It’s Showdown time as cross-town rivals Adelaide and Port Adelaide face off at AAMI Stadium. We’ll have live scores from 4.40pm AEST.
And what a Showdown this promises to be.
Adelaide had the footy world buzzing after winning the NAB Cup and then bursting out of the blocks in the home and away season.
The excitement has tapered off somewhat, however, after a reality check of a loss to Hawthorn and a relatively disappointing effort last week at home against newcomers GWS.
Port Adelaide have been quietly going about their business away from the spotlight of their nearest rival, but they have shown enough to suggest they are a far different outfit than they were the past couple of years.
An upset win over St Kilda in round one has been followed by tough losses to three finalists from last year, Essendon, Sydney and Collingwood.
The big issue for them is the loss of Robbie Gray, who went down with an ACL injury last week. They were without him for the first two weeks of the season, but it will nonetheless leave a significant hole.
The Crows have lost Bernie Vince.
Jay Shulz and Justin Westhoff have 18 goals between them so far this year and will be looking to add to that tally this afternoon.
In the midfield, Scott Thompson and Nathan van Berlo are the stars for Adelaide. Port will need to pay extra attention to those two.
Kane Cornes is the leading Power ball-winner, but fans have been impressed by how seamlessly John McCarthy and Brad Ebert have slotted into the side this year.
In the Crows’ forward line, Jackson Trengove, Troy Chaplin and Alipate Carlile will be charged with keeping Kurt Tippett and Taylor Walker quiet – although the kicking of both these men has been brought into question at times this season and may again prove to be a talking point.