Port Adelaide 3.1 10.5 14.7 21.10 (136) Brisbane Lions 4.4 5.6 5.13 7.17 (59)
GOALS: Port Adelaide: Dixon 5, Young , Westhoff , Wingard 3, Ebert, Wines, Impey, Broadbent, Neade, Pittard, Polec. Brisbane: Zorko 2, D. Beams, Schache, Hanley, Lester, C. Beams.
BEST: Port Adelaide: Wines, Boak, Pittard, Dixon, Polec, Ebert. Brisbane: Martin, D. Beams, Zorko, Bastinac, Gardiner, Bell.
INJURIES: Brisbane: D. Merrett (illness) replaced in selected side by M. Paparone, Rockliff (hamstring), Christensen (ankle).
UMPIRES N. Foot, S. Ryan, S. McInerney.
CROWD 32,399 (record low) at Adelaide Oval.
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Power crush Lions
Port Adelaide have made it two wins in a row after thrashing Brisbane at Adelaide Oval.
Port Adelaide crushed the hopes of the Brisbane Lions with a devastating onslaught after quarter-time to set up an easy win at Adelaide Oval on Sunday.
And as injuries mounted and the going got tougher for the Lions, the goals dried up even more and gifted the Power not only the much-needed four premiership points, but an invaluable opportunity to produce some semblance of the form so many expected this season.
Players who were more cold than hot this season, led by Charlie Dixon who clearly produced his best effort at his new club, used this one-sided contest to regain confidence, which can give the Power the boost it has been so desperately seeking.
And who knows, the Port fans may return again – today’s 32,399 attendance was the lowest on record at this revamped stadium, handing Port the top 10 worst crowds here.Â
But while Port was outstanding in kicking 8.4 to 0.8 between Brisbane’s fifth and sixth goals, it wasn’t always easy, especially up to quarter-time when the Lions led by nine points and looked anything but the 16th side in the competition.
Not helping Brisbane was the late withdrawal of key defender Daniel Merrett (illness), and the loss of brilliant midfielder Tom Rockliff (hamstring) during a 7.4 to 1.2 second quarter.
Given these setbacks, and battling against bigger bodies and with less experience, it was no real surprise when the Power surged further ahead and made their premiership ladder ranking far more respectable, recording two wins in a row for the first time since last year to be 4-3 and well in the hunt.
However, none of the wins have been against a side currently in the top eight, and the doubting Thomases of this football world will continue to believe Port is not a serious threat. The draw in the coming weeks, against Carlton (Etihad Stadium), West Coast Eagles (home), Melbourne (Alice Springs), and Collingwood (MCG) may change things.
The point being, Port was very good today, and won well despite their own string of injuries and lack of confidence and form this season. The revival was certainly greeted with much enthusiasm and relief.
As for Brisbane, no one has expected them to do anything this season, but again in defeat they too showed they are moving forward at good pace and have character.
They simply lacked polish on Sunday, ruining their chances with poor skills when the forward lines were open. Much worse was their decision making at crucial stages early when the pressure mounted by the minute. But they had a real go under significant duress.
Port, of course, was far from full strength and virtually gave up a key position – not having a recognised ruckman. Jackson Trengove took the main responsibility, occasionally assisted by regular forwards Dixon and Justin Westhoff.
Brisbane’s Stefan Martin must have thought Christmas had come 242 days too early. As the only recognised ruckman on the field he amassed 30 of the 46 hit-outs recorded up to half-time when the match was still within the Lions' reach. We can expect the cries of ‘‘is a ruckman really important?’’ to be echoed louder this week.
Rockliff was a big loss, but Brisbane should have still done much better at the centre clearances and stoppages. Dayne Beams, in his first game this season, was terrific, but far too often he was left to carry too much of the responsibility.
As indicated in earlier promising performances this season, Brisbane appears to be on the cusp of far better things, especially when tall and young key-position players in defender Darcy Gardiner and forward Josh Schache, who is powered by the emotion of wearing his late dad’s Brisbane guernsey number (23), put on more beef to reward their courage and competitiveness.
But as much as the Lions showed something and ruined their chances with a bucket of behinds when goals became so difficult to gather, Port will benefit from this outing. They were allowed to run into form, and showed glimpses of their once lethal dash-and-create style. They became hungry again, and on the rebound from defence their impeccable teamwork repeatedly hurt Brisbane badly.
Ollie Wines, Travis Boak and Brad Ebert were very good for Port, as were Jared Polec and Jasper Pittard, but Dixon was the stand-out for Port.
But this was a sold team effort, and when it came to individuals Martin was exceptional, not only with his complete control in ruck but his hard work and numerous disposals around the ground.
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