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Port Adelaide’s bid for the top eight continues on Sunday afternoon against Essendon. Join our live blog with scores and commentary from 4.40pm AEST.
Two of the season’s most unbelievable stories will clash at Docklands.
Few predicted the rise of the Power under first-year coach Ken Hinkley.
The season started with a bang – five wins on the trot.
Five consecutive losses after that seemed to confirm to many that while the wins could be used as evidence of improvement, the 5-0 record perhaps overstated how much real improvement had taken place.
Wins against Sydney and Collingwood have dispelled any such thoughts.
While early season victories against Adelaide and West Coast required comebacks from substantial margins, the past two wins have come from intense four-quarter efforts.
And in each match the young men of Port Adelaide have forced their opposition to crack, an incredible assertion considering how the Power have been to the point of irrelevancy in recent years, while the Swans and Pies battled it out at the top of the ladder.
Essendon’s season has been fascinating for different reasons.
The impending, and seemingly inevitable, doom surrounding the ASADA investigation seems to have galvanised a playing group that only last season was considered fragile, both physically and mentally.
Regardless of what may or may not have happened off the field, the Bombers’ ability to beat Fremantle and West Coast in Perth, matches in which James Hird and Jobe Watson were under huge pressure respectively, surely must be admired.
The complete breakdown of this playing group has yet to occur, further testament to Essendon’s intestinal fortitude.
For anyone expecting a letdown following their gallant victory against the Eagles, it should be noted that the Bombers beat St Kilda following their earlier clash with Fremantle.
In terms of what occurs on the field, Chad Wingard looms as a danger for Hird’s team.
The teenager is eleventh in the league for inside-50s per game (of those who have played at least ten games) and has kicked 24 goals this season.
More importantly, he’s shown in the last two weeks that he’s capable of kicking goals at important moments.
Meanwhile, Hinkley will want to have his big men firing if Port is to come away with a victory.
His team is sixteenth this season for contested marks, which could pose problems if Essendon’s midfield gets on top and can deliver it to a forward line that may finally have Jake Carlisle starting down there.
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