- Jun 12, 2012
- 20,582
- 65,418
- AFL Club
- Port Adelaide
We all love a good rivalry and I consider the Lions to be our first genuine nemesis in the AFL.
It's not a rivalry based on jealousy or territory, but one that has spawned from intense competition. From frustrating draws and top of the table duels. From Preliminary despair and Grand delirium.
And it all started a lot earlier than you might think.
Once upon a time there was a football club, forged in working class suburbia, who came flying out of the blocks and dominated their competition, winning 5 premierships in their first 17 years. The Fitzroy Football Club. Back then they were know as they Unbeatables, and they were, that is until they faced the soon-to-become Invincibles. Another club from across the border, another who had also achieved 5 premierships during the same period. You guessed it! The Port Adelaide Football Club. They hammered Fitzroy in the 1913 Champions of Australia match by a hefty 63 points, landing the first blow in a rivalry that would resume many years later.
Whilst the two clubs were comparably successful in their formative years, that was certainly not the case by the time 1997 rolled around. Port had flourished beyond all reasonable belief, winning more titles than any other club in the land, demanding their place in the national competition. Fitzroy on the other hand had floundered miserably, traversing the bottom of the ladder for decades, before finally having their withered corpse stitched to an interstate franchise. But nevertheless, this was a new beginning for both clubs, one that saw Port Adelaide and the now Brisbane Lions battle each other relentlessly in an entertaining and fiery race to the top.
A true modern day rivalry was forged.
Anyway, time to jump back in the DeLorean and get back to the present day. It's Round 7 and Port are 3-3, whilst Brisbane are 1-5. Sorry, someone set the damn clock to 2015, let's try that again. OK. Round 7, 2016, Port 3-3, Brisbane 1-5.
Right.
So it seems like a little bit of history repeating, but hopefully we learnt a bit from last year's debacle. We went into that game as clear favourites but for one reason or another they pulled our pants down and we got humiliated by 37 points. So we certainly shouldn't underestimate them this time around.
As we all know we've been wildly inconsistent so far this season, but this round has shown us a few things. Firstly, that we've got what it takes to turn it around, but also that our losses have been against 3 clubs who could very well be contending this year, so maybe we're not travelling as badly as first thought. However this weekend has also revealed that Brisbane are not as bad as their record suggests either, with their 5 losses being against the current top 4 and a rising Eagles outfit.
So what do we make of it all? Well, I'm not too sure to be honest. I feel like playing at home gives us an edge, but I am worried about the influence of Martin and some of their onballers such as Zorko, Rockliff, Hanley and co. I think they will prove to be more formible than Richmond were so we really need to be on our game. It's also hard to judge how competitive we will be when our final 22 is so far from being finalised. Will Gray and/or Wingard be back? Does Lobbe come back in?
There are lots of unknowns, but right now I'm feeling good about things and keen to see another chapter written in this rivalry, one that I think will give us a little bit of redemption.
Port by 37 pts.
It's not a rivalry based on jealousy or territory, but one that has spawned from intense competition. From frustrating draws and top of the table duels. From Preliminary despair and Grand delirium.
And it all started a lot earlier than you might think.
Once upon a time there was a football club, forged in working class suburbia, who came flying out of the blocks and dominated their competition, winning 5 premierships in their first 17 years. The Fitzroy Football Club. Back then they were know as they Unbeatables, and they were, that is until they faced the soon-to-become Invincibles. Another club from across the border, another who had also achieved 5 premierships during the same period. You guessed it! The Port Adelaide Football Club. They hammered Fitzroy in the 1913 Champions of Australia match by a hefty 63 points, landing the first blow in a rivalry that would resume many years later.
Whilst the two clubs were comparably successful in their formative years, that was certainly not the case by the time 1997 rolled around. Port had flourished beyond all reasonable belief, winning more titles than any other club in the land, demanding their place in the national competition. Fitzroy on the other hand had floundered miserably, traversing the bottom of the ladder for decades, before finally having their withered corpse stitched to an interstate franchise. But nevertheless, this was a new beginning for both clubs, one that saw Port Adelaide and the now Brisbane Lions battle each other relentlessly in an entertaining and fiery race to the top.
A true modern day rivalry was forged.
Anyway, time to jump back in the DeLorean and get back to the present day. It's Round 7 and Port are 3-3, whilst Brisbane are 1-5. Sorry, someone set the damn clock to 2015, let's try that again. OK. Round 7, 2016, Port 3-3, Brisbane 1-5.
Right.
So it seems like a little bit of history repeating, but hopefully we learnt a bit from last year's debacle. We went into that game as clear favourites but for one reason or another they pulled our pants down and we got humiliated by 37 points. So we certainly shouldn't underestimate them this time around.
As we all know we've been wildly inconsistent so far this season, but this round has shown us a few things. Firstly, that we've got what it takes to turn it around, but also that our losses have been against 3 clubs who could very well be contending this year, so maybe we're not travelling as badly as first thought. However this weekend has also revealed that Brisbane are not as bad as their record suggests either, with their 5 losses being against the current top 4 and a rising Eagles outfit.
So what do we make of it all? Well, I'm not too sure to be honest. I feel like playing at home gives us an edge, but I am worried about the influence of Martin and some of their onballers such as Zorko, Rockliff, Hanley and co. I think they will prove to be more formible than Richmond were so we really need to be on our game. It's also hard to judge how competitive we will be when our final 22 is so far from being finalised. Will Gray and/or Wingard be back? Does Lobbe come back in?
There are lots of unknowns, but right now I'm feeling good about things and keen to see another chapter written in this rivalry, one that I think will give us a little bit of redemption.
Port by 37 pts.