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The West Coast Eagles have defeated Port Adelaide by two points, after one of the most dramatic, scarcely believable and tumultuous games of recent years.
» Click here to read the full match report
Final score
Port Adelaide Power 10.16.76
West Coast Eagles 12.6.78
Finals footy returns to the City of Churches for the second time in as many days, with Port Adelaide Power hosting the West Coast Eagles in a massive Saturday night at Adelaide Oval. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog from 7:50pm (AEST).
If you ever wanted to know what it feels like to achieve something as massive as qualifying for AFL finals in the very last minute, ask the Eagles.
It took them until the last Sunday in August – really, the last ten minutes of their game – to scrape their way into the eight, and break the hearts of the Demons.
West Coast will be out to make the most of this series, especially after losing their last two finals games: 2016’s elimination final against the Bulldogs, and 2015’s grand final against Hawthorn.
Their opponents, though, were firmly encased in the top eight for much of the season, but have gained a bit of unwanted notoriety as ‘flat trackers’: out of their 14 wins, just two were against current finalists.
The good news is that one of those wins was against the Eagles. The bad news is that win was in Perth. West Coast are actually bloody good at Adelaide Oval – they’ve won five of six games total, and all three of their past three games against Port.
But in the finals, history matters for naught. The selected teams, though, certainly do count.
The Eagles have made no changes from the side that beat the Crows in Round 23 – meaning all the essentials (the awesome Josh Kennedy, Luke Shuey, Andrew Gath and Elliot Yeo – to name but a few) are all in, but Nic Naitanui is still out.
Port have made just the sole change, dropping first-year player Aidyn Johnson for the more experienced Jarman Impey. Defenders Tom Jonas (untimely suspension) and Jack Hombisch (hip ailment) both remain out of the side, which is unfortunate for Port’s defensive unit.
Port Adelaide have been the second highest-scoring attacking force in the competition this year, while the Eagles aren’t far behind. That should make for a high-scoring game, weather permitting.
Prediction
Port did win three straight games to finish off their season, but West Coast are an ominous force and they had to work harder for their finals opportunity, so they won’t let this one slip.
The Eagles to win by a small margin. A very small margin.
West Coast by 4 points.
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