Port Adelaide have defeated Richmond by 14 points at the Adelaide Oval, bouncing back from a disappointing loss last week.
Port Adelaide has defeated Richmond by 14 points at the Adelaide Oval, bouncing back from a disappointing loss last week.
The Tigers, without champion midfielder Dustin Martin, fought great odds for much of the night, but eventually came up short as Port Adelaide hung on sternly to a late lead.
Richmond have now lost all three of their interstate games for the year, although it’s worth noting they have all been against quality opposition who played finals last year.
Port Adelaide were on top early, winning all the clearances in the initial stages of the game and putting Richmond’s defence under pressure.
Richmond instantly looked bereft of Dustin Martin in the midfield, as Ollie Wines, Chad Wingard and Travis Boak were all dominant in close.
Eventually, Charlie Dixon outmarked Alex Rance and kicked the game’s opening goal.
Justin Westhoff, who was everywhere in the first half, then kicked another, and with the score 13-1, and Port dominating the inside 50s, the situation looked ominous for the Tigers.
However, Shane Edwards, following on from his blistering Dreamtime performance last week, combined with Trent Cotchin and Jayden Short to gain some control for Richmond, and dominated the territory battle for the rest of the quarter.
Charlie Dixon looked to have hurt his leg in another contest with Rance, but remained on the ground and continued to exert influence.
Jack Riewoldt presented well to get the Tigers on the board, before a pair of clever Shane Edwards goals gave the Tigers a handy quarter-time lead.
An early Jack Riewoldt goal in the second quarter put Richmond 13 points in front, but Port Adeliade lifted their intensity, and their midfield again roared to life.
Wingard – following a week of commentary about his low tackle numbers – continued his sensational form from the first quarter, and Jared Polec lifted his output following a lacklustre opening term.
Westhoff kicked a couple of goals soon after to cement himself as one of the best players on the ground, and again Port Adelaide were right on top.
Anthony Miles converted a set shot in retaliation, but Port Adelaide went on an absolute rampage.
Sam Gray, Robbie Gray, and Polec all got among the goals, and to make matters worse for the premiers, David Astbury was taken from the ground with a suspected ankle injury.
The half-time margin of 23 points could perhaps have been even greater, such was the dominance of Port Adelaide for most of the second quarter.
The third quarter saw a somewhat resurgent Richmond work hard to get back into the contest, but Port Adelaide shut up shop, and slowed the game right down.
Their ball movement was unrecognisable from their attacking style from the first half, as there were no more leads and players went long to contests and looked to the boundary at every opportunity.
The battle between Rance and Dixon was captivating all night, and Port Adelaide only managed one goal for the quarter thanks to his brilliance in defence.
Meanwhile, Riewoldt’s third, and one to Castagna on the stroke of three-quarter time kept the Tigers in the contest.
The final quarter was essentially more of the same, as the disciplined Power slowed the game down and prevented the Tigers from spreading the ball and using their skills.
Then once the ball was in the contests, they were typically outgunned by Port’s midfield depth, as they were again able to highlight Dustin Martin’s absence.
Jason Castagna kicked another goal to bring the margin inside two goals following a high-flying mark, but that was as close as it got.
Port Adelaide are now 7-4 and back in the top eight, ahead of two more home games against the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne, while Richmond will stay in the top-four ahead of a return to the MCG to face Geelong.
PORT ADELAIDE 2.2 9.5 10.7 10.12 (72)
RICHMOND 3.3 5.6 7.8 8.10 (58)
Port Adelaide: Polec, Wines, Westhoff, Boak, Howard, Wingard, Powell-Pepper
Richmond: Short, Rance, Cotchin, Riewoldt
GOALS
Port Adelaide: Westhoff 3, S Gray, R Gray 2, Polec, Dixon, Motlop
Richmond: Riewoldt 3, Castagna, Edwards 2, Miles
INJURIES
Port Adelaide: Nil
Richmond: Nil
TALKING POINTS
1. ARE THE TIGERS HOUSECATS?
Richmond’s 0-3 interstate record is a very interesting thing to consider.
They lost to Adelaide in round two - back when they had most of their team on the park and still bore a semblance of their Grand Final selves - before facing off against the ladder-leading Eagles, who had an absolute day out.
But considering Port Adelaide’s patchy form last week, this was a match that a premiership side would be expected to win, and appears the most difficult of the three.
Richmond’s two remaining trips interstate are to play GWS in round 17 and Gold Coast in round 21.
While the latter fixture looks to only be a matter of the margin, if Richmond lose to the Giants, Damien Hardwick will surely harbour concerns for his side’s inability to win on the road.
The only other two sides who have matched Richmond’s nine wins this season are West Coast and Sydney, who have both been prolific away from home.
The Tigers would probably enter into any match at the MCG as favourites considering their 15 straight victories there, but if they should slip out of the top-two, it appears very likely that they will have to travel at least once in September.
Are they fragile on the road? They’ll want to beat the Giants.
2. A WINGARD AND A PRAYER
Chad Wingard was All Australian twice by the age of 22, however, he has stagnated in the last few seasons.
Robbie Gray has gone forward and perhaps taken Wingard's role, who has had quite a bunch of niggling injuries.
Nonetheless, Wingard has been disappointing for much of the year, and his pressure numbers have been way down.
With the Tigers midfield still a massive threat sans Dustin Martin, Ken Hinkley backed his match-winner in Wingard to combat them - and he was absolutely sensational.
The stats sheet reads an excellent 31 disposals, 13 contested possessions, seven clearances, and – significantly – eight tackles, however, the Rioli-like intangibles he demonstrates were even more impressive.
His terrific balance, awareness, strength and cleanliness with the ball in hand added up to a complete midfield performance.
The beauty of Port Adelaide’s on-ball brigade is that the minute teams put time into curtailing him around the stoppages, they’ll be leaving contested ball animals Ollie Wines, Brad Ebert and Sam Powell-Pepper unchecked.
With the two Grays up forward and a healthy competition between Jake Neade and Lindsay Thomas, it appears Wingard is of most use in the midfield.
3. WHERE’S THE HOFF SWITCH?
Damien Hardwick would’ve wanted to know how to cut the power of Port's rangy utility.
Justin Westoff was absolutely everywhere, kicking three goals in the first half and gathering plenty of the ball, and was probably to credit for the 23-point half time lead which proved unassailable.
He can play just about any position on the ground, and when he’s going, his aerobic capacity, marking, reading of the play and skills make him very hard to stop.
Port have a true key forward in Charlie Dixon, a terrific winger in Jared Polec, and improving key defensive stocks, allowing Ken Hinkley to mix and match Westhoff’s strengths to what any different situation calls for.
Dixon and Polec are both enigmatic in their own way, so if ever one of them is struggling, there is more-than-able support ready to go.
Westhoff, 31, is probably having the best season of his career, and his experience could be pivotal if the Power want to go deep into September.
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