Preview 2nd Preliminary Final Port Adelaide vs Hawthorn - Destiny Beckons

[Holden Hillbilly]

Good luck this week. You have the support of every Geelong supporter. Nothing we all hate worse than the arrogant Hawks. And for those of you interested, a good piece in the local paper on Kenny Hinkley's motivational past. Here's the link.
http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au...n-for-the-moment/story-fnjuhs0b-1227059018504

Thanks.

 

[Noobz0r]

One of our biggest struggles in the first half against Fremantle was getting our hands on it, Freo smashed us at the stoppages and in the midfield. Hawthorn's contested ball winning ability, through Sewell, Lewis and Mitchell, is a massive strength of theirs. Wines, Boak and Ebert are the key for us.

 

[Rankor]

Good luck this week. You have the support of every Geelong supporter. Nothing we all hate worse than the arrogant Hawks. And for those of you interested, a good piece in the local paper on Kenny Hinkley's motivational past. Here's the link.
http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au...n-for-the-moment/story-fnjuhs0b-1227059018504

Thanks for the link, well written article.

I watched that gf speech the day Kenny was appointed. Instant love.

 

[Stig O'Hara]

Just wondering if there is an open training session at AO this week?

 

[Forzaport]

Just wondering if there is an open training session at AO this week?

Doesn't look like it. Open training is on Friday at Alberton.

 

[charcolechaddy]

some positives, Kane get a match up he truly loves e.g Mitchell, we are truly faster , hight wont be a issue .

did I say I love this F(cking club?

 

[Portology]

The ideal schadenfreude scenario is:

EF - Chaplin, tick
SF - Pearce, tick
PF - Burgoyne, pending
GF - Jacobs, ????

lol that would be priceless. I wish North were silly enough to play Jacobs but I don't think they're going to do it this weekend and I don't think they'll be playing at all next weekend.

And now back to this week's game. a few thoughts:

well done so far, kids: one clinical thrashing of a shockingly out-of-sorts opponent and one brilliantly earned escape from the clutches of a very dangerous opponent in their own backyard.

for your sins, the bar gets set even higher. a lot higher: the last two premiership sides, no less.

you seem to have your heads screwed on correctly, kids, so I probably don't need to tell you to go read up about one of these regretful players who got into a final when young, early in their career, and didn't realise how hard it would be to ever ever get back there again. take your opportunities when they come. you can work as hard as you like, be as talented as you can be, yet on average, for most of the years of your careers, the opportunity to play for the big prize this late in September won't be there...

kern and co: "we are port adelaide" so let that mean among other things that we will NEVER EVER become the next western bulldogs. they were all buzz buzz buzz after being in the doldrums for a few years with a poor stadium deal. they make three prelims in a row not so long ago, yet today all of that is barely a memory. give us two more weeks of footy hunger and joy this season and then please get Schulz & Lobbe some ready-to-go backups before one or both of them blow up. we have lived up to "not giving up" and fans do try to remember that - but the one thing they never forget is premierships.

 

[yepits2020]

Personal opinion, and not a popular one, but I think that Cyril, although a good player, is overrated. The way some of the Vics talk about him is that he's the best small forward in the comp. He's a guy who'll get 15 touches, 1-2 goals a game. Great defensive pressure, but off the top of my head I can think of at least 5-6 better small forwards than him. Not to mention coming off a massive layoff, to have to adjust to the pace of a prelim, it's a big ask. All the more credit to him if he gets up and kicks a bag.

Nah. When fit and firing, he is probably their best player.

 

[proman_x]

Said it last week and I will say it again.

The only team that can stop us is ourselves. We have the talent, fitness and the skill, but do we have the mental toughness. We saw in the first half last week, a nervous unconfident approach. Yep Freo put it on us, but we knew that they would, we were a bit lucky with them kicking as badly as they did in the first half. We came out at half time with a steely resolve, a mindset of "ok if we are going down, than we will go down running and playing our guts out". That is what we have to do every time we play, especially in finals. We are young, fit and hungry! If we bring that, then Hawthorn are in trouble....

 

[Papa G]

Nah. When fit and firing, he is probably their best player.

Reckon if he plays it will benefit us.

 

[noot]

I love mark yeates............

 

[Shaucob_Burjan]

Am hoping Rioli misses, we don't have a matchup for him.

 

[savagelunchbox]

Anyone know of any half decent accommodation apart from the car?
And what's the train price like?

Atlantis Hotel on Spencer st.
1 bedroom room with a city view is $135 on Fri and $180 on Sat and comes with a free buffet breakfast each morning. Need to stay min. two night.

Place has a good pool and gym facilities too.

But if that doesn't interest you, this just opened today. Great opening prices on offer.
http://www.bradyhotels.com.au/accommodation-en.html
4 star for <$150

 

[Noobz0r]

Am hoping Rioli misses, we don't have a matchup for him.

Jonas

 

[Shaucob_Burjan]

Jonas

Jonas -> Breust.

 

[Janus]

"People die every day, Frankie. Mopping floors, washing dishes. And you know what their last thought is? I never got my shot." - Million Dollar Baby

If the season was to end right now for the Port Adelaide Football Club, there would be no disgrace. Many would consider it to be a natural progression, and that next year will be the year where we become a genuine contender that other sides need to fear. "If they were a stock, I'd be on them for 2015," says Dermott Brereton.

Well, you know I say? **** you, Brereton. This is Port Adelaide, and we don't follow the trends - we make them. Who is Hawthorn to say that they are better than us? Reigning premiers? Best team in the competition? Will make it all the more sweeter when we knock them off. The stakes are high, and the opposition will be brutal. Make no mistake, Hawthorn are going to try to rough us up. They are going to try to shake us, and make us doubt. Unsociable football will be on display quite early, and it wouldn't surprise me if 'tough guys' like Mitchell and Hodge get stuck into players like Wingard and Wines to get under their skin. What we need to make sure of is that we remain focused on the task at hand. The Hawks are only as elite as we allow them to be - we need to replicate the intensity that Fremantle showed against us and temper our youthful exuberance with controlled aggression.

From the very beginning of the season, before a ball was bounced in anger, I've believed that this team can win the premiership. People have been critical of my positive posts because they seem to be unrealistic especially at a time when we were losing games we should have won. But like Neo in the Matrix, I could see what Hinkley was building...see what the players were aiming for. Ken has always said that it takes a lot of hard work for the players to get where they are trying to go. Many people would hear that and think he's referring to a premiership. But premierships come and go. What he is actually referring to is leaving a legacy - a blueprint for the next generation to follow...a return to an ethos that has always been synonymous with Port Adelaide: We exist to win premierships. If a team like Geelong can win 3 flags...if a team like Hawthorn can win 2...then Port Adelaide can win multiple flags as well.

But it all depends on how much the players want it. How much they believe. Is it their time, or are they waiting for some arbitrary signal to say 'Yes, now it's time to go for it'? Do we wait for the king to abdicate his throne, or do we take his crown and scepter from his bloodied head and hands and take our rightful position at the top of the tree...knowing that we can and will only get better over the coming years?

We've got our shot. Make it count.

 

[Nemisis]

We can win if =

1. Port play their natural run on at all costs game from the first bounce (not after half time)
2. Tag Shauny Burg
3. Eclipse Mitchell (Kane K's job)
4. Don't allow the Hawks to get their keepy off footy going. Man on man.

The Hawks haven't got our fitness or speed but they have a disciplined game plan that works in finals.
Stop their uncontested marks = we win.

 

[Zakk Wylde]

Just kick a higher ****en score than they do !

 

[Noobz0r]

Immediate.

 

[mic59]

A great deal of the media have made comments along the line of "if Freo had kicked 11.6 instead of 6.11..". Well, for a start, they didn't. Also, scoring 0.4 doesn't necessarily mean they'll score 4.0. I can recall at least 2 occasions when Freo, straight after one behind, kicked another from the kick-in. Straight kicking would have got them more score, but 0.4 would be more likely to have been 2.0. And it's possible we could even have scored from the re-start so that kind of logic goes out the window.
I think Ken knows he made a mistake in the first half of the Freo game. The idea was to strangle them and this just meant players like Mzungu and Sutcliffe could play as loose, attacking defenders and Fyfe could play his best attacking role. Ken will have sorted this out for the start against Hawthorn.

 

[Nemisis]

A great deal of the media have made comments along the line of "if Freo had kicked 11.6 instead of 6.11..". Well, for a start, they didn't. Also, scoring 0.4 doesn't necessarily mean they'll score 4.0. I can recall at least 2 occasions when Freo, straight after one behind, kicked another from the kick-in. Straight kicking would have got them more score, but 0.4 would be more likely to have been 2.0. And it's possible we could even have scored from the re-start so that kind of logic goes out the window.
I think Ken knows he made a mistake in the first half of the Freo game. The idea was to strangle them and this just meant players like Mzungu and Sutcliffe could play as loose, attacking defenders and Fyfe could play his best attacking role. Ken will have sorted this out for the start against Hawthorn.

AT LAST someone has explained what I have tried to explain for years. The game is RANDOM... can someone explain the concept of 'random' a bit better...

 

[Tawny]

Reckon if he plays it will benefit us.

Exactly. Huge risk to play him for mine. His hammies will get the test from hell.

 

[Stewart2Austin Reborn]

AT LAST someone has explained what I have tried to explain for years. The game is RANDOM... can someone explain the concept of 'random' a bit better...

Randomness doesn't exist in real life. A more accurate term would be chaos. In fact, you could probably call our sport Chaos-ball if you want to borrow a Derrwayne-ism

 

[yepits2020]

Reckon if he plays it will benefit us.

Likely to given he has not played for such a long time... I really struggle with the idea they will play him.....

 

[yepits2020]

We can win if =

1. Port play their natural run on at all costs game from the first bounce (not after half time)
2. Tag Shauny Burg
3. Eclipse Mitchell (Kane K's job)
4. Don't allow the Hawks to get their keepy off footy going. Man on man.

The Hawks haven't got our fitness or speed but they have a disciplined game plan that works in finals.
Stop their uncontested marks = we win.

The hawks are a lot quicker than you think. Their closing speed is awesome. They will come at us, and we need to handle pressure until the game opens up a bit....they also conserve energy with their precise kicking.....