Jason Horne-Francis put in a stellar second half as Port Adelaide fended off a spirited St Kilda challenge to cling to an 8.12 (60) to 8.14 (62) victory at Marvel Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
In a less-than inspiring contest that, at times, it appeared as though neither side wanted to win, the young star midfielder did enough to lead his side to a must-win victory that keeps the Power’s top eight hopes a reality.
Specifically in the second half, where he compiled 16 of his 28 disposals, the former number one draft pick was exceptional in keeping an otherwise flailing Power outfit afloat.
But the headlines don’t belong to one individual in this game. Rather, the main story should be just how awful these sides made a two-point “thriller” look.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I hate to be negative after a game of footy (hence the JHF pump up off the top). But by god, these two sides didn’t exactly give us much to work with here.
I think it would be a discredit to those who spent three hours of their day watching this game if I was to sell some kind of hope and positivity from it.
To be blunt, each team’s forward line looked hapless and neither side resembled anything close to a September footy team.
All in all, this game had about as much rhythm as a new wave Christian rock band.
Still, as much as I’d like to sit here and sling cheap shots at Port and the Saints, it’s my job to recap the contest. So I suppose I’d better get stuck into it.
Port Adelaide looked set for a resounding response to their drubbing at the hands of Brisbane last week when they started like a house on fire and jumped out to an early lead midway through the first term.
Zak Butters provided the major highlight of the day when, despite a heavy tag from Marcus Windhager, he broke clear from the centre bounce and launched a rocket from beyond the 50m arch to record his side’s first goal.
The visitors quickly piled on a few more to jump out to a three-goal lead midway through the first term, with the Saints looking punch-drunk and in line for a belting.
However, while their actual forwards made a meal of most opportunities, St. Kilda ruckman Rowan Marshall made the most of his newfound forward rotation with fellow ruck Tom Campbell a late inclusion to the team.
Marshall bagged himself three goals in the opening half, and along with some serious impact from Jack Sinclair across half back, the duo was largely responsible for keeping the home side in the contest early.
The second term was a comedy of errors from both sides. Unforced turnovers opened opportunities that were inevitably squandered by the beneficiaries.
It was fitting that Marshall and Horne-Francis would exchange blows before half time, and even more fitting that the game would be tied at the long break.
Things stagnated in the third quarter, with each side’s defence well on top of their opposing forwards.
Aliir Aliir all but erased Max King from this contest. The Saints’ big man had zero impact across the four quarters, giving questionable effort in almost every contest he bothered to attend to finish with zero goals from 10 touches.
Up the other end, Callum Wilkie and, surprisingly, Anthony Caminiti were doing adequate jobs restricting the likes of Todd Marshall and Mitch Georgiades.
Admittedly, Port’s wayward kicking didn’t help, but all in all I felt the Saints defenders were able to mop up most attacks.
Ironically, it was a dud kick out from Jack Sinclair (who had been the day’s cleanest player to this point), that allowed Logan Evans to snag his first goal in AFL footy and break a 15-minute deadlock.
Jeremy Finalyson followed with a bomb from outside 50m to give the Power a two-goal buffer at the long break.
But the Saints weren’t ready to let this one go just yet. Freshly subbed onto the ground, Cooper Sharman created back-to-back goals for the hosts, first kicking one himself before a delightful handball set up Jack Higgins.
Brad Hill lifted tremendously as the Saints fought their way back into the game to tie the scores up, but the wingman unfortunately limped to the bench midway through the quarter giving the Power a chance to wrestle momentum back.
Another stalemate ensued across the back end of the quarter. Higgins missed a simple shot to give his side the lead, and eventually Port Adelaide was able to get the ball in their forward territory.
In the end it was Saints skipper Jack Steele letting the game slip as he was caught holding the ball by Georgiades at a stoppage deep in Port Adelaide’s forward 50m.
Georgiades would go on to miss the easy set shot to win the match, but he managed to waste enough time doing so to let the clock run out.
It was a fitting end to a match I don’t think too many will be watching the replay of anytime soon.
As always, I’ve got some key learnings from this clash. See below.
Max King, where art thou?
It’s time to call the SES, slap his face on milk cartons and launch a full scale search, because I have no idea where Max King is.
He was a complete non-factor in this one. In fact, he was worse than that, and his dog day all but cost his side a victory given the close nature of the match.
Not only did he not affect the scoreboard, King was consistently outbodied by Aliir and Brandon Zerk-Thatcher, gave up a bunch of easy intercept possessions and also gave away a crucial downfield free kick in the fourth quarter.
It was a painful watch for a bloke that has kicked 10 goals in his past four matches.
Butters won the war against Windhager
No doubt about it, the tag is back in vogue this season, but Zak Butters was able to get the better of Marcus Windhager in this one.
Tagging against Port is almost a bit of a pick-your-poison sort of technique, and today the Saints decided to try and erase Butters’ impact on the contest. It didn’t work as well as they would have wanted it to.
While 22 disposals and a goal is far from the young star’s best return, it’s a large difference in a two-point game and the tag became less effective as the game went on.
Windhager on the other hand only had 10 disposals and little say on the outcome of the game.
I’m all for tagging, but if you’re going to give a midfield spot to a bloke who will only amass 10 disposals, you better make damn sure he’s going to completely shut down his opponent.
Saints should persist with two rucks
Rowan Marshall is bloody good at what he does, but everyone can use a helping hand from time to time.
Tom Campbell was a late inclusion for this game, and in the end it made a world of difference allowing Marshall to be his side’s most dangerous goal threat in a limited forward rotation role.
Imagine where the Saints would have been without his three goals in the opening half? Dead in the water, I’d wager.
I’m not sure if Campbell is the man to deploy this tactic with long term (in fact, given his age, I’m certain he’s not), but if the Saints do manage to keep Marshall on their list despite rumours swirling about his future at the club, they’d better find a bloody good back up to maximise the man’s impact.
A win’s a win, but Port Adelaide is a ways off challenging right now
Fresh off a Brisbane belting in front of their home fans, Power coach Ken Hinkley was under heat and his side’s finals credentials were under the microscope.
While bagging the four points today will keep the critics at bay temporarily, this performance did little to instil any confidence in Power fans.
Think of the games we witnessed just 24 hours before this one. That Sydney v Freo game was worthy of September, the Gold Coast and Collingwood fought out a ripper and the Cats impressed in a top-8 clash.
This Power victory was nothing like any of those matches, yet still, they sit in 7th place as we approach the pointy end of the year.
That alone means you can’t write the Power off just yet, but boy, they better find some form quick because the race towards September is heating up and right now they look well off the pace.
