Preview Round 2 v Port Adelaide Saturday March 22 4.15pm Adelaide Oval

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After a surprising win in round 1 against Carlton, the Tigers hit the road to face Port in Adelaide yet again as 28 of 42 games against them have been in Adelaide.

The Tigers will be full of confidence after the round 1 win, while Port will be smarting after a shocking performance against the Pies in what was the first game of the final season of Hinkley in charge. You really have to wonder whether the players may well have checked out knowing that he won't be in charge after this year and that his message just doesn't have the impact that it should.

Port really looked like a bottom 6 side the way they played last night, they had no structure/system in their forward line, their midfield was poor despite having a mountain of possessions and their back line struggled to stop the Pies from scoring especially in the 2nd half as the Pies did as they pleased.

Now the question is how do Port respond? As mentioned is it a case of the players have checked out on Ken or was it simply a case of a bad R1 performance against a side that was also looking to respond after a poor game in their first hit out. For the fans of Port, you'd like to hope that it is a case of the latter otherwise 2025 is going to be a long long season with mounting pressure on Port & Hinkley to maybe part ways sooner than anticipated.

As far as the Tigers are concerned, this game provides an opportunity for us to prove that R1 wasn't an exception but is the type of performance that we should be expecting from week to week. Now that's not to say that we're going to go on a winning streak and put ourselves in the mix for finals, after all we won just 2 games last year, including beating last years runners up, so we have shown that we're capable of a big performance occasionally, but more often than not we were found wanting.

So before we get carried away with beating Carlton, lets see how we follow up that performance. If we can play with a similar level of intensity and effort the scoreboard will take care of itself.

Predicted Line Up:
Out: Lynch* (suspended)
In: Ryan/Fawcett

B: Miller Blight Broad
HB: Short Vlastuin Trainor
C: Banks McIntosh Trezise
HF: Mansell Campbell Green
F: Bauer Fawcett/Ryan Lalor
R: Nankervis Taranto Hopper
INT: Brown Dow Armstrong Ross Sonsie
EMG: Fawcett/Ryan Smith Alger

FWIW I don't believe that Lynch should get suspended, but the tribunal is a raffle and given the previous suspensions handed out for bumps like Lynchs, I am expecting him to miss a week. If somehow we can get Lynch cleared, then I'd go in unchanged as you have to reward last weeks side with a chance to back it up.

Prediction:
Port to hit back hard and put the Tiger cubs under the pump early on and see if they are capable of backing up the R1 performances. The heart says a Tigers win by 2-3 goals to get the season off to the perfect start, but the head says Port will hit back and get their first win of the season by a similar margin.
 

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After a surprising win in round 1 against Carlton, the Tigers hit the road to face Port in Adelaide yet again as 28 of 42 games against them have been in Adelaide.

The Tigers will be full of confidence after the round 1 win, while Port will be smarting after a shocking performance against the Pies in what was the first game of the final season of Hinkley in charge. You really have to wonder whether the players may well have checked out knowing that he won't be in charge after this year and that his message just doesn't have the impact that it should.

Port really looked like a bottom 6 side the way they played last night, they had no structure/system in their forward line, their midfield was poor despite having a mountain of possessions and their back line struggled to stop the Pies from scoring especially in the 2nd half as the Pies did as they pleased.

Now the question is how do Port respond? As mentioned is it a case of the players have checked out on Ken or was it simply a case of a bad R1 performance against a side that was also looking to respond after a poor game in their first hit out. For the fans of Port, you'd like to hope that it is a case of the latter otherwise 2025 is going to be a long long season with mounting pressure on Port & Hinkley to maybe part ways sooner than anticipated.

As far as the Tigers are concerned, this game provides an opportunity for us to prove that R1 wasn't an exception but is the type of performance that we should be expecting from week to week. Now that's not to say that we're going to go on a winning streak and put ourselves in the mix for finals, after all we won just 2 games last year, including beating last years runners up, so we have shown that we're capable of a big performance occasionally, but more often than not we were found wanting.

So before we get carried away with beating Carlton, lets see how we follow up that performance. If we can play with a similar level of intensity and effort the scoreboard will take care of itself.

Predicted Line Up:
Out: Lynch* (suspended)
In: Ryan/Fawcett

B: Miller Blight Broad
HB: Short Vlastuin Trainor
C: Banks McIntosh Trezise
HF: Mansell Campbell Green
F: Bauer Fawcett/Ryan Lalor
R: Nankervis Taranto Hopper
INT: Brown Dow Armstrong Ross Sonsie
EMG: Fawcett/Ryan Smith Alger

FWIW I don't believe that Lynch should get suspended, but the tribunal is a raffle and given the previous suspensions handed out for bumps like Lynchs, I am expecting him to miss a week. If somehow we can get Lynch cleared, then I'd go in unchanged as you have to reward last weeks side with a chance to back it up.

Prediction:
Port to hit back hard and put the Tiger cubs under the pump early on and see if they are capable of backing up the R1 performances. The heart says a Tigers win by 2-3 goals to get the season off to the perfect start, but the head says Port will hit back and get their first win of the season by a similar margin.
Yeah only the one forced change with Lynch bring in Fawcett offers a lot more follow up than Ryan. IMO Ryan doesn't get a game until he's absolutely dominating ruck in the 2s. If he's lost his ruck spot to OHB/Collina then he's useless to us. He just isn't a forward. Possibly try to sneak Alger in there but another week carving up the 2s wont hurt him.

I think we win this.
 
Fun fact, the way the ladder's shaping it could be fifth versus 18th. Regarding whether it will be Fawcett or Ryan, I get why everyone would prefer Fawcett. I have a sneaking suspicion that they will pick Ryan though because they will need to give Nank a chop out. Crazy Vossy putting Cripps in the ruck, allowing us to use Kamdyn as the backup, isn't likely to happen every week. It all depends on Port's ruck stocks. Though, thinking that, I just checked the player stats from their Collingwood game and they only had two players recording hitouts - Sweet with 36 and Ollie Wines with 1.
 
I am sure it is in the RFC constitution that our only focus is winning flags. But there is a little loophole that says our club must inflict maximum psychological torture on Adelaide teams in pursuit of a flag.
We have a proud history of causing maximum psychological damage on South Australians.
Plus Port are a rabble. Too many old blokes running around.
 
Fun fact, the way the ladder's shaping it could be fifth versus 18th. Regarding whether it will be Fawcett or Ryan, I get why everyone would prefer Fawcett. I have a sneaking suspicion that they will pick Ryan though because they will need to give Nank a chop out. Crazy Vossy putting Cripps in the ruck, allowing us to use Kamdyn as the backup, isn't likely to happen every week. It all depends on Port's ruck stocks. Though, thinking that, I just checked the player stats from their Collingwood game and they only had two players recording hitouts - Sweet with 36 and Ollie Wines with 1.
the wines hitout was actually him swallowing the ball the fat campaigner
 

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A nicely measured preview RT. The Lynch suspension aside, a lot went right for us on Thursday night. Fumbles by Carlton, exceptional accuracy by us and an almost even free kick count won't happen every week of the season. All I'm asking for is consistency of effort and the kind of honesty displayed by all our group last week. The improvement will be rapid - far quicker than I'd dared to hope for at the end of 2024. I hope they give the role to Fawcett. Not much difference in height between him and Lynch and there might not be that much difference in performance between a rusty Lynch and a pumped up Fawcett. Our pressure and enthusiasm might just get us over the line. Hope so.
 
I'm a little bit optimistic. Nothing to lose. Clearly our Cubs have no fear of the big stage after Thursday night. Yze has told em it's their club know. Again the media narrative this week will be Port this, Port that expecting a massive response and they will no doubt respond but you know what, Port have always had a soft underbelly in big games so why not hey. GO TIGES !!!!
 
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Port will be under pressure all week. They’ll be fired up. We’ll have to match it early if we want to stay in the game, but no pressure on us. Just want to see us with the same intensity for 4 quarters again.

First live game of the year. Always enjoy going to Port v Richmond at AO
 
Port will be under pressure all week. They’ll be fired up. We’ll have to match it early if we want to stay in the game, but no pressure on us. Just want to see us with the same intensity for 4 quarters again.

First live game of the year. Always enjoy going to Port v Richmond at AO
what kind of beers do they serve
 
Port will be under pressure all week. They’ll be fired up. We’ll have to match it early if we want to stay in the game, but no pressure on us. Just want to see us with the same intensity for 4 quarters again.

First live game of the year. Always enjoy going to Port v Richmond at AO
Would be so funny if we somehow beat them lol. 5AA radio if we do.
 
Could end Stinkley's tenure
we can only hope. Bring the relentless heat like you did Thursday and we will fold.

The observations of the OP on the lack of forward strategy and midfield stat padding is right on. If you put pressure on the ball our plays will panic handball to space and you'll sweep it up and counter attack.

I'm looking forward to the booing that comes...
 

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Preview Round 2 v Port Adelaide Saturday March 22 4.15pm Adelaide Oval


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