Preview Round 3 vs Fremantle @ Metricon

[Marmozet]

Interesting times indeed as Fremantle and Port Adelaide prepare to do battle at...um, Metricon? Yes, that's right. We up head north to begin our stay in the Queensland hub while Fremantle headed up there a week earlier.

Port are 2-0 and Fremantle 0-2, with Port coming off wins against Gold Coast in Round 1 and a whopping win in the Showdown in their beloved prison bar jumpers. In hindsight, the win in Round 1 against Gold Coast looks all the more impressive as they dismantled the 2018 premiers in Round 2 with Matt Rowell starring. Could Gold Coast be one of 2020's biggest improvers?

Fremantle, on the other hand, have had two narrow losses to Essendon and Brisbane. No doubt Justin Longmuir's men will be desperate to get their first win on the board to open their account for 2020.

Interesting fact: All home-and-away fixtures between these two teams since 2013 have been won by the home side, whereas the one and only game won by the away side was the unforgettable 2014 Semi Final. It is a Fremantle "home" game on Sunday, so what will the match being held at Metricon and not Perth or Adelaide mean?

 

[Ant Bear]

Remember Sean Darcy tearing Lycett apart last season? It won't happen this time, Darcy ruled out.

 

[El Zorro]

Port by 9.

 

[Chewy316]

A real trap game. Need to be 3-2 worst case scenario after the next 3 games, ideally 4-1. This is another must win. Freo hardly disgraced themselves last week against a very good Brisbane side, and they arguably have the best 1-2 punch in the AFL right now with Fyfe and Walters.

We should win, but ive said the same thing the past two times we played Freo away in Perth and look what happened. Hopefully playing on a neutral ground works in our favour.

I want to think that we are the real deal but until we beat a legit contender I'll have my doubts. Good sides will beat a team like Freo 9/10 times. I expect the same on Sunday night.

 

[Willsy10]

For whatever reason they've caused us some headaches in recent years despite being lower on the ladder. Particularly away from home. The two away losses to them 2018 and 2019 were terrible performances from us. Hopefully the neutral venue tips the scales in our favour.

I don't want to read too much into the form on the weekend but from the whole sample size of our pre season games and 2 games so far this AFL season we haven't really put a foot wrong yet and all logic points to us getting the job done this weekend to go 3 and 0.

 

[OneGreatClub]

 

[Andre]

Selections should tell us a lot. If we unbalance the side that's done so well the first two rounds, to be too many inside mid's, it'll be clear lesson's haven't been learnt and Freo are a good chance. If Ken can resist returning to the failures of the past, we should win and win well.

 

[Doctor Feel]

Freo by 86.

 

[Kingfish73]

Lets hope its not yet another goal fest for someone like Walters. When we play below par a single player seems to tear us a new one and kick a bag - re last year. I think there is no single match up and will be the classic deny them of clean ball into their forward 50. Although our forward line should provide plenty of headaches for Fremantle.

The midfield battle will be pivotal. If this turns into a hard running shootout, we should win. If Freo turn up the heat and stop our run - can we win dirty? That has always been our problem. When we do not play on our terms or is slug fest, we tend to lose these games. Good teams find a way to win.

Hard game to predict....

 

[pastmyprimus]

It'll good to see Rozee go head-to-head against Fyfe. You can see that happening for parts of the game. Rozee doesn't lack confidence and will be up for the challenge.

 

[OneGreatClub]

Lets hope its not yet another goal fest for someone like Walters. When we play below par a single player seems to tear us a new one and kick a bag - re last year. I think there is no single match up and will be the classic deny them of clean ball into their forward 50. Although our forward line should provide plenty of headaches for Fremantle.

The midfield battle will be pivotal. If this turns into a hard running shootout, we should win. If Freo turn up the heat and stop our run - can we win dirty? That has always been our problem. When we do not play on our terms or is slug fest, we tend to lose these games. Good teams find a way to win.

Hard game to predict....

I feel confident we will win

 

[Visenfest]

Port by 33. Freo will put up a fight, but we'll break away in the 4th.

 

[Smithy7]

 

[Capital Power]

I'm looking forward to Butters going full Ballantyne - shame he's retired that would have been fun to see.

 

[Jason K]

I'm looking forward to Butters going full Ballantyne - shame he's retired that would have been fun to see.

I don't see the Ballantyne comparison. Butters has more fun. Hayden was an angry little footballer

 

[Schulzenfest]

If somebody decapitates that ducking diving flog Walters I'll call this a win whether we come out on top on the scoreboard or not.

 

[Enviable Tradition]

We were susceptible to teams that put numbers behind the ball and take advantage of our poor i50 entries.

Fortunately Longmire has been brought in with a mandate to stop playing that kind of footy so we should win well.

On SM-G960F using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[glitch01]

I don't see the Ballantyne comparison. Butters has more fun. Hayden was an angry little footballer

Butters reminds me a bit of Akamanis.
Doesn’t have the same air of arrogance as Aka but seems pretty self confident and just seems to enjoy the moments.


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[shewho]

This is a test of our consistency. Our best is plenty enough to beat Fremantle and has been for a number of years but we have had a problem in recent times backing up our really good wins.

The sort of consistency we are after has to come from our players 12-22, not so much from players 1-11. Fremantle have a few offensive threats- more than the Cows but less than most opposition. Keeping control of Fyfe and Walters is important. Then we need to get meaningful contributions from SPP, Marshall, Ebert, Butters, Duursma, McKenzie.

When you think about it, this game is all about us and whether we can perform near the level we achieved Saturday. Do that and we win. Simple.

 

[powerrrrrrrrrrrr]

With burton out for 3-4 weeks after his surgery then it’s time for watts to make his return hopefully

 

[dropbear101]

I'm looking forward to Butters going full Ballantyne - shame he's retired that would have been fun to see.

I laughed at that.

I don't see the Ballantyne comparison. Butters has more fun. Hayden was an angry little footballer

True hayden was an angry little footballer however he seemed to enjoy being angry which is a bit ironic.
I think a more apt comparison with a fremantle player in terms of personality is ryan crowly who spent the whole game smiling (as well as occasionally pinching brent Harvey).
I have a question for you guys are port the real deal because every year you guys are favourites but we always seem to pinch our home game.

 

[ElectricG]

How many frees will Michael “Son of Dad” Walters get?

 

[Smithy7]

Injury Update: Ryan Burton

Port Adelaide defender Ryan Burton has been sidelined with a knee injury, the injury occurred in the 3rd Qtr against Adelaide in Round 2.
Burton has undergone surgery, he is expected to miss 3-4 weeks.

“We decided the best course of action for Ryan, was a minor clean-out of his knee, to remove this loose body and prevent it from causing any ongoing issues,”

“We’ll allow the knee to settle and reassess it in the coming days, but all going well, we are optimistic that he will be available to return to play within three to four weeks.” Power Head of Medical Services, Tim O’Leary.

Injury Update: Ryan Burton - AFLRATINGS

Port Adelaide defender Ryan Burton has been sidelined with a knee injury

aflratings.com.au

 

[Capital Power]

I laughed at that.

True hayden was an angry little footballer however he seemed to enjoy being angry which is a bit ironic.
I think a more apt comparison with a fremantle player in terms of personality is ryan crowly who spent the whole game smiling (as well as occasionally pinching brent Harvey).
I have a question for you guys are port the real deal because every year you guys are favourites but we always seem to pinch our home game.

Yeah when drawing the comparison I was thinking of Zak's ability to get under the skin of his opponent. Our triumvirate of terror now tends to hunt in a pack in this regard, but the difference is they are loving their footy. Jason K is correct, Hayden always seemed the angry type, but yeah very effective at the niggle.

On your question, look, who knows. Most of us expected to be 2-0 after playing bottom four sides, but few would have predicted such emphatic and complete victories. These have been the kinds of games we've blown in the past, or gotten out to a lead and parked the bus. There does seem to be a different vibe this year. I think the team has bonded very well in the break. The mark of our team when it's doing well is how hard it is to pick the best players - have a look at that thread here and you'll find just about the entire 22 named.

I think we can challenge this year. We do have a recent history though of petering out, whether through injury or selection issues who can tell. Occasionally, inexplicably, we turn in a shocker like North in round 22 - only four games ago. I'm hoping we've left that kind of inconsistency behind. One of the most pleasing facets of Saturday's game was the return of some X Factor. We've basically been bereft of that since 2014.

TL;DR Yeah we're the real deal. Tipping us to win a much tougher game against your blokes.

 

[Smithy7]