Whether a fan of Port Adelaide or Adelaide, like it or not, both are connected to each other in many different ways.
Both come from the same state and have the same home ground. Both have their roots in the SANFL and both want to be number one.
Today they share another connection which they will be hoping to eliminate when they take on Geelong and the Western Bulldogs respectively.
Both teams have hoodoos against their opponents and both of the curses started with significant wins against their opponents.
For Port Adelaide it started after the 2007 match against Geelong at Kardinia Park.
On that day they stunned the premiership favourites by defeating them at the Cattery.
In just their second win in Geelong, the Power led for most of the match, but the Cats got their nose in front at the end through a Gary Ablett Jr goal in the dying stages of the match.
With just a few seconds to go Dom Cassisi gave the lead back to the Power and sealed one of their biggest victories as a football club.
As we have learnt with Hawthorn, and the Kennett Curse, you never mess with Geelong when you steal something from their grasp.
Whatever was said by the Cats after the match against Port has stuck for almost seven years.
They have not lost in 10 matches the clubs have played since that day in August 2007.
Included in one of them was the grand final later that year.
Geelong – still hurting from the loss – exacted revenge in the biggest way possible by winning by the largest margin in a grand final.
In the next nine matches they have won them all by an average of 45 points.
Today sees the team play for the 11th time since that meeting.
In similar circumstances to the August weekend of 2007 the teams are in the same positions as they were on that meeting.
Geelong is now on top of the ladder after beating Hawthorn for the 12th time in the last 13 meetings.
Port Adelaide – who benefitted from Hawthorn’s loss – are now second after beating the Eagles in Perth last weekend.
The match is important for Port’s aspirations for 2014 and to eliminate the hoodoo against the Cats.
Many see the team as a top four prospect but still short – only just – of being among the premiership favourites.
A win against Geelong changes that and puts them right into calculations for the Premiership.
If they are to beat the Cats they must start well in the match.
In two of the three meetings last year, the Cats kicked more than six goals in the first quarter, to virtually end the match within the first thirty minutes.
Port can’t afford to do that again.
While Port is confident of their fitness at the end of the match, they won’t have the luxury of a fading team playing against them this week.
Geelong has won all final quarters in their five matches this season.
They are also confident of their fitness capabilities.
It is a fascinating match with plenty on the line for Port. It would be fantastic for them, and their fans, if they could get rid of the Cattery Curse they have.
It is the same situation for Adelaide who has struggled to defeat the Bulldogs in Melbourne since their famous victories over them in 1997 and 1998.
On both occasions – one heartbreaking, and one a smashing – the Crows played in the grand final at the expense of the Bulldogs and won both premierships on offer.
This is something not lost on the Bulldogs.
Since those two matches the Crows has won just twice in Melbourne in ten meetings against the Bulldogs.
It gets worse at Etihad Stadium with the Crows winning just once in the past six meetings.
That meeting was in 2002, with the Crows winning by 19 points thanks to some inaccurate kicking by the Bulldogs, who kicked 12.21 on that day.
Since then the Crows have failed to win at Etihad Stadium against the Bulldogs.
This included last year’s meeting between the two which eliminated Adelaide from the finals race.
In a shootout at Etihad Stadium the Bulldogs kicked 20 goals to 17 to win by 17 points.
If Adelaide is to beat the Bulldogs today they need to copy the script Carlton had last week.
The Blues played three tall forwards – Henderson, Waite and a combo of Bell and Everitt – to devastating effects last week.
Henderson kicked five goals, Waite kicked three, and Bell and Everitt scored one each, as the forwards stretched the defence of the Dogs.
Adelaide – with Podsiadly, Lynch and Jenkins – should be looking to do exactly the same.
The form of Jenkins should be a worry for the Bulldogs and he could replicate the bag of goals Henderson kicked last week.
The other critical areas the Crows need to focus on are contested football and the run they have with the ball.
The Crows defeated the Giants in that area last week and Carlton did the same to the Bulldogs as well.
They also – to devastating effects – used the run of David Mackay and Brodie Smith to hurt the Saints at Etihad Stadium two weeks ago.
They will need to do the same this week and must replace Douglas with a player who can win the football and deliver the ball with precision and run.
Mitch Grigg is the player for that job and has been recalled by the Crows for the clash.
If Adelaide does those three things well – contested football, run, and dominant forwards – they should go close to winning the contest and breaking their own hoodoo as well.
And they need to this weekend.
After going 0-3 to start the season, the Crows have bounced back, with two wins against opponents they needed to defeat.
The Bulldogs is another team in a similar mould to the Giants and the Saints the Crows played recently.
Without paying too much disrespect to them the Crows need to beat these teams to make the top eight this year.
With the closeness of the competition – which is illustrated by the ladder – the Crows need to win every match they can against the teams who realistically are not going to make the eight.
Adelaide needs to win the match today to do that and to keep them within striking distance of the eight.
A big enough win might actually sneak them into the top eight if results go their way for the rest of the weekend.
A loss would continue to see the Crows fall behind and playing the catch-up game to be in the top eight.
If Port and Adelaide win today it will also create another connection between the two teams.
It will be the third weekend in a row that both South Australian teams have won.
If this happens, statistics shows that both teams play finals football at the end of the season.
In the 18 years of both clubs being in the competition both teams has played finals in five of those seasons.
Those years were 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2007.
In each of those years – except for 2005 – this happened with both teams winning three in a row in three straight weeks.
Both teams will be happy with that statistic.
While today is just Round 6, it is an important one for both South Australian teams, as their expectations for the season are put to the ultimate test against the teams they have struggled against recently.
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We’re taking a look at one player from each team that needs to make a difference this week, starting with the ANZAC Day games.
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