Geelong travelled to Adelaide to take on the Power on ANZAC Day 2026. Sacrilegious I know. How dare any team dare to grace the field on a day supposedly reserved for Essendon v Collingwood, right? At least they had the decency to play in a different state.
The Cats had started to build some decent form after a shaky start against the Suns in Opening Round. The Power looked like they found some form last week, even in a loss to the Hawks.
Most would have been relatively confident that Geelong had the goods to win on the road, but as it turns out, there is more to Port than they’ve offered thus far in 2026, and they demonstrated just how good they could be against the Cats.
That’s enough preamble, let’s get into the stuff that mattered.
The Best Stuff
Georgiades of the Jungle
Big Mitch could’ve had a career night (and pretty much still did). You can lament his accuracy in front of goal, but you can’t deny his presence and match winning performance.
When Jack Henry got into the Geelong rooms after the game he didn’t need a shower, Georgiades gave him an absolute bath on the field. Time and time again, Henry got let down by his midfield as the ball moved easily into the Powers forward line. And Georgiades dined out on the special delivery.
This is the second time in as many games that Henry has played and this has happened after his last stop on Gunston for the Hawks. There might be a watch on his ongoing fitness.
As for Georgiades, it remains a night of what could have been. Kicking four against a proven defender is a good night out, but adding six behinds to the mix indicates that this could have been a monster game from him. A fair expectation would have been six or seven from him, but given the Power won the game, you take the four knowing what is possible.
This might be the tip of the iceberg for him.
The Horny One
Horne-Francis built into this game nicely. A really mature performance. Started slow like his team, but once he got sniff of a genuine contest he just kept lifting and lifting. Until the last quarter where he was simply an irresistible force.
His clearance work was exceptional, and now that he has had time to build into the season, he is starting to show just what type of player he is, and could become.
It seems strange to say that, as he has been around for a while, now, but he is still just 22. If this is what happens when he gets his body right, then Port have a generational player on their list whose name is not Zak Butters.
A deserving ANZAC day medallist.
Aliir Aliir
If you just look at stats, you won’t think Aliir had a big impact on this game, but his influence was telling. He controlled the Port Adelaide defence after the first ten minutes, and was a commanding presence. He had a couple poor moments in those early stages, but just composed himself, then patrolled the field and forced Geelong to go sideways and short all game.
They didn’t want that long kick down the line all night, as every time they looked up Aliir was there. In a team with Ratugolea, Marshall and Zerk-Thatcher all not playing, Aliir had to impose his will for Port to get the job done, and he delivered in a big way.
The Other Defenders
Not to say that Aliir did it on his own. I have to admire the grit of guys like Logan Evans, Kane Farrell and Lachie Jones.
Jones is a cult figure for the Power, and showed the Cats exactly why. His anticipation was first rate. But this entire cohort was great in limiting the impact of the Cats forwards. Dangerfield got an early goal through a bit of luck and then didn’t touch the ball again until the last quarter. Neale was forced forward due to injury. Jack Martin, Ollie Henry and Brad Close were all non factors. They were often found wanting or watching as the far more switched on Port Adelaide players worked harder and moved first as the play unfolded.
Aside from Aliir, this group kind of fits that “no name” defence that tends to work so well when they come together. Sure, Marshall is a name, but not as a defender, but the others mentioned would not be in anyone’s all-star team. That is usually a good sign, as workmanlike defensive efforts are where you build success, and Port had plenty of them in this one.
The Good Suff
The Supporting Cast up the field
Jordon Sweet, Joe Richards, Christian Moreas, Joe Berry and Corey Durdin. They’re the names that don’t roll off the tongue unless you’re a Port Adelaide supporter, but they were all so impressive in this match. Butters will be lauded for his attack on the footy, and Willem Drew did his role as the most-rated underrated player in the AFL. However, these lesser-lauded players are the heroes Port Adelaide needed.
Sometimes you have to accept limitations with some players, and sometimes they forget they have those limitations.
Sweet had his dancing shoes on and thought he was about to make Eddie Betts his own for a night. And when your ruck is doing things like stepping through traffic with ease, things are going pretty well for you.
The others all brought the heat and an underestimated amount of poise and ferocity to the contest. They each had moments where they made more vaunted Cats opponents look silly. Ollie Dempsey is meant to be one of the elite wingers in the competition and got absolutely carved up against his rotating swath of opponents.
O’Sullivan or Bust
Arguably, the only bright spot for Geelong was the work of Connor O’Sullivan. He was clearly the Cats’ best defender in this match, and has arguably gone past Jack Henry (based on 2026) as Geelong’s most reliable stopper. He sits alongside Sam De Koning as the Cats key defensive pillars. O’Sullivan gives Cats fans the confidence that they’re not going to be falling too far down the ladder any time soon, as he has slotted into the key defensive role seamlessly over the past 18 months, and looks like one of the genuine key defenders coming through.
The Cats do tend to find quite a few excellent defenders, and COS will be yet another, I believe.
Don’t get beaten by what you know.
Everyone knew that Oisin Mullin was going to tag Zak Butters. He has form restricting players in 2026 and did the job on Butters in 2025.
However, Zak and his boys were ready.
It wasn’t a matter of him winning cheap possessions – Butters just did the work to take possession of the ball and fought his way through the tag. Sure, his teammates did assist, just as you would expect. It was their job to get their best player involved in the game, and they worked diligently to open pathways for Butters to work through.
The Power had seen this look before. They’d been beaten by it. They had to adjust, and they did.
Good coaching, and great determination by Butters and his midfield group.
The Other Stuff
“I’m Mad as Hell and I’m Not Gonna Take It Anymore!”
I channel my inner Peter Finch as Howard Beale every time that bloody score review is called for things that it does not need to!
This was the concern when the technology was brought in. That would be hijacked to the ‘nth degree and used for every single time the ball bloody crosses the goal line. The AFL needs to put a memo out for the type of incidents or factors that are reviewable and those that aren’t, where they will back the umpires decision in, as has been done for over 100 years.
We’re at the point now where umpires are continually second-guessing themselves on decisions they would have comfortably made five years ago.
As Gerard Whateley said “You are paid to make a decision” so make a decision!
Either that, or stare your own redundancy in the face in the next half a decade – that’s where you’re headed.
The Danger Zone
The Cats skipper struggled to make any impact for the majority of this game. And on multiple occasions found himself one-out down the line, only for his teammates to neglect back him to win his contest, and go short or sideways, instead. Danger has been okay in 2026, but has definitely had a reduced impact, even in games he’s got through. Is it one year too many?
Worpel Struggles
Is James Worpel in Geelong’s best team? Hawks fans have made no secret they were happy to see the back of Worpel after his 2025 campaign, and effectively told Geelong they’d overpaid for a player they’d signed, which they already had better versions of. Well, at the moment it’s hard to disagree with them. Whether Worpel is in Geelong’s best team is a genuine question.
To be fair to him, these same questions hung around Jack Bowes upon his arrival at the club, but he has since cemented his spot as an integral part of the team.
Maybe Worpel can do the same, but this is definitely something to keep an eye on.
The Wrap
The Power Plan
It wouldn’t have surprised anyone if Josh Carr had a cigar in his mouth in the post-match press conference and just said “I love it when a plan comes together”.
Save for that opening Cats punch, everything went as exactly as the Power would’ve drawn it up. Apart from their accuracy when kicking for goal. They got the ball in Butters hands. Their defence stood up in a big way. And their players consistently outworked the Cats across the ground.
Geelong struggled to move the ball with any sort of purpose. So good was the Power work ethic, that even with multiple switches on a single play, the Cats couldn’t find a way out of their defence. Carr had his team prepared and then had them primed perfectly to execute.
Time to Lick Some Wounds
Travelling seems hard in 2026. Even the good teams seem to struggle with it. Just ask the Gold Coast Suns.
Taking out Gather Round, the Cats are now 0-2 outside of Victoria. And with four interstate trips to come in the next ten rounds against opposition that is (let’s be honest) of a higher quality than Port Adelaide, it’s a worrying sign for Chris Scott and his coaches.
With a number of injury concerns for key players, some inconsistent form with others, and a tricky fixture to navigate, Geelong needs some players to step up and add some class and composure to their ball movement. If they cannot manidest this, they find themselves in an unenviable and unfamiliar situation heading into the back half of 2026.
