AFL Round 12 – Port Adelaide v St Kilda: Talent at and near Adelaide Oval

A slight blemish in my operating procedure the other night allowed me to watch Mark Taylor play a mandolin during the ad break, he played it like a gun, and I was impressed. They referred to it as a “revealed hidden talent”.

I’m a gun with the fast forward/rewind buttons on my remote. This has taken some time to develop. I get home from games and watch my recorded replay. The other night I had to wait for our house guests to go to bed before I could watch the replay. Selfishly I fast forward through the opposition goals and then I replay lead ups to our goals. In ‘08/09/10/11 I hammered the fast forward button, honing a now oft used skill. Watching a game on telly after I’ve been to the game causes my wife to shake her head. She’s a gun at that.

Port started well, very well, with Chad in the game early with a goal. More about Chad later. Port continued to get goals and force turnovers from the Saints midfield. The game had the potential to turn ugly for the Saints. To their credit, they steadied the ship and applied pressure themselves for the remainder of the first and most of the second quarter. Nick Riewoldt showing pure class. I’m not sure why people booed him, it didn’t seem to come from all parts of the crowd. His blemish was a late hit on Impey which didn’t reach the MRP. Hayes was and is class, he sets a standard for the Sainters in his wake. Port get three late ones in the second to take a small but handy lead at half time.

The third was a standout quarter. The third is not always Port’s best quarter. But a 6.4 to 1.0 effort with that screamer made it packed full of talent and skill. I’ll just talk about the reaction to that screamer for a second. The mark was replayed 3 times. Each time to a roar from the crowd. It changed the game and lit up the night. Ahhh, what a talent!

Port pressed their advantage to finally win by 70 points. Impey read the game well and seemed to play a similar role to that of Broadbent who’d moved up the ground a bit. Impey showing versatility to sneak forward, swoop and kick a cracking goal. Ebert’s GPS tracker must have got a flat battery and Jack Steven never gave up. The Hoff is half talent, half skill and played a cracker. Robbie Gray was consistently brilliant and played a fine tune through the game.

I’m sure Tom Simpkin possesses some talent, but he seemed determined to present in the wrong places. Perhaps the early blow to the head arresting his development.

There was a fine display of talent from both sides on the day/night. Perhaps the difference being St Kilda are still developing and Port starting to put more out there for us to watch. A talent honed and developed into a skill is a fine thing, but sometimes we get tricked. Is that right Mr. Taylor?

Port     4.3       7.6       13.10   19.15 (129)

Saints  2.2       4.5       5.5       9.5 (59)

Goals

Port; R. Gray 4, Wingard 3, Schulz 3, Polec 1, Ebert 1, Hartlett 1, Impey 1, Trengove 1, Westhoff 1, Pittard 1, Lobbe 1 and Cassisi 1.

Saints; Riewoldt 4, Saunders 2, Milera 1, Hayes 1 and Dunstan 1.

Best

Port; Impey, R. Gray, Wines and Lobbe.

Saints; Hayes, Dunstan, Riewoldt and Steven

Crowd; 42,374 at Adelaide Oval, home of the Wingard Hanger.

Votes; Impey 3, Gray 2 and Wingard 1.

A song about revealed talent that will no longer be sung by a man of immense talent and ability. Thanks Doc.

”That late in the night when the lights are all out
then she slips off her stockings and shoes
she makes you her lover and lets you discover
the smiles she keeps, she keeps for you”

Bidstrup-Neeson; Track 1; “No Secrets”; Dark Room, The Angels.

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