The ‘brutal’ Power no one can stop

Only now are we seeing the real Port Adelaide.

After weeks of finding a way to win, the Power’s best form has emerged at just the right time and it’s no coincidence.

Season 2021 has been a hard slog for all at Alberton. Smashed with 15 surgeries to key players, Ken Hinkley and his coaches have been robbed of fielding their best 22 for most of the year.

But that’s now a thing of the past.

It wasn’t so long ago players of the ilk of Zak Butters, Connor Rozee, Steven Motlop, Robbie Gray, Orazio Fantasia and Xavier Duursma were unavailable and facing weeks on the sidelines.

But instead of dropping its bundle, Port did what good teams do, the Power stayed focused and used it as an opportunity, rather than an excuse.

Players like Riley Bonner, Sam Mayes, Boyd Woodcock and Willem Drew found themselves regularly in the team and, in Bonner and Drew’s case, their form has been so good they held their spot.

As Port kept chalking up wins, players gained valuable AFL experience, all the while keeping the team in touch of the top-four.

Winning ugly was their way, and it’s hard to believe Hinkley’s side had won six straight games heading into last week’s home final against Geelong.

But as any premiership player will tell you, premiership-winning team’s seasons are littered with ugly wins.

No one remembers how you win, as long as you do – like Port did against St Kilda (13 points), Adelaide (4) and Western Bulldogs (2) in the minor round.

Over the past month, we have seen the elusive, talented, and dynamic special six of Butters, Duursma, Motlop, Gray, Fantasia and Rozee slowly return to the team.

And while their impact wasn’t immediate, in last Friday night’s 43-point qualifying final win over Geelong, the football world was quickly reminded how lethal they really are - combining for eight of Port’s first ten goals.

It’s the best I have seen Port play since marching to within a kick of the 2014 Grand Final.

We can’t underestimate how strong Port have been behind the ball with Tom Jonas leading the AFL’s third most miserly defence, nor their on-ball brigade, led by All Australian bull Ollie Wines and Travis Boak.

We also can’t ignore the most underrated return of the year by on-baller-tagger Willem Drew who has been nothing short of outstanding after failing to register a single game in 2020.

Topping it off is the hunger for the contest. One word describes last Friday’s win - brutal.

The Power attacked the contest like men possessed and when they didn’t have the ball, they used their bodies as tackling battering rams to win it back, smashing the Cats in tackles 66-49, while still dominating possession.

Some say it was one out of the box, but I disagree.

Port have been finding a way to win for the past few months while key players rested up, rehabbed, and finally returned to the team to gain vitally important match fitness.

Last Friday night it clicked, and now that’s the standard.

They now know that if they can bring the heat no-one can stand in their way.

The key pieces of the player puzzle have returned.

To the players, it’s over to you.