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It’s a simple equation for Port Adelaide in 2015 – a grand final or failure. It’s a brutally fine line they’ll walk, but it’s what comes with expectation. It’s justified. Impossible to shy away from.
The Power tore their way up the ladder in 2013 and then staked their claim as a contender in 2014. In 2015 they must contend.
Entering the season, they will sit at a justified third in the premiership betting at $5.50, just shy of the 2014 grand finalists. Despite this placing, confidence is oozing from Alberton and AFL fans are convinced the Power will be a top-two side this season and carry that through to a genuine premiership tilt.
This means, rightly so, Power fans aren’t afraid to use the P-word – and power to them! But I’d suggest they hold off until the first five rounds are past, because by then they could be the premiership favourite, or in early season shambles.
Port Adelaide open their season with the toughest road trip in football, travelling west to face the Dockers at Patersons. This will be the third time the Power have made this trip in their past five matches. In Round 23 they lost 97-105, losing their top-four placing in the process.
In the elimination final they produced a stunning effort, charging back from a 31-point deficit in the second quarter to win by 22-points. Up against a home team (and crowd) that have spent all summer brewing on what might have been, it’s hard to see the Dockers losing this match.
Round 2 brings the Swans to Adelaide Oval, a side the Power failed to defeat in two 2014 attempts. In Round 13 they fell agonisingly short (98-94) at the SCG in one of the games of the season. Remember that goal Buddy kicked from 70? Yep, that one.
In Round 20 they were roundly beaten again, 58-84.
As the first home game of the season, against a fellow premiership contender, the Power faithful will pack the rafters and bring the noise. But despite the advantage this creates, there is no way to mark this game other than dangerous.
Round 3 sees the Power’s first game in Melbourne at Docklands against the ‘Roos; North being one of eight teams to best the Power in 2014, winning an identical fixture 90-97. A win to North Melbourne in this match would almost cement them a reputation as a bogey team for the Power, after having also got the better of them in Round 6, 2013, after the Power started the season with a five-match winning streak.
With opening rounds against the Crows and Lions, North Melbourne could enter this match with wind in their sails, highly determined to get the better of a premiership contender as they aim to stake a claim on that very label in 2015.
Then Round 4 – who else would it be but Hawthorn?
This fixture last year saw 52,233 through the Adelaide Oval turnstiles to witness the home side notch up their biggest scalp of the season with a 14-point win.
Their next 2015 meeting, of course, the preliminary final – a crushing 3-point loss.
After their rampaging grand final win, the rest of the competition has good reason to be fearful of the Hawks this season, so it will be intriguing to see how Port fare against the team they would consider their final hurdle to a premiership.
As for Fremantle in Round 1, there will certainly be a 2014 score to settle in this match.
Now some will consider this horror opening to the season to come to an end at the end of Round 4, as it’s a Showdown against the Crows that looms in Round 5. But like all good rivalries, form tends to go out the window in a Showdown, as it did in Round 15 last year when the Crows played out a convincing 76-99 win against an 11 and 2 Power side.
The first four rounds could come heavily into play at this point. If Port Adelaide manage to win three or even all four from the first four games, you’d all but pencil in a Power win. Anything less, and the weight of expectation heaped onto a premiership contender in the lead up to a Showdown could work in the Crows favour.
So the P-word should certainly be on the lips of Power fans this year. They deserve to hold their head high and expect great things from their team. And with such a young squad, we all know 2015 is just year one of a premiership window that could span at least several seasons.
But expectation can be a funny weight to wrangle, and how the Power handle it will be front and centre, all questions answered, by the evening of May 3.
I for one am in camp with the believers. But I’d be watching how the first month of footy pans out, holding onto my p’s until the end of Round 5.
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