..yer i had to make that decision at the start of the year and i was SOOO TEMPTED to drop out and do some sort of journalism Tafe thingo..but i didnt and now im suffering through year 11 with 2 Sacs on MONDAY..HELP ME!! :(

  14. Steve Healy says

    What’s this Journalism Tafe thing Danielle?

  15. well i didnt really look into it too much but if you dont want to go to Uni then you can do some Journalism stuff at Tafe and other educational institutions. i considered it but….lets face it it takes much longer to get the certificate and its better of being at Uni getting a Degree. :)

  16. i want to go to La Trobe Uni and it says that i need:
    a study score of at least 30 in english.
    its takes 3 years for Bachelor of Journalism and the ENTER is 84.10
    ..well..this is going to be interesting :(

  17. Josh Barnstable says

    I do Supercoach Steve.

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