Early in the 2024 AFL season, the Port Adelaide Power completed one of the toughest road trips in the game, knocking over the Cats at Kardinia Park.
It was one of those games that Geelong would have scratched down as a win when they were projecting how their season would play out – any game at home is automatically chalked up as a win in the minds of most Cats fans. However, in this case, Port brought their A-Game, with the Power midfield tearing the Cats to bits. Butters, Wines, and Horne-Francis were overpowering, making the Cats look slow and tired through the middle of the ground, and it contributed to the flat spot Geelong experienced after a fast start to the year.
A three-goal-to-one last quarter was not enough to get the home team over the line, with Port hanging on to pick up the win by a goal. It was a brilliant win at a damn difficult place to get one.
However, mid all the discussion about the game, the four snags by Willie Rioli, and how the season has played out since, there was a tactic used by the Power to unsettle the Cats’ most potent back-half weapon, with Jed McEntee going to Tom Stewart, and creating all sorts of havoc for him in the process.
And it will be something to keep a close eye on as the teams tangle in the Qualifying Final on Thursday night.
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