Do They Have The Power To Sneak Into The 8?

The next team on the agenda is the enigmatic mob from Alberton – Port Adelaide, who currently sits in 9th spot.

Remaining Games:

Round 17 – Adelaide (6th) @ AAMI Stadium

Round 18 – Hawthorn (10th) @ AAMI Stadium

Round 19 – Fremantle (16th) @ Subiaco

Round 20 – Carlton (7th) @ AAMI Stadium

Round 21 – Brisbane (5th) @ Gabba

Round 22 – North Melbourne (12th) @ AAMI Stadium

Port Adelaide would have to be one of the more frustrating teams of Season 2009. They have played many games that would rival those teams at the top of the table and then turned around the following week and played games that have seen them beaten by the likes of West Coast and Melbourne.

Port have a pretty even run home, facing three Top 8 sides in Adelaide (Round 17), Carlton (Round 20) and Brisbane (Round 21). Fremantle (Round 19) and North Melbourne (Round 22) look the easiest matches on their fixture but with Port Adelaide you just never know which team will turn up on the day so I would be hesitant to label them over the line in either of those games. Hawthorn (Round 18) is also likely to provide a stern test for the Power as the Hawks are fighting for a similar spot in the Finals. Looking through these games it is tough to make a confident call on which way many of them will go mainly due to the inconsistent nature of Port Adelaide’s season.

I labelled Hawthorn the real wildcard of the group and Port Adelaide isn’t far behind them in that area. They have plenty of match winners who can win a game off their own boot on any given day. The recent return of Chad Cornes is a huge plus as he along with his brother tend to be the two stable constants that the team can rely on. Shaun Burgoyne should be back sooner rather than later and this will be a huge assistance to the Power as when he is on song there aren’t too many better in the competition. Players such as Danyle Pearce, Daniel Motlop and David Rodan need to find some consistency in their game and give Port near enough to maximum output every week.

Like Hawthorn, Port Adelaide also carries an ordinary percentage at the moment (94.54%) to go along with their 8 wins. This puts them at a major disadvantage against the likes of Carlton (112.53%) and Essendon (101.34%), more or less putting them an extra game behind those teams than they already are.

I have Port Adelaide finishing 12 wins and 10 losses in 9th position. I have them losing in this weeks Showdown with Adelaide and then Brisbane in Round 21. The wins come against Hawthorn, Fremantle, Carlton and North Melbourne. The next two weeks loom as crucial for Port as a win in the Showdown could be enough to get them over the line for a finals berth however there will be the let down factor against Hawthorn the following week so that will definitely be a danger game. The Round 20 game against Carlton also looms as most crucial as the Blues beat Port at AAMI Stadium last year so the road trip will hold no fears for them.

Do you think Port Adelaide will make the finals? If so, can they have any impact or will they just be making up the numbers? Leave us with your thoughts.