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The Melbourne Demons have continued their inconsistent season, slumping late to lost to the Port Adelaide Power by 45 points in Alice Springs.
REPORT: POWER TOO GOOD FOR DEES
Final score
Melbourne Demons 10.16.76
Port Adelaide Power 18.13.121
WHAT’S NEXT? FOLLOW OUR ST KILDA VS FREMANTLE LIVE BLOG
The Melbourne Demons and Port Adelaide Power travel to Alice Springs, with a shot at the top eight on the line. Catch all the live action on The Roar from 2:10pm (AEST).
The Demons have taken their home game to Traeger Park as part of a three-year deal with the Northern Territory. Interestingly, these two have played at the Alice Springs venue twice before, with Port winning both times.
Melbourne come into this one on the back of a dominant 63-point demolition job of the Brisbane Lions, their second win from three games giving a sniff at the finals.
Sitting in ninth, the Dees have been trading wins and losses pretty well all season, and are yet to really grab the brass ring and make their presence known in the top eight.
Port have similarly suffered from inconsistency this year, sitting just one spot below the Demons in tenth.
Despite the results showing two losses in a row in recent weeks, the Power could just as easily have been on a winning streak.
They only lost to Carlton by two points, thanks to a goal in the dying minutes, then showed great fight in a scrappy eight-point defeat last week to a West Coast side firmly entrenched in the top half of the standings.
The Demons will be aiming to snap a six-game losing streak against Port, dating back five years to Round 17, 2011.
In a more encouraging statistic, this is the first time in 14 years the Demons have averaged more than 100 points a game for the season, holding the third-highest average in the league with 108 through the sticks per game.
Melbourne coach Paul Roos has been forced to sideline 18-year-old rising star Clayton Oliver for the trip to Alice, who has a thigh injury.
Dom Tyson (Illness) and Neville Jetta (suspension) will both come back into the squad, while rumours of the long-awaited Jack Trengove return have been dismissed by Roos.
For the Power, coach Ken Hinkley has made just the one alteration from last week, with a suspension to Tom Jonas allowing Dougal Howard to come back into the match=day squad.
Prediction
With so much up and down form from both sides this year, it’s hard to figure out when either side will play a ripper and when they’ll flop.
Port Adelaide have been a touch weaker than the Dees this year, but with a couple of tight results and decent performances in recent weeks, they’ll want to bounce back.
The Power will get the job done, only just though.
Port Adelaide to win by 7
Can the Demons shake their recent history against Port, or will the Power get their season rolling again? Follow all the live AFL action coming out of Traeger Park from 2:10pm (AEST) on The Roar.
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