Review R9: Port v Melbourne Review

[FromTheHartland]

I consider that a long time ago

It sure feels like a long time ago!

 

[Smithy7]

MELBOURNE 3.2 6.2 7.3 8.6 (54)
PORT ADELAIDE 1.2 8.4 12.6 18.7 (115)

GOALS Melbourne: Hogan 2, Garlett 2, Spencer, Lumumba, M Jones, Fitzpatrick
Port Adelaide: Schulz 4, Monfries 3, Westhoff 2, Wingard 2, Amon, R Gray, Stewart, White, Krakouer, Ebert, Hartlett

BEST Melbourne: Brayshaw, N Jones, McDonald, Hogan
Port Adelaide: Ebert, Boak, R Gray, Wines, Schulz, Wingard, Hartlett

INJURIES Melbourne: NilPort Adelaide: Nil

 

[PJ Power]

That last 2 1/2 quarters was the most enjoyable football we've played in a long time.

All year

 

[John the Butcher]

DAT winning feeling!
Bring on SAT NIGHT!

 

[Robbie4PM]

I still think we need more of a contribution from our weaker midfielders. They can't carry the load every week. Bring back Moore and Young please

 

[Adam_23]

So much for our defence falling apart without Trengove Hombsch is the heart and soul of that defence now. Yep, i said it.

And Robbie Gray, wow!!! So clean, the guy is unreal.

Kicked last 16 out of 18 goals which was great, but I wanna see this type of performance again next week before i can fully regain my confidence in the boys. Step in the right direction though!

 

[powermacs]

Jaspers hair cut makes him look like a 40 yo lesbian.

 

[*PAF]

Dunno what triggered the turnaround in that second quarter... but bottle that s**t!

It was no run and gun at all costs but back to basics footy. That's how it should be.

Run and gun is cream on the cake but the cake has to come first.

 

[dinger]

Believe it or not I've felt with our style of Football, Melbourne, Freo, Sydney and Essendon are the teams we'll struggle against. I wasn't expecting a win today, but I am very happy we got one.

Please please PLEASE keep Clurey in the team though. That kid has potential.

 

[Portmanteau]

A brutal, brilliant midfield performance from Boak, Ebert, Gray and Wines.

Wines to Gray to Boak to Ebert to goal may have been the highlight of the season so far.

 

[*PAF]

On another note, should the AFL allow extra rotations or even 4 on the bench in places like Alice, Darwin and Cairns?

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

Give Port time and space and we will get you. I dont expect the Bulldogs, Geelong and Carlton to lock us down so they should be victories. Then the grind starts up again. Was surprised Melbourne didnt lock us down longer. Not sure if its fitnes but we just busted them open.

 

[Edgepower]

Thought they needed a poke in the ass Poke in the eye did the trick though

 

[Dylan8]

What did we even change to turn it? I didn't notice a great deal. Maybe it was the midfield dominance, and not just on the stat sheet like last week.

 

[Kickpuncher]

Dunno what triggered the turnaround in that second quarter... but bottle that s**t!

Amons goal is what started it.

 

[Magpiespower]

It was no run and gun at all costs but back to basics footy. That's how it should be.

Run and gun is cream on the cake but the cake has to come first.

Yeah, just some good old-fashioned hard work and effort.

It was as if they willed themselves back into form!

Amazing after that girly first quarter...

 

[philthy05]

Boak , Gray , ebo , pittard huge in that game.

Hombsch is a star. While everyone in vic is fapping over tom McDonald hombsch just goes about his business every week.

Our defence was very good , if you loom at rebound fiftys our midfield had the bulk , which means good work rate by them.


But mostly I'm just happy we had a forward line this week. Some people saying stewert with not a great game but he was still valuable and I hope we keep him there next week. Sammy Gray only out for mine, and even he found a great amount of the ball , he really did everything right except kick properly , but we have too many good kids outside that can come in for him (Moore , young , Neade , hoon , ah chee)

 

[dinger]

Give Port time and space and we will get you. I dont expect the Bulldogs, Geelong and Carlton to lock us down so they should be victories. Then the grind starts up again. Was surprised Melbourne didnt lock us down longer. Not sure if its fitnes but we just busted them open.

I don't feel like Melbourne gave us time and space - we created it. We finally slowed the game down instead of continuously playing on and waited for opportunities to arise, then bolted through. Melbourne, Essendon, Freo and Sydney I feel tend to shut our game plan down particularly well. If we can win significantly like this I hope we're in good stead for understanding the way forward if we want finals action.

 

[ozph1870]

Jaspers hair cut makes him look like a 40 yo lesbian.

as opposed to a 22 year old lesbian proir to the cut...

 

[The Smaller Warrior]

Been a good night in NY watching on

 

[Macca19]

Well it wasn't pretty early, but a great win in the end! Certainly didn't look like we'd have this sort of result halfway through the second quarter, but thank god we clicked!

That first 1 1/2 quarters is everything I hate about how we play at times. Disinterested, lacking confidence, no movement, no run, no toughness at the ball, no run on the outside and just stupid mistakes. Hoffs run too far was ridiculous. Schulz's free on the line was ridiculous. You just sensed 'here we go again' and for a long time it looked like we'd go through one of these disastrous results again.

Credit to the coaching staff, they changed things around a bit and it worked. Ebert moved into the middle, Pittard became the loose man in defence, Jonas & Impey switched players and it worked. Suddenly we were tighter down back. Boak and Ebert started to get into it in the middle, as did Gray and we were finding plenty of space up forward. Amon's goal was the firestarter and we didnt look back from there.

2nd half was party time. Dominant in the midfield winning the contested ball and finding fields of space on the outside. Our forward line clicked well and our backline was as thrifty as ever.

We needed this sort of result.

PLAYER REVIEWS
The Best
Ebert - Now thats the Brad Ebert we know and love! Back to his best this week after a couple of down weeks. Played more inside than we've seen from him in a couple of years and shone in that role with double figure clearances and fine disposal. Ran hard all day as we expect and was good defensively. Vandenberg couldn't go with him.

R Gray - A joy to watch. An absolute joy to watch. His numbers will say it wasn't his most dominant game but everything he did was gold today. Whether it was winning clearance after clearance when we were under the pump, or his clinical disposal in the second half which saw him snap a nice goal and dish off a handful of others, he was doing it all in style. Is the best player to watch in the league.

Hombsch - His move from Pedersen to Hogan helped change the game in our favour. Did the job on Hogan and was able to take a number of marks dropping back. Used the ball well (just not up forward) and provided great run coming out of the defensive 50. Another super solid game for Hombsch.

Schulz - I've been calling for him to kick the important goal for a long time now and he delivered today. That goal on the 1/4 tiem siren gave us some real confidence going into 1/4 time, even though we came out slow after the break. Not only that, but he really got us going in that 2nd quarter with some great running, hard leading and some crucial goals. Dunn has been a decent matchup for him in recent times but Schulz well won the contest today. One of our best!

Monfries - Stoked he played so well in his 200th match. Has been a great player all year, whether its playing deep forward or as more of a leadup player and today was no different. 3 great goals and dished off 3 assists as well. Led strongly all day across half forward and was able to find plenty of space on his opponent. One of the hardest workers in the team.

The Rest
Lobbe - A much much better performance in the ruck this week, although not against the best ruckman going around. Sluggish start but really started to find our players in the 2nd quarter and didnt look back. Even took 2 marks! Wonders never cease!

Clurey - Not a lot of the ball, but defensively he was fantastic. I'm not a fan of Howe at all but he can be very dangerous at his best and Tom just stopped him from getting anywhere near it. Had something like 1 handball at half time and zero influence on the result. Tom got a bit more of the ball in the second half and apart from one smothered kick, used it well. Good to see him take his chance!

Jonas - Quiet with the ball but defensively was much better than we've seen in recent weeks. Spent time on Bail and Pedersen but it was his job on Garlett after half time that was fantastic. Garlett was dangerous in the first half and he completely shut him out of the game. Then moved back to Pedersen and kept him out of it as well. Back to his best in that regard!

Pittard - Was given a forward tag in the first 1 1/2 quarters by Toumpas but was able to break free after half time and I thought really helped to set up our win. Decision making was as good as its ever been and was super calm with his disposal.

Stewart - Happy he kicked a goal but outside of that, didnt have too much to do today. Led strongly up the field but wasn't involved in much of the play.

Carlile - Smacked early by Hogan and was changed onto Pedersen with great success. Really shut him out of the game after he had a big start. Moved back onto Hogan and then Fitzpatrick in the second half with decent success as well. Good for him to turn it around after last week.

Krakouer - Came on partway through the last quarter and was stoked that he was able to run forward and kick a goal. Did a decent job as sub.

Amon - Really happy with how he went today. Not a lot of the ball but just kept popping up at important times and was able to impact with his skills. Kicked a ripper goal from the boundary to get us going in the 2nd quarter. Certainly something to work with. Put his body on the line a couple times and copped a hit, would like to see more of that from him.

S Gray - Mixed bag today. Loved his work in the first 2 1/2 quarters. Was as good as he's ever played at AFL level. Then struggled for the last 1/4 and a bit with some poor disposal and slow decision making. His best is good enough to perform a role at this level, but he's just got to use his instinct a bit more and learn to get rid of the ball a bit quicker. Seems to lack that extra yard and a bit of awareness

Boak - A game of two halves for the Captain. His first half was arguably the worst half of football i've seen him play, ever. Slow, turned it over consistently and was just nowhere near the leader we know he is. Not sure what happened at half time but he was the best player on the park in the second half and by some way. Overall he was a real key for that performance after half time. Just kept running and running.

Broadbent - Thats the cobra back to his best! Was great in the first half when we were struggling, was the only player standing up down back. Then grew on that as the team got better as well with a wonderful second half as well. His best game for the season by a mile. Didnt put a foot wrong.

Wines - Thought he was our star player in the first half, was winning a lot of hard ball and finding it on the outside as well. Was worked his arse off. Slowed down a bit after half time. Looked tired at times and his disposal was poor at times. Overall though it was another strong consistent performance.

Hartlett - His first half was more of the same from recent weeks - poor disposal, questionable effort, no impact at all. Credit to him, he turned it around in the second half with some better disposal and harder efforts. Topped it off nicely with a goal. Hopefully can grow on this performance next week.

White - That was the best game he's played all year. Noone could go with him on the wing and whilst his disposal was poor in the first half, he got it right after half time. Lots of run and a great goal as well. He's been nearly there for weeks. This week all the pieces came together.

Westhoff - Best game he's played all year. It finally clicked for him up forward and had the better of Mcdonald. Took a number of strong grabs and just looked dangerous whenever he was near it. Kicked a couple of goals which would do his confidence a lot of good.

Wingard - A bit down in terms of finding the ball but something good happened nearly every time he had it. Seemed to play full time forward which was different to his role of previous weeks. Kicked 2 nice goals.

Impey - Poor on Garlett in the first half. A much better second half performance playing a bit loose and spending time on Bail and Toumpas. Needs to be more switched on at times.


POTY Votes:
10 - Ebert
9 - Gray, Hombsch
8 - Broadbent, Schulz, Monfries, Clurey
7 - Boak, Wines, White, Westhoff, Wingard, Jonas
6 - Hartlett, Lobbe, Carlile, Pittard
5 - Amon
4 - S Gray
3 - Impey, Krakouer, P Stewart
2
1
0

 

[Porked04]

The best part of the win was that the boys genuinely played like footy was fun again. It was as if a big pressure valve had been released and they played with the freedom and flair that has been so exciting the past two seasons

 

[El_Scorcho]

We definitely changed gears a bit and went back to basics. Melbourne couldn't go with us one on one.

Once we hit the lead, we went back to the hard running quick ball movement and Melbourne had to attack not defend, so we slaughtered them with it

 

[Smartys Power]

Boy that was enjoyable. More of that please.

 

[Jakksynn]

What did we even change to turn it? I didn't notice a great deal. Maybe it was the midfield dominance, and not just on the stat sheet like last week.

We got some confidence back. Players started finding form. It had to happen sooner or later.