Showdown XXXV has plenty on the line for both teams as Adelaide and Port Adelaide get set for a good old fashioned barney. Live scores from 3.20pm AEST (2.50pm ACST).
While Port Adelaide are in prime position for what seemed at the start of the season as an extremely unlikely finals spot, the Crows all of a sudden have an outside chance of getting themselves into the race for the finals with a soft draw on the way home.
Last week though for Adelaide was a really disappointing performance in Perth against the Dockers.
They may have kept the home team to just 33 inside 50s, yet found a way to lose the game and lose it convincingly.
However, with a run home North Melbourne, the Bulldogs, Melbourne and West Coast, there is a chance that the Crows could fly home with five wins on the trot and possibly find themselves in the finals.
Would it be deserved? Probably not. But the opportunity is there, so let’s see if they will take it with both hands.
Losing Kurt Tippett to Sydney and also Taylor Walker to injury really did hurt the Crows line-up.
And now to come into today’s game without two key forwards like Josh Jenkins and Jason Porplyzia means there will need to be a fair chunk of their goals coming through the midfield.
The dynamic and heroic Patrick Dangerfield does comeback into the team, which is a massive boost to the side’s psyche, while Jared Petrenko is someone who can be a game-breaker, as seen earlier in the year in their fightback against the Kangaroos.
Port Adelaide was in the depths of despair this time last year with many hoping the club would stay afloat.
Amazing what 12 months can do.
This side has poise, pace and promise being inside the top eight with a few games to go in the season.
What we have seen from relatively youthful sides in the past though is for the team to fall off in the final stages.
And their mettle will be tested over the next few weeks, with landmines everywhere up until the finals – Geelong, the Gold Coast, Fremantle and Carlton still to come.
But with the leadership of Travis Boak, who has been one of the best players of 2013 (averaging 25 disposals, 5 clearances, 5 inside 50s, 4 tackles and 11 contested possessions), Port Adelaide has been able to get past both St Kilda and Brisbane Lions in tense finishes.
A win today for the Power will almost shore up their spot in the finals and the form points in their favour.
But in Showdowns, nothing is ever as it seems.
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