Summary
Well, what a treat. Two superb teams playing superb footy for four blistering quarters. Port Adelaide leave two games clear on top of the ladder and with their reputation enhanced but Richmond, fourth for the time being, will have lost few admirers for their resilience despite being undermanned.
There were some extraordinary goals, especially from Port’s big men, and some even more extraordinary misses, from one Port Adelaide big man in particular. There were three separate moments when the Power should have kicked clear, only to waste opportunities and see Richmond go down the other end to reduce the margin. And then there was Josh Caddy’s brain fade, conceding a decisive 50m penalty when the game was still just about on the line.
If that was a taste of what’s to come in the finals, I can’t wait for another bite. Thanks for joining me again today, and keeping things bubbling below the line. Catch you next time.
Does that make Port Adelaide premiership favourites?
The scoreboard belies the level of the spanking Port just gave Richmond. +45 contested possessions(!), +81 disposals, 33 inside 50s, +19 clearances, +11 scoring shots. A really complete domination. #AFLPowerTigers
— Rudi (@RudiEdsall) August 8, 2020
That was a brilliant spectacle. Credit to both teams for putting on that quality of entertainment so soon after their previous outings, and, by the end, in teeming rain.
And exhale.
Power 13.15 (93) v 11.6 (72) Tigers
Game of the season.
Updated
Q4: 1 min remaining: Power 13.15 (93) v 11.6 (72) Tigers - Richmond are not giving up. This is stirring stuff from the Tigers. Pinned in their own half all quarter they launch one desperate final assault to recover some pride, but Port Adelaide hold firm, Duursma and Powell-Pepper getting lunging fists to the ball and teammates finding a way to bring a rampaging Martin to ground.
Updated
Q4: 2 min remaining: Power 13.15 (93) v 11.6 (72) Tigers - Port Adelaide talked about a statement game before today’s contest, and they have delivered.
Q4: 3 min remaining: Power 13.15 (93) v 11.6 (72) Tigers - Finally, after all the breathless, frantic footy, Port Adelaide are able to finesse the Sherrin, pick a couple of targets inside-50 and milk the clock. They still fail to convert though! Powell-Pepper then Duursma missing their marks.
Updated
Q4: 5 min remaining: Power 13.13 (91) v 11.6 (72) Tigers - Richmond just don’t have enough. The pressure on their defence is too much to continue to withstand, let alone close a four-goal deficit.
Q4: 7 min remaining: Power 13.12 (90) v 11.6 (72) Tigers - Desperate defence from Richmond keeps the game alive a few minutes longer. They are under all sorts of threats - in the air and on the ground - from Port Adelaide. Sustained attacks from one side then the next, all repelled, just.
Updated
Q4: 8 min remaining: Power 13.12 (90) v 11.6 (72) Tigers - Richmond haven’t had a look all quarter and they’re running out of time. They can’t mark the clearing kick out of defence, and they’re being hammered at stoppages by Port’s midfield. Power really should be out of sight. (Have I said that before?)
Q4: 9 min remaining: Power 13.12 (90) v 11.6 (72) Tigers - And that scrapping eventually earns a holding the ball free-kick deep in the right forward pocket, but Lycett absolutely butchers it, missing everything by a country mile.
The Port Adelaide midfield are back into their work in a flash though, chopping off the clearing kick then returning the ball inside-50. Richmond repel them once, but not twice. The second time the wet ball heads their way the Tigers defenders end up shoving Dixon’s broad back, gifting the power forward a free in an area my mum could score from. AND HE MISSES AGAIN! Three gimmes from Dixon shanked to the right. What on earth is happening!?
Q4: 13 min remaining: Power 13.11 (89) v 11.6 (72) Tigers - It is frantic wet weather footy now. Skills are disappearing but the intensity of this contest is unrelenting. Port Adelaide are doing a great job of scrapping for every ball.
Q4: 14 min remaining: Power 13.11 (89) v 11.6 (72) Tigers - Three goals in two minutes to Port Adelaide! Shambles from Richmond. Martin gives away a free-kick, then some lip adds on 50m, then Josh Caddy looks like a headless chook, running in Rockliff’s way for about 40m, adding another 50m penalty on for good measure. The goal is inevitable. That Caddy brain snap will be the stuff of memes in no time. Poor Damien Hardwick.
Can the Power defend a lead this time?
Richmond has given away a 100m penalty to give Tom Rockliff a goal from the goal square. #AFLPowerTigers pic.twitter.com/V2KLslcB1J
— AFL (@AFL) August 8, 2020
Updated
Q4: 14 min remaining: Power 12.11 (83) v 11.6 (72) Tigers - Another Power centre clearance, Rockliff this time, and Amon lumps the ball forward for territorial advantage in treacherous conditions. Richmond again struggle to clear their lines and the ball comes back with interest. Boak is the key man this time. He looks out of options deep in the right forward pocket, but he lifts his eyes and kicks to a two-on-one contest that ends with Houston crumbing, snapping, then wheeling away into the night with his finger pointed in delighted.
Q4: 15 min remaining: Power 11.11 (77) v 11.6 (72) Tigers - GRAY kicks a goal within seconds of the resumption of play! Wines wins the clearance, Richmond can’t control the bomb inside-50, Butters does superbly to pounce on the loose ball and find the open man, Gray, who tears towards the open goal. Port Adelaide back in front.
Like a knife through Butter 😲
— AFL (@AFL) August 8, 2020
Butters attacks the ball hard and there was no siren to deny Robbie Gray running into goal!#AFLPowerTigers pic.twitter.com/BXoezFDfKw
Updated
Q4: 16 min remaining: Power 10.11 (71) v 11.6 (72) Tigers - With rain falling on Adelaide Oval (and a heavy dump on its way) the final quarter gets underway. Who wins it from here?
Now it’s raining.
Richmond have 17 scoring shots from just 22 inside-50s! Port Adelaide have 36 entries, 11 marks inside-50, and just the ten goals to show for it. That’s your game right there.
3QT stats 🔢
— Port Adelaide FC (@PAFC) August 8, 2020
Disposals: Boak 22, Wines 19, Gray, Rockliff 15, SPP, Butters, DBJ, Houston 13
Goals: Dixon, Gray, Ladhams 2, Amon, Woodcock, Wines, Butters#AFLPowerTigers #weareportadelaide pic.twitter.com/pEypr0Cs3S
Updated
3QT: Power 10.11 (71) v 11.6 (72) Tigers
The best game of the year just keeps getting better. Port Adelaide should have it sewn up. Richmond are a puncher’s chance from a miraculous victory. If this is a grand final preview, bring on the big one.
Welcome to the year 2020.
— AFL (@AFL) August 8, 2020
Where the small men lead the Coleman Medal and the big men do this... #AFLPowerTigers pic.twitter.com/FhOdOP0vI2
Q3: 1 min remaining: Power 10.11 (71) v 11.6 (72) Tigers - Port Adelaide need a response, and Charlie Dixon delivers it, holding the ball in one massive paw, fending off defenders, until the time is right to kick to Rockliff just inside 50. The bull midfielder loads up and... hits the post! The Power are kicking themselves out of this contest.
Q3: 2 mins remaining: Power 10.10 (70) v 11.6 (72) Tigers - Richmond are upping the intensity, winning more ball in midfield and imposing their small forwards in those trademark pressure acts. After surging down the right wing the Tigers win a couple of stoppages inside-50, the last ending with McIntosh showing great strength and awareness to win the ball then find Stack at short range. Stack cannot miss, and Richmond, improbably, hit the front.
Updated
Q3: 4 mins remaining: Power 10.10 (70) v 10.6 (66) Tigers - Brilliant mark, running with the flight, by Woodcock, to claim a Hartlett hack inside 50. Tough kick, 45m out on an angle, and it leaks behind for a point. Another chance goes begging for Power.
Q3: 4 mins remaining: Power 10.9 (69) v 10.6 (66) Tigers - NO WAY! Chol with his second in two minutes! Brilliant play from Caddy in the centre square to bully the ball forward. Lynch then wins two passages of play with great skill, the second of those centring to the advantage of Chol who holds off his man and marks 15m out straight in front. The ruckman makes no mistake, and Richmond are within three points! Penny for Ken Hinkley’s thoughts right now. His side should be way way way out of sight by now. Credit to Richmond though, this is a gritty display.
Q3: 7 mins remaining: Power 10.9 (69) v 9.6 (60) Tigers - Port Adelaide look like scoring every time they go in Richmond territory, but again they only leave with a point, Farrell hitting the post with a set shot when he really should have scored. Once more, Richmond can’t deal with Dixon’s strength, and once more Gray is on hand as the small forward to make the right decision.
And would you believe it, for the third time today it’s a two-goal turnaround! Richmond go coast to coast fast enough to find Chol in acres of space 15m out on an angle and the big ruckman, who’s having a tremendous game, adds six to the scoreboard with the minimum of fuss.
Mark Ricciuto just rattled off a series of stats on TV that makes this sound like a one-way thumping for the Power. Somehow it’s a nine-point game.
Q3: 8 mins remaining: Power 10.8 (68) v 8.6 (54) Tigers - There are bodies in the hands of trainers at regular intervals now, and those that aren’t look exhausted. Nonetheless, Port Adelaide continue to play attacking free-flowing footy, and their forwards continue to lead ahead of their markers confident of being honoured. Sutcliffe is the latest, but after marking on an angle he misses from about 40m.
Richmond respond with one of the few times they’ve linked a chain of clean possession, but after taking a tough contested mark on the arc Martin only just mongrels one behind for a point. Not to worry, McIntosh wins an intercept mark two on one from the clearing kick, sends the ball back to the goalsquare where Aarts feeds on the scraps of some ropey Power defending to snap a much needed goal.
Q3: 11 mins remaining: Power 10.7 (67) v 7.4 (46) Tigers - After all that hassling and chasing and tackling and handballing and contesting for the ball, Port Adelaide kick the simplest of goals. Boundary throw deep in the left forward pocket, tap from the ruckman, and Wines steams onto the drop, snapping cleanly through the big sticks from 40m and suddenly the scoreboard is very much on Power’s terms again.
Q3: 12 mins remaining: Power 9.7 (61) v 7.4 (46) Tigers - Soldo kicks a point on a rare Richmond attack, but Port Adelaide go straight down the other end, scenting blood. Ladhams is again to the fore, taking a superb contest mark. But after another couple of scruffy entries inside-50 the Tigers survive.
Q3: 13 mins remaining: Power 9.7 (61) v 7.3 (45) Tigers - OH MY WORD! Charlie Dixon has just snapped, Ablett-like, from deep in the right forward pocket, right-footed, from the narrowest of angles for a goal. That is wild.
Another Port Adelaide attack, this one set up by some brilliant sharp handballs in midfield. Then the long bomb to Dixon who brings the ball to ground, neat crumbing from Gray, then Dixon with the unlikeliest of finishes. Amazing.
Q3: 14 mins remaining: Power 8.7 (55) v 7.3 (45) Tigers - As you were. Port Adelaide steamrollering straight from the opening bounce, pounding forward, slamming a couple of inside-50s that cause havoc in Richmond’s defence, but despite bags of chaos the Tigers survive with just the rushed behind.
Q3: 16 mins remaining: Power 8.6 (54) v 7.3 (45) Tigers - Underway in the second half!
YES! I haven’t done this much typing and formatting in a liveblog for ages. And I’m probably only conveying a fraction of what’s happening in South Australia.
HT stats 🔢
— Port Adelaide FC (@PAFC) August 8, 2020
Disposals: Boak 15, Gray, Wines, Butters 11, DBJ 10
Goals: Gray, Ladhams 2, Amon, Butters, Woodcock#AFLPowerTigers #weareportadelaide pic.twitter.com/X48jSdPbU0
HT Power 8.6 (54) v 7.3 (45) Tigers
That scrappy passage of play is amplified by Richmond taking the sting out of the game across half-back, slowing the play down as half-time nears. Both teams have chances to emerge from the wreckage in attack, but tired bodies are failing to execute skills. The poorest of those sees a Richmond boot squirt the ball miles off target to a Power defender and two hefty boots later the ball is inside attacking 50. Port Adelaide sense a goal at their mercy and pour all over Richmond’s tired defence but can’t take clean possession. Until they do! And the ball arcs tantalisingly in Gray’s direction - but the siren sounds! More agony for Port Adelaide! What drama!
That was a brilliant, engrossing, highlight reel of a half of footy. Port Adelaide lead by nine.
Well, for me that was the best quarter of football I have seen for the season.
Updated
Q2: 1 min remaining: Power 8.6 (54) v 7.3 (45) Tigers - A rare minute or two of midfield scrubbing and ugly turnovers.
Q2: 3 min remaining: Power 8.6 (54) v 7.3 (45) Tigers - Richmond are really struggling to clear their lines in defence. A bungled switch from right to left invites pressure, then a clearing kick falls to Gray who looks to have been tackled illegally with Stack landing on his back - but the umpires again favour the Tigers! The crowd, and the commentators, cannot believe it.
Of course, Richmond go down the other end and in a series of phases, highlighted by a Pickett hanger, kick a goal. Aarts showing twinkle toes in the goal square to find the loose ball, slip his much taller defender and snap home.
The second 12-point swing goal Richmond’s way today. What on earth is going on? This is brilliant!
Decent hanger from Marlion Pickett, this pic.twitter.com/KF0irbIc2k
— Ethan (@ethanmeldrum_) August 8, 2020
Updated
Q2: 5 min remaining: Power 8.6 (54) v 6.3 (39) Tigers - There have been hardly any stoppages so far, but there’s a loud Bronx cheer when Martin kicks out on the full instead of hitting a target in the left forward pocket. Port Adelaide benefit from the boundary throw, sparking a chain of possession that looks to have ended when Hartlett again fumbles under pressure, but he’s let-off by the umpire’s whistle. From the free-kick Port hustle forward, Butters launches inside-50, Dixon and co again draw a crowd, bring the ball to ground, and this time it’s Amon who is front and square to snap the goal.
Q2: 7 min remaining: Power 7.6 (48) v 6.3 (39) Tigers - No stress. Richmond can’t clear their lines, Port Adelaide rebound back inside-50, Dixon draws three defenders and still manages to bring the ball to ground, which means acres of space for Gray, and he is too good for that kind of opportunity, snapping across his body to extend Power’s lead.
Q2: 8 min remaining: Power 6.6 (42) v 6.3 (39) Tigers - Another Power clearance, another powerful Dixon mark, this time just out of range, so he offloads to McKenzie driving in towards the arc. The booming left boot unloads truly but it slides a fraction wide.
Q2: 9 min remaining: Power 6.5 (41) v 6.3 (39) Tigers - Ha ha ha ha ha! Power back in the lead. Boak hacks a ball forward, Dixon poleaxes Baker in a contest with the Tiger going back with the flight, Woodcock feeds on the scraps and snaps brilliantly in traffic from 40m to restore Port Adelaide’s advantage. This is unreal. By some margin the best contest of the season so far. Intense, frantic, brilliant.
Updated
Q2: 11 min remaining: Power 5.5 (35) v 6.3 (39) Tigers - Lol! Richmond lead! What the absolute ****!!!???
Hamish Hartlett, what are you doing? On centre wing the Power midfielder had the game in control, then for some reason decided to handball straight to two Richmond players. From there the Tigers barrel into 50, an attack that should end when Riewoldt is caught stone dead holding the ball - but there’s no whistle! Richmond pour all over the Power defence and the wave ends with Martin snapping into an empty goal. The crowd are fuming.
Q2: 12 min remaining: Power 5.5 (35) v 5.3 (33) Tigers - Ladhams again! Way too quick and strong for Grimes on the lead, clunking another impressive mark. He can’t make the distance this time though and after a melee around the dropping ball Richmond escape. Then they get 50. Then they launch deep inside-50 the other way. Then Riewoldt gets the softest of free-kicks. Then he kicks his third, from point-blank range. Adelaide Oval is a crescendo of caterwauling. Fabulous entertainment but Ken Hinkley must be fuming. That free against Riewoldt was not there, moreover, the free should have gone to Port for a shove from Martin that started the domino rally of a marking contest.
The 10,000 Power fans sound like 100,000. Love it!
Q2: 14 min remaining: Power 5.5 (35) v 4.3 (27) Tigers - Four goals on the burst to Richmond; what have Port Adelaide got? They have got big Ladhams splitting packs and clunking marks 45m from goal then slotting effortless set shots. This game is brilliant.
Q2: 15 min remaining: Power 4.4 (28) v 4.3 (27) Tigers - Chol sends Richmond forward at the opening bounce of the second quarter, after which they force repeat stoppages, eventually ending with Martin exerting his force of will on a scrum to dig out a handball with bodies hanging off him, and Lambert slams home!
Superb work from Chol twice in that attack who is having a terrific game. Richmond just one off the lead!
That was breathless stuff. Will Port Adelaide be made to pay for their sloppiness in front of goal? Big job for Ken Hinkley at the break to keep his troops upbeat.
Back to big Ivan Soldo, he now has a serious cut and swelling under his right eye to go with his heavily strapped right calf.
QT: Power 4.4 (28) v 3.3 (21) Tigers
Well, that was jolly good fun. Port Adelaide should be practically out of sight, but, kicking for a 31-point lead, Charlie Dixon shanked his second soda of the afternoon, whereafter the Tigers booted three unanswered to hit the first break with a wet sail.
More please.
QT stats 🔢
— Port Adelaide FC (@PAFC) August 8, 2020
Disposals: Boak 8, SPP, Houston, Butters, Woodcock 6
Goals: Dixon, Gray, Ladhams, Butters#AFLPowerTigers #weareportadelaide pic.twitter.com/7DGmyFIDwx
Updated
Q1: 1 min remaining: Power 4.4 (28) v 3.3 (21) Tigers - Deary me. For the second time today two Power defenders collide in a markign contest and Richmond kick an uncontested goal out the back - Riewoldt this time profiting. Power demand a free-kick for Lynch interfering in the contest, but there’s not much doing.
What a quarter!
Q1: 2 mins remaining: Power 4.4 (28) v 2.2 (14) Tigers - Another Port Adelaide passage deep in Richmond territory ends with only one point. Richmond then go coast to coast, ending with Jonas spoiling Riewoldt in a pivotal marking contest after Martin thumped the ball deep into the goalsquare. Power struggle for the first time to clear their lines and Richmond can apply some pressure - but it doesn’t last long as Rockliff goes down off the ball and the hosts escape.
Q1: 4 mins remaining: Power 4.3 (27) v 2.1 (13) Tigers - Two in the blink of an eye for Richmond! Both against the run of play too. Power win another clearance and look destined for points but they fail to convert and from the rebound Chol does superbly to contest on right centre wing then palm the ball forward 50m until there’s chaos in Port Adelaide’s defence and Riewoldt is Jack on the spot to snap home.
The Power should be 40-points up and somehow there’s two goals in it.
Updated
Q1: 5 mins remaining: Power 4.3 (27) v 1.1 (7) Tigers - That was an 11-point swing. Dixon’s fluff is quickly followed up by a rare Tigers attack that ends with Houston and McKenzie spoiling each other, not the ball, in a marking contest, gifting Lynch a goal out the back.
Q1: 6 mins remaining: Power 4.3 (27) v 0.1 (1) Tigers - This is men against boys. And when Dixon is involved that feels like no exaggeration. The big man takes another contested mark, monstering Grimes again after Power win another centre clearance, this one ending with Sutcliffe finding his target one-out. Incredibly, Dixon misses from point-blank - his second shank of the afternoon!
Q1: 7 mins remaining: Power 4.2 (26) v 0.1 (1) Tigers - Port Adelaiade get their fourth, and it’s richly deserved. Another exit from the Tigers fails to make halfway and the rebound is surgical, the ball shifted from right flank to left before Butters is found unguarded 30m from home. Scintillating footy.
Q1: 9 mins remaining: Power 3.2 (20) v 0.1 (1) Tigers - Ball-up inside-50 for Port Adelaide and Dixon makes sure the umpires are well aware of Chol’s ill-advised shove. After hitting the ground hard the big man walks back and misses to the right when it was easier to split the middle.
All Power so far. Richmond are being out-Richmoned in their own half, Port Adelaide applying ferocious forward pressure then moving the ball at speed.
Q1: 10 mins remaining: Power 3.1 (19) v 0.1 (1) Tigers - A little passage of what looks like Australian rules union out in the middle of Adelaide Oval. So many bodies around the contest, all intent on stopping an opponent. Eventually a free-kick relieves the constipation and Port Adelaide attack again.
As with most Power surges so far today the move ends with a goal. Robbie Gray this time kicking precisely on the run after some terrific forward pressure from young Woodcock.
Q1: 12 mins remaining: Power 2.1 (13) v 0.1 (1) Tigers - First contested mark on the lead from the broad-shouldered Dixon sets up Port’s third early inside-50, but Power can only muster a behind. Not long afterwards Dixon got on the move again, clunked another in his massive bear paws and drilled the goal home from 30m directly in front. That second lead was very sharp, way too hot for Grimes.
Q1: 14 mins remaining: Power 1.0 (6) v 0.1 (1) Tigers - Richmond almost respond immediately but after some thrilling handballs between Bolton and Martin, the latter takes the game on but misses on the run from 40m. Cracking start.
Q1: 14 mins remaining: Power 1.0 (6) v 0.0 (0) Tigers - Couple of early inside-50s to the Power, who have started red hot, and from the second they kick one of the goals of the year! What a finish! A left-footed banana/check side (don’t @ me) from, get this, Ladhams, from close to the behind post, with nobody expecting the ruckman to shoot. My word.
There is no way Peter Ladhams got this to bend through 🤯
— AFL (@AFL) August 8, 2020
If the big man is doing this, we are in for something special! #ColesGoals | #AFLPowerTigers pic.twitter.com/lPXtgreYx0
Updated
Opening bounce!
Q1: 16 mins remaining: Power 0.0 (0) v 0.0 (0) Tigers - Here we go! Power win the first clearance of the match...
That weather report was brought to you by the Football Director of Adelaide Crows in conversation with the president of Collingwood; because footy.
If you want a weather update, it’s the coldest day in Adelaide for 15 years, apparently. But it’s dry, cloudy, and there’s little wind to speak of.
Hi WWF fans - Rozee is missing because of “a heel related issue”, so does that make Cam Sutcliffe a face?
There we go, all the interest in Soldo and it’s Port Adelaide who spring a very very very late out. Connor Rozee is a big loss for the Power.
🚨 Late change to our Round 11 side:
— Port Adelaide FC (@PAFC) August 8, 2020
Out: Rozee (heel)
In: Sutcliffe #weareportadelaide
Out come the Power boys in all black with a teal and white trim. Shame they can’t rock up in the prison bars every week. I wonder if they’ve all had their studs given the once over?
Richmond are out on Adelaide Oval in their premiership-winning clash colours of yellow guernseys, white shorts and yellow socks. Do you like the look Tigers fans? As a neutral, I love it, especially in a head-to-head like this where it creates such a clear contrast. Some other clubs could take note.
There are 10,000 fans inside the ground, by the way, a figure decided upon as a consequence of the South Australian government’s response to the pandemic.
It’s Tiger time! 🐯#AFLPowerTigers #gotiges pic.twitter.com/LwVAhR3xwe
— Richmond FC 🐯🏆 (@Richmond_FC) August 8, 2020
Updated
A week is a long time in footy. Remember when the big story was the AFL’s dreadful handling of its own in-house PR?
Ready for war ⚔️ #weareportadelaide pic.twitter.com/CtznG3MxSX
— Port Adelaide FC (@PAFC) August 8, 2020
I can vouch that this second lockdown in Victoria is far harder to tolerate than the first - and we’re only one week into the six-week inconvenience. Jonathan Horn has applied a footy lens to the sense of loss we’re all experiencing.
Melbourne’s winters are not particularly nasty. But they really drag on. It can feel like three months of 13C days. All the things that make it tolerable – the festivals, the galleries, the bars and the footy – were now denied to us. Melburnians were dog tired, anxious, increasingly unwilling to follow the rules and looking for someone to blame. Social media was a cesspool. We all knew someone who had lost their job, or whose business was on the brink. My local pub, a typical footy pub with an open fire, an 18-year-old cat, four big screens and every pisspot and ear basher this side of the Yarra, was boarded up and padlocked. Footage surfaced of crackpots refusing to wear masks. One was straight from central casting – a self-proclaimed exorcist, flapping her gums and scouring the aisles for a shovel to build a Viking firepit.
More vision of Soldo in the rooms with his right calf heavily strapped. He’s having an almighty wrestle with one of the trainers that looks like something from a Greco-Roman olympic qualifier. If it was a fitness test, Soldo looks to have passed. Will he survive four quarters?
We’re open below the line! I know you’re a good lot, but keep it civil please.
Woohoo!!! Live!!! Thanks Jonathon - very exciting! We're in pole position on the couch, scarves at the ready. C,mon Port!
Why is Chol the centre of attention today? Here’s why:
The AFL has responded with an official statement:
The actions of players touching several team-mates inappropriately during post game celebrations and / or during club theme songs is not in keeping with either club, community or AFL expectations. The behaviour is inappropriate, unacceptable and juvenile. AFL players are professional athletes and set the example for the hundreds of thousands of kids playing football across the country. It is the responsibility of each club and the players themselves to ensure this inappropriate behaviour is not repeated.
Despite Richmond naming their line-up, there’s TV coverage of Ivan Soldo looking a bit proppy during warm-ups and engaging in plenty of brow-furrowed dialogue with team doctors. There’s further vision of Soldo on the physio’s bench having his right leg worked on.
This is already a big day for Mabior Chol and it looks set to get a whole lot bigger.
Updated
Richmond XXII
Two changes for the in-form Tigers with Daniel Rioli and Josh Caddy back in the 22 and hoping for a return to better footy after lean starts to the season. Damien Hardwick signalled earlier in the week that he would not be bringing skipper Trent Cotchin to South Australia, with the below-par Jack Higgins the other player to miss out.
Hardwick is confident Cotchin will be fine but didn’t want to take any unnecessary risks with the condensed scheduling. “He is probably the one player we have put a little bit of plan in place with regards to his hamstring,” Hardwick said. “He won’t board the plane but he will, obviously, be right nine or 10 days later.”
B Nathan Broad, Dylan Grimes, Noah Balta
HB Derek Eggmolesse-Smith, Nick Vlastuin, Jayden Short
C Kamdyn McIntosh, Sydney Stack, Marlion Pickett
HF Kane Lambert, Jake Aarts, Tom Lynch
F Jason Castagna, Dustin Martin, Jack Riewoldt
Foll Ivan Soldo, Josh Caddy, Shai Bolton
I/C Liam Baker, Daniel Rioli, Mabior Chol, Jack Ross
In: Daniel Rioli, Josh Caddy
Out: Trent Cotchin (managed), Jack Higgins (omitted)
Updated
Port Adelaide XXII
Two changes from Ken Hinkley, one forced, one on form. Out go the injured Sam Mayes and demoted Justin Westhoff, in come Jarrod Lienert and Scott Lycett. The latter returns from a knee injury that’s troubled him since round six, and he will line up in his 100th game alongside fellow ruckman Peter Ladhams, with that pair set to duke it out with Ivan Soldo and Mabior Chol in an old fashioned four-ruck combo.
B Jarrod Lienert, Tom Clurey, Trent McKenzie
HB Hamish Hartlett, Tom Jonas, Darcy Byrne-Jones
C Xavier Duursma, Ollie Wines, Karl Amon
HF Sam Powell-Pepper, Mitch Georgiades, Connor Rozee
F Zak Butters, Charlie Dixon, Robbie Gray
Foll Scott Lycett, Dan Houston, Travis Boak
I/C Peter Ladhams, Boyd Woodcock, Kane Farrell, Tom Rockliff
In: Jarrod Lienert, Scott Lycett
Out: Justin Westhoff (Omitted), Sam Mayes (Suspension)
💯 gamer on the decks today.
— Port Adelaide FC (@PAFC) August 8, 2020
LISTEN 🎧: https://t.co/sB8wLc0QwP#weareportadelaide pic.twitter.com/H6pkOnnmcP
Preamble
Hello everybody and welcome to live coverage of the opening match of round 11 of this year’s AFL premiership season. I know, I know, round 10 only ended last night, but hey, unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures.
The match in question should be a doozy, a grand final preview perhaps? Port Adelaide v Richmond; top vs fourth; the pretenders against the premiers. We’ll be underway at Adelaide Oval at 4.35pm.
In such a compacted season with storylines splintering off left, right and centre, matches can come and go without much consideration. Not this one.
This is Port Adelaide’s statement game, where they prove they have the mettle to win in a finals-like contest against the competition’s yardstick. For Richmond, coming off the back of comprehensive wins against Western Bulldogs and Brisbane, relocating to South Australia, and enduring myriad off-field distractions, if they can celebrate another four points their push for a third premiership in four years will take on an irresistible feel.
It’s an intriguing match-up. Three of the past four meetings have been settled by 14-points or fewer and the ledger over eight games reads four wins apiece. However, the past two have gone the way of the Tigers, including this corresponding fixture in 2019 when Richmond scraped home by seven points without Trent Cotchin, Jack Riewoldt, Dustin Martin and the recently injured Alex Rance. Tom Lynch starred on that occasion, booting six, and a similar haul today would vault the premiership winner joint top in the Coleman Medal race.
With home ground advantage and a season of form behind them, the Power go in marginal favourites for mine, a status enhanced by Richmond’s notable absentees. The stats also suggest Port Adelaide’s engine room of Tom Rockliff, Ollie Wines and Travis Boak all enjoy the match-up, while the revitalised Charlie Dixon will not have to extricate himself from Rance’s pocket. Let’s find out...
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Great game, Port - deserving winners. If you'd kicked straight it would have been a killing.
We need our captain in, and could have done with Caddy playing as well as he can. Dustin Martin looked done to me by half time - something's wrong when he's not put on the ball for the entire last quarter when the game's on the line.