Genes explode between Ollie Wines, right, and Peter Ladhams. Credit: Getty Images
Lachie Jones’s unnecessary ragdoll off Ladhams’s free kick resulted in a free kick for Sam Powell-Pepper. Charlie Dixon then got another free kick awarded by Ladhams.
This time, Ladhams was dragged by coach John Longmire and faces a possible suspension after dragging Ollie Wines into an inning, after giving him an inexcusable blow to the ribs while on the ground.
“This could confirm why [Port Adelaide] he pushed him out of the club, “said Adelaide Crows legend Mark Ricciuto during the Fox Footy broadcast.
Although the pressure of the Power was elite, Sydney’s skills were not clear, and they were harassed with dumped kicks and hasty eliminations.
Port scored six goals in the third quarter before the Swans could even evoke their first within 50 as the margin rose to 42 points.
Sydney, largely thanks to the absolute brilliance of Isaac Heeney (four goals), saved their face in a much improved fourth period with the breeze, but the Power kept them at bay, which, although exhausted , defended magnificently.
Butter was the best player on the field. He threw Port’s first goal after a clean ground before his fierce entry into Colin O’Riordan resulted in a Connor Rozee six-pointer to give the Power the lead, which they would not give up.
Butters, in the wars after opening his cheekbone last week during a collision with his teammate Tom Jonas against Richmond, suffered a suspected injury to the medial ligament of his left knee while tackling Harry Cunningham above the outer side boundary.
The first day of mid-season recruit Teakle as an AFL player ended when he faced Sam McInerney in the second quarter. McInerney rose slowly, but Teakle was not so lucky, he retired to the bench and placed his left arm in a sheath.
With a couple of soldiers shot down, several Port players stood up.
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Brownlow medalist Wines was an inspiration to the clinches, Rozee has been brave with his game and finish, and Jeremy Finlayson continues to demonstrate an unexploded ruck craft, proving influential in the absence of Teakle in the second half.
FOUR TRAINING FORMAT
For the first time this season, Port rolled the dice and played with his four specialized senior forwards, Charlie Dixon, Todd Marshall, Mitch Georgiades and Finlayson. It won’t always work, but it was combined against Sydney.
Dixon scored a couple of goals, while Finlayson, as he did last week against Richmond, impressed as he mixed the ruck tasks with the attacking ones.
Back on the team after a degradation in the SANFL, Georgiades appeared powerful and athletically on offense after a quiet first period, only to be disappointed with a missed shot on the half-mermaid siren. Meanwhile, Marshall, perhaps fourth in line at the start of the season in the minds of most Power fans, once again proved to be the new leader of the group with his winning success.
BESTPort Adelaide: Wines, Rozee, Marshall, Bonner, Finlayson, Byrne-Jones.Sydney: Heeney, Parker, Mills, Gulden, Rowbottom.