Ant Bear
Swamprat
- Dec 7, 2012
- 36,734
- 84,627
- AFL Club
- Port Adelaide
- Other Teams
- Port Magpies, Swamprats forever,
Our first game at the MCG for 2021, and we take on the Blueses and their hordes of ravenous supporters. Carlton played last Saturday night on and against the SUNS, in slippery conditions, and recorded a scrappy 11 point win, only posting a score of 9.16 but keeping the ravaged SUNS to 8.11. We, of course, played Richmond on Friday night at home and heroically held on to a 2 point victory, 11.13 to 11.11. so we have the minor advantage of an extra day of recovery. Which we look like we need, with several players fielding sore spots out of our bruising encounter with the Premiers. Jonas, Clurey, Fantasia, Butters all suffered hampering injuries, and Butters and Duursma have already been ruled out for extended periods. On top of this, Ladhams failed to capitalise on his last-minute reprieve, and should be dropped. Todd Marshall
will take his place, and the likes of Bergsman, Farrell, Mead, Rockliff, Lienert and Woodcock all had incentive to claim a spot in Saturday's SANFL game v Centrals, but none absolutely nailed their name to the board. For Carlton, Silvagni did a shoulder, and Plowman was subbed off with a knee, so they will also be making changes - I don't know enough about their team but their board suggests that Zac Williams may be back, with Kennedy, Williamson and Stocker also mentioned. FIIK.
Last season, we played Carlton at the Gabba, needing the famous Robbie Gray
miracle to get over them, but are on a 4-game winning streak against the Blueses, last losing to them in 2016. However, a lingering concern over this Hinkley-led side is how well we back up from an emotional win. Last season, the week after a similar courageous win over Richmond, we played Geelong and failed to compete in a 10 goal loss. An indication of the burgeoning maturity of this team will be how they handle the comedowns from a big win.
We lose when our midfield fails. Boak, Wines and Drew took the majority of centre bounces last week; Butters will be a loss but we still have the likes of Gray, Hartlett, Houston and Amon to rotate through there. Carlton are not exactly overflowing with midfielders but they have the quality of Cripps, Walsh and Curnow to throw at us as a first rotation. Beyond that, they are a bit thin, with the likes of Dow, Fogarty and Cottrell several classes below our deep midfield. We can afford to dispense with Ladhams this week and leave Lycett to battle it out with Pittonet - Scotty has been in good form this season, and honestly, Charlie may as well have been the backup ruck last week anyway considering Ladham's struggles. Casboult has been doing Carlton's relief ruck work
Carlton have had good seasons from their big defenders Weitering and Liam Jones
. Dixon will be marked by one of these, probably Jones as he plays more upfield, leaving Weitering for Marshall. Charlie booted 3.4 against Jones last year, and was too strong on several occasions. Where we should have the advantage is with our small forwards, Fantasia, Rozee, Gray and Motlop. Adam Saad
is the only defender who I rate, and I expect Sam Docherty
to be assigned to Georgiades so they will have to play the likes of Newnes and Setterfield on our mosquito fleet.
Carlton rely heavily on Harry McKay
in attack, and he has been in terrific marking form. Obviously, Clurey will be his opponent, but I will be disappointed if the rest of the defenders, led by Aliir and Hartlett, don't collapse back and help out, because they target the vast majority of their forward entries to McKay. Casboult is the other tall forward (unless McGovern comes back), and Jonas can handle him. Our halfbacks Burton, DBJ, Jones, Hartlett and Houston can mix'n'match against their small forwards Betts, Gibbons, Petrevski-Seton and Murphy effectively enough to keep them to a losing score.
The game should be one that we can handle comfortably, but the Blueses are improving. The worries are letdown after the Richmond game, awe of the MCG, McKay getting off the leash and a repeat of the reaming that the umpires handed to us on that memorable day in 2016(?); however, this team is building our trust more commonly than destroying it these days, and I am confident enough to predict a 30 point win to Port.
PLAYERCARDSTART
4
Todd Marshall
- Age
- 25
- Ht
- 198cm
- Wt
- 94kg
- Pos.
- Fwd
Career
Season
Last 5
- D
- 9.0
- 2star
- K
- 6.4
- 3star
- HB
- 2.5
- 2star
- M
- 3.3
- 3star
- T
- 2.5
- 4star
- G
- 1.1
- 4star
- D
- 8.9
- 2star
- K
- 7.1
- 3star
- HB
- 1.8
- 1star
- M
- 3.8
- 4star
- T
- 3.0
- 4star
- G
- 1.1
- 5star
- D
- 9.6
- 3star
- K
- 5.6
- 3star
- HB
- 4.0
- 3star
- M
- 3.0
- 3star
- T
- 2.4
- 4star
- G
- 1.6
- 5star
PLAYERCARDEND
Last season, we played Carlton at the Gabba, needing the famous Robbie Gray
PLAYERCARDSTART
9
Robbie Gray
- Age
- 36
- Ht
- 183cm
- Wt
- 84kg
- Pos.
- Fwd
Career
Season
Last 5
- D
- 19.9
- 5star
- K
- 9.8
- 4star
- HB
- 10.1
- 5star
- M
- 3.5
- 4star
- T
- 3.2
- 5star
- G
- 1.4
- 5star
- D
- 13.3
- 3star
- K
- 6.0
- 2star
- HB
- 7.3
- 4star
- M
- 2.4
- 3star
- T
- 2.6
- 4star
- G
- 0.6
- 4star
- D
- 10.4
- 3star
- K
- 6.6
- 3star
- HB
- 3.8
- 3star
- M
- 3.6
- 4star
- T
- 1.4
- 4star
- G
- 1.4
- 5star
PLAYERCARDEND
We lose when our midfield fails. Boak, Wines and Drew took the majority of centre bounces last week; Butters will be a loss but we still have the likes of Gray, Hartlett, Houston and Amon to rotate through there. Carlton are not exactly overflowing with midfielders but they have the quality of Cripps, Walsh and Curnow to throw at us as a first rotation. Beyond that, they are a bit thin, with the likes of Dow, Fogarty and Cottrell several classes below our deep midfield. We can afford to dispense with Ladhams this week and leave Lycett to battle it out with Pittonet - Scotty has been in good form this season, and honestly, Charlie may as well have been the backup ruck last week anyway considering Ladham's struggles. Casboult has been doing Carlton's relief ruck work
Carlton have had good seasons from their big defenders Weitering and Liam Jones
PLAYERCARDSTART
19
Liam Jones
- Age
- 33
- Ht
- 199cm
- Wt
- 98kg
- Pos.
- Def
Career
Season
Last 5
- D
- 9.4
- 2star
- K
- 6.5
- 3star
- HB
- 2.9
- 3star
- M
- 4.3
- 4star
- T
- 2.0
- 4star
- MG
- 134.5
- 2star
- D
- 7.6
- 2star
- K
- 6.1
- 3star
- HB
- 1.4
- 1star
- M
- 4.1
- 4star
- T
- 1.4
- 2star
- MG
- 116.3
- 2star
- D
- 9.4
- 3star
- K
- 7.4
- 3star
- HB
- 2.0
- 2star
- M
- 4.0
- 4star
- T
- 2.2
- 4star
PLAYERCARDEND
PLAYERCARDSTART
42
Adam Saad
- Age
- 29
- Ht
- 178cm
- Wt
- 79kg
- Pos.
- Def
Career
Season
Last 5
- D
- 17.5
- 4star
- K
- 10.0
- 4star
- HB
- 7.5
- 5star
- M
- 3.0
- 3star
- T
- 2.7
- 4star
- MG
- 349.1
- 5star
- D
- 20.7
- 5star
- K
- 12.0
- 5star
- HB
- 8.7
- 4star
- M
- 3.3
- 3star
- T
- 2.4
- 3star
- MG
- 388.3
- 5star
- D
- 17.6
- 5star
- K
- 10.4
- 4star
- HB
- 7.2
- 5star
- M
- 4.2
- 4star
- T
- 1.2
- 3star
PLAYERCARDEND
PLAYERCARDSTART
15
Sam Docherty
- Age
- 30
- Ht
- 187cm
- Wt
- 87kg
- Pos.
- Mid
Career
Season
Last 5
- D
- 22.3
- 5star
- K
- 15.1
- 5star
- HB
- 7.2
- 4star
- M
- 6.6
- 5star
- T
- 2.4
- 4star
- CL
- 1.1
- 3star
- D
- 22.6
- 5star
- K
- 16.0
- 5star
- HB
- 6.6
- 4star
- M
- 7.0
- 5star
- T
- 0.6
- 1star
- CL
- 0.4
- 3star
- D
- 11.2
- 3star
- K
- 6.0
- 3star
- HB
- 5.2
- 4star
- M
- 2.4
- 3star
- T
- 1.4
- 4star
- CL
- 0.6
- 3star
PLAYERCARDEND
Carlton rely heavily on Harry McKay
PLAYERCARDSTART
10
Harry Mckay
- Age
- 26
- Ht
- 200cm
- Wt
- 106kg
- Pos.
- Fwd
Career
Season
Last 5
- D
- 9.9
- 3star
- K
- 7.5
- 3star
- HB
- 2.4
- 2star
- M
- 5.5
- 5star
- T
- 1.6
- 4star
- G
- 1.4
- 5star
- D
- 6.6
- 1star
- K
- 4.6
- 2star
- HB
- 2.0
- 1star
- M
- 3.6
- 4star
- T
- 1.4
- 2star
- G
- 1.4
- 5star
- D
- 8.8
- 3star
- K
- 6.8
- 3star
- HB
- 2.0
- 2star
- M
- 4.4
- 4star
- T
- 0.8
- 3star
- G
- 2.0
- 5star
PLAYERCARDEND
The game should be one that we can handle comfortably, but the Blueses are improving. The worries are letdown after the Richmond game, awe of the MCG, McKay getting off the leash and a repeat of the reaming that the umpires handed to us on that memorable day in 2016(?); however, this team is building our trust more commonly than destroying it these days, and I am confident enough to predict a 30 point win to Port.