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AFL top 100: Round 7 Magpies vs Power preview

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Roar Guru
2nd May, 2019
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Round 7 has all its games played over three days, but it starts with a blockbuster at Docklands on Friday night when Collingwood take on Port Adelaide in a game that will tell us a lot about both teams and their prospects for 2019.

It is a venue at which the clubs have not met since 2012, with Port Adelaide yet to score a victory over the Magpies in four attempts.

Only separated by two positions on the ladder, both teams are coming off consecutive wins and have shown glimpses of finals-style football.
Since the Power were admitted to the AFL in 1997, the results have been equally divided, with both teams winning 15 games of the 30 times they have met.

In their last encounter, the Magpies ran away with the game after half time, winning by 51 points at the ‘G’. Prior to that, Port Adelaide had strung together a winning streak of four games.

Jamie Elliott will be a big inclusion for the Magpies after missing last week’s game against Essendon. If Elliott can score one goal during the game, he will draw level with former champions Thorold Merrett and David Norman and move into the top 50 all-time goal scorers at the Magpies.

Beanpole Yankee Mason Cox (who played his 50th game last week) will miss with injury and the ‘Pies will welcome Ben Reid into the team for the first time in 2019 as a replacement. Reid currently sits just outside the top 100 game players at Collingwood and needs to string together three games to join the elite and share 100th position on the ladder with Frank Murphy, a hero in the four consecutive premierships won by Collingwood between 1927 and 1930.

Ironically, Ben Reid’s two-years-younger brother Sam – who plays for Sydney – has played 15 games fewer than Ben but already appears in the top 90 game players for Sydney and the top 50 goal scorers.

Steele Sidebottom will be an important player for Collingwood if he continues his stellar recent performances. In this match he will equal the games tally of Alan Didak and – if he can kick one goal – will equal the goal kicking tally of former great Bill Twomey.

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Will Hoskin-Elliott will play his 50th game for Collingwood.

A highlight for Port Adelaide will be Travis Boak becoming the fourth Power player to reach 250 games. Justin Westhoff will join Warren Tredrea at Number two game player on 255 games and Brad Ebert will join his retired cousin Brett on 166 games.

300 goal scorer Robbie Gray will be sorely missed, but his cousin Sam stood up with four goals last week and should again be a major contributor. This game will take him to level with former player Cameron O’Shea and – if he can score a goal – to level with Hamish Hartlett on the all-time goal-scoring chart.

It will also make him level with former Adelaide and Carlton player Matthew Wright as the highest goal scorer in the rarely used number 46 jumper.

Unpopular champion Scott Pendlebury will join Kangaroo Anthony Stevens on 275 games in the number 10 jumper – the fourth highest total.

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