WHAT’S GAMBLING REALLY COSTING YOU? Set a deposit limit. For Free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.<\/p>\n The visitors hung on for dear life in the final quarter, as Andrew McQualter\u2019s side peppered the yellow Sherrin inside their attacking 50 to look like the late favourites.<\/p>\n 2024 All-Australian Jake Waterman was enormous all night in the hosts\u2019 forward half, finishing the night with 19 disposals, 11 marks, three goals and three tackles inside 50.<\/p>\n The unlikeliest of goal sources in Tom Cole looked every chance of coming up clutch for the Eagles with his second goal of the night, but unfortunately missed a regulation set shot not long after to keep the Power in front by the barest of margins.<\/p>\n Star Port forward Mitch Georgiades marked inside his side\u2019s forward 50 on the final siren, with his set shot fading to the right and putting the final margin at six points.<\/p>\n West Coast goalkickers: Waterman 3, Cole 2, Hough, Allan, Shanahan, Yeo, Duursma<\/p>\n Port Adelaide goalkickers: Horne-Francis 3, Berry 2, Cochrane, Moraes, Marshall, Durdin, Georgiades, Sweet<\/p>\n THE 3-2-1…\ufeff<\/p>\n 3. POWER HOLD ON FOR DEAR LIFE FOR FOUR MORE POINTS<\/p>\n Neither West Coast or Port Adelaide will walk away overly impressed with their output on Saturday night, but the latter has a strong case to claim on why they ultimately came up trumps.<\/p>\n The Power\u2019s relenting pressure early on was what enabled them to find plenty of scoring shots early on in the clash, albeit Josh Carr\u2019s side weren\u2019t able to make the most of everything that came their way on the scoreboard. <\/p>\n \u201cThe story of the game has been the intercept game, which Port Adelaide are dominating at the moment \u2014 21 intercepts and 3.2 from that area (before quarter time),\u201d Collingwood AFLW Ruby Schleicher said at quarter time.<\/p>\n 2018 West Coast premiership player Will Schofield added during the second term: \u201cIt\u2019s been a real feature of their game when they\u2019ve played well this year, is their pressure factor.<\/p>\n \u201cThey didn\u2019t take most of it on the scoreboard in the first quarter, but they\u2019re starting to put it on, off the back of their pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t all bad news for the Eagles, who managed to find themselves looking more threatening as the game went on with deeper entries that brought all their forwards into the game.<\/p>\n Jake Waterman worked his way into the match beautifully and threatened to take the game away from Port Adelaide completely in the later stages, while Tom Cole proved himself an option moving forward in the Eagles\u2019 attacking half.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve looked really good when they\u2019ve gone deep and created a contest to bring the ball to ground in a predictable spot \u2014 where then they can get after it and hit the scoreboard off the back of that,\u201d three-time Geelong premiership player Tom Hawkins told Fox Footy.<\/p>\n Ultimately though, their efficiency with ball in hand hurt them dearly.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom the start of the game, there was a lack of composure or disposal efficiency in their front half,\u201d 2018 Eagles premiership coach Adam Simpson said.<\/p>\n Port Adelaide now move themselves out of 16th place on the ladder and into 14th, jumping Carlton and West Coast all the while maintaining a net positive percentage of 101.4.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s nice to be on the other end of a close game. It\u2019s certainly nice after a bye to freshen up the body, and it\u2019s a good start to the second half of the year,\u201d Power star Mitch Georgiades told Fox Footy\u2019s Super Saturday Live post-game. <\/p>\n \u201cHe (Josh Carr) just said to enjoy this moment for the time being. We\u2019ll go back and review over the next couple of days, but we\u2019ve had some pretty tough losses at the start of the year \u2026 it\u2019s a good one.\u201d<\/p>\n Jason Horne-Francis was instrumental all night with three goals from his 18 disposals, while fourth-gamer Tom Cochrane was involved in a number of scoring chains to finish with three goal assists and 1.2 off his own boot.<\/p>\n 2. EAGLES DEALT MAJOR SETBACK WITH KEY COG, POWER DEFENDER\u2019S NIGHT ENDS EARLY<\/p>\n After a highly-praised season to date so far in 2026, West Coast key defender Reuben Ginbey looks set for a stint on the sidelines with a suspected quad injury.<\/p>\n A last-gasp effort in the Eagles\u2019 defensive goal square saw the 21-year-old dive at full stretch to try and stop Power opponent Mitch Georgiades from running into an open goal.<\/p>\n His valiant attempt was ultimately unsuccessful, but in the process the key defender looks to have picked up a soft tissue injury.<\/p>\n The moment Reuben Ginbey injured his quad trying to chase down Port Adelaide star forward Mitch Georgiades.Source: Fox Sports<\/p>\n \u201cThere are only a couple of players in this Eagles side that are irreplaceable, and they\u2019ve just lost one of them in Reuben Ginbey to a quad injury,\u201d Collingwood AFLW star Ruby Schleicher told Fox Footy at three-quarter time.<\/p>\n 2018 West Coast premiership player Will Schofield added: \u201cIt\u2019s not a good (injury) \u2014 not that any soft tissue injury is good \u2014 but that looks like a really severe quad injury.<\/p>\n \u201cHe tried to run it off. That could be tendon, that could be season \u2014 we don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n 2025 Power SSP signing Josh Lai was also ruled out of the game just after half time with his second concussion inside the last month, after a head knock in the final minutes of his side\u2019s Round 9 loss to Gold Coast in Darwin.<\/p>\n His knock came as a result of some unfortunate friendly fire, running into teammate Esava Ratugolea mid-contest in the Power\u2019s defensive half.<\/p>\n 1. \u2018KEY DEFENDER\u2019S DREAM\u2019: UNLIKELY SUSPECTS SHINE AMID POOR EXECUTION<\/p>\n It\u2019s not often that key defenders are front and centre of attention as a collective group, but poor execution and usage of the Sherrin by foot on Saturday night saw the proactive types rack up the intercept possessions. <\/p>\n At half time, West Coast (-13.1%) and Port Adelaide (-6.9%) were operating well below their season average with disposal efficiency inside 50 in a scrappy Optus Stadium encounter.<\/p>\n It saw West Coast defensive duo Reuben Ginbey and Tylar Young combine for a whopping 15 intercepts in the first half, while usual Power suspects Esava Ratugolea and Aliir Aliir combined for 13 of their own.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a key defender\u2019s dream out there at the moment, with shanked kicks all over the place that are easy to read,\u201d Collingwood AFLW star Ruby Schleicher told Fox Footy at half time.<\/p>\n \u201cRatugolea\u2019s intercepts are a lot further up the ground, whereas Ginbey\u2019s are close to goal.\u201d<\/p>\n 2018 West Coast premiership player Will Schofield added: \u201cThe disposal\u2019s been poor at both ends, and it\u2019s easier to read that \u2014 especially when you\u2019re playing proactively as a defender.<\/p>\n \u201cBoth of these guys (Reuben) Ginbey and (Esava) Ratugolea sit in front of their man, so when there\u2019s pressure on the ball and it\u2019s been butchered all night, it\u2019s a defenders\u2019 dream.\u201d<\/p>\n Ratugolea in particular was dealt the tough task of juggling his match-up on 2024 All-Australian Jake Waterman while intercepting.<\/p>\n Ratugolea leaves the field due to the blood rule on the brink of half time (Photo by Janelle St Pierre via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n Unfortunately for the 27-year-old, a head knock on the brink of half time saw him leave the field under the blood rule, freeing up his opponent to take multiple shots on goal in his absence \u2014 one of which he converted.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s been the beneficiary of some of the disposal by West Coast, but he\u2019s had four intercept marks and put himself in the right spots throughout the game,\u201d Schofield said.<\/p>\n \u201cInterestingly, as the game went into the second quarter, Jake Waterman was the one to come back the other way \u2026 he had seven marks, two goals and really fought his way into the game. A really good battle at that end of the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780793000_806_poster-fallback.png\"\/)
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