{"id":78380,"date":"2026-08-23T09:37:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T09:37:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/78380\/"},"modified":"2026-08-23T09:37:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T09:37:10","slug":"r24-port-adelaide-v-essendon-pretty-good-in-the-end-actually","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/78380\/","title":{"rendered":"R24 – Port Adelaide v Essendon: Pretty Good In The End, Actually"},"content":{"rendered":"

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One of only two games this round that has tolled the mortuary bell on both clubs seasons, today\u2019s clash between Essendon and Port Adelaide under the roof at Marvel stadium carried little weight for the neutral supporter but would have held significant interest for keen eyed Essendon supporters, knowing that pick one was on the table if they found themselves on the wrong side of the scorecard come full time.<\/p>\n

Port Adelaide supporters, conversely, would have hoped for nothing less than a win despite being severely injury depleted, missing 7 starters from their lineup today.<\/p>\n

Regardless of what was on the line both sides seemed determined to win, culminating in a close finish that, if I\u2019m being completely frank dear reader, was entirely unexpected. Both sides came off a loss the previous week, Essendon\u2019s being reasonably honourable and gritty to the Swans and Port\u2019s being a demolition job by the exciting Melbourne Demons. The form was with Essendon, who\u2019ve showed a lot more character in their off the ball work over the past few weeks than we\u2019ve seen from them in quite some time.<\/p>\n

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Anyway, let\u2019s get to the game.<\/p>\n

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A Tale of Two Forwards<\/p>\n

Mitch Georgiades took the responsibility of the captaincy for the Power today, and Caddy took responsibility for the entirety of the Essendon faithful as he has all season.<\/p>\n

Early on it looked like Georgiades was going to take the game by the scruff of the neck, kicking 3.1 in the first half off the back of some very clean ball movement from his mids, particularly one Jase Burgoyne (more on him later). He was strong in the air for most of the game, dropping off slightly in the third term on the back of some questionable free kicks paid against him.<\/p>\n

Accuracy had plagued the Port big man this season, going at less than 50%, but over the past couple of weeks he\u2019s straightened up considerably, managing 9.1 collectively. When you combine this with the fact that he\u2019s just signed with the Power for another couple of years and the fact that at the very least he\u2019ll have Rozee and Horne-Francis next season delivering the ball to him you\u2019re left with a very positive prospect for Power fans moving forward.<\/p>\n

After his drop off in the third Georgiades played a captain\u2019s quarter, kicking two goals straight including one to take the lead back after Zach Merrett sent a goal home with less than two minutes left in the game. Given Port Adelaide won by less than two goals I don\u2019t think it\u2019s hyperbolic to call it a match winning effort from the stand in skipper.<\/p>\n

At the other end of the ground young Nate Caddy once again took it upon himself to save Essendon from utter embarrassment at the hands of their opposition. Out of the five goals Essendon had managed to half time he\u2019d managed four of them despite extremely slow ball movement from his mids leading to him being double teamed at a huge amount of his contests. There\u2019s not a huge amount to be said about Nate Caddy that hasn\u2019t already been said, he\u2019s a very smart young forward with a good pair of hands and a very steady kick. He really has been the brightest light for this football club for some time, and maybe with them finally reaching the tacit acknowledgement that they\u2019ve actually been running the organisation really very poorly for decades now he could get some young talent through in the next few years that he can lead through a proper rebuilding period.<\/p>\n

Or maybe Essendon will just keep running things the way they have been. Some say if it ain\u2019t broke don\u2019t fix it, but maybe we should all consider that even though this clearly is a bit broken it still occasionally works, so we should probably just put it in the shed or the bottom of a drawer somewhere just in case.<\/p>\n

While I\u2019m on the forward line, I\u2019d also like to talk about a couple of young forwards for both sides. Angus Clarke and Mitch Zadow both had very similar games in my estimation. They both had a very helpful habit today of popping up at the exact right moments to either take or halt momentum for their sides. Neither had the most outstanding numbers when viewed in isolation, but particularly for Zadow it seemed that they had an outsized impact.<\/p>\n

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No Man\u2019s Land<\/p>\n

The midfield attle today was actually quite compelling. When Port Adelaide won a centre clearance they seemed to be able to find the best route to goal, which was more often than not at the hands of Jase Burgoyne, who has absolutely flourished with more responsibility in the second half of this season. With Zak Butters all but gone he\u2019ll be getting plenty of midfield minutes in seasons to come, and if he continues to improve at this rapid rate he might not reach the heights of Butters, but I do believe he will find himself a worthy successor. A lazy 30 touches and seven clearances for the young man, without him setting the game up in the first half as well as a crucial goal in the last I don\u2019t know if Port Adelaide would have been able to get the job done.<\/p>\n

It was also very interesting to see Joe Richards spending some time in the midfield today. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s necessarily the best role for him moving forward, but he\u2019s been a good stop gap measure for the Power.<\/p>\n

On the other side of things, Will Setterfield carried on his form from last week, managing 32 touches to go with his 10 tackle performance. Essendon will be hoping he can have a strong summer, because I don\u2019t see a world where they don\u2019t play ball with Zach Merrett this off season, and they\u2019ll be needing him to carry a heavy load in their midfield post Merrett.<\/p>\n

Speaking of Zach Merrett, he had a pretty decent showing today. Maybe hoping to take his opportunity to up his trade value a little? Regardless, he came to play today. He spent a fair bit of time up at half forward with the express purpose of running into the centre bounce unmanned, which worked out very well for the first quarter. Eight score involvements at the end of the day is a pretty good result for the Essendon very good. Unfortunately, the game (and very possibly his stint at Windy Hill) finished in a way he\u2019s all too familiar with. He kicked a goal to put the Bombers up with two minutes left to go in the final term, but any joy felt from that was short lived at best as Port went bang bang at the other end to seal it.<\/p>\n

And while I\u2019m on the topic of typical performances from Essendon veterans, captain Andy McGrath played his 200th game in the red and black today. He truly put up a valiant fight, but found himself second to the contest in many instances today. What this did mean was that he was able to lead the way for his side in terms of pressure, laying a massive 13 tackles for the day. I hope Essendon supporters show this man the appreciation he deserves, because he works week in and week out in a way that puts many of his teammates to shame.<\/p>\n

Outside of individual players, it was of note that both sides attacked the middle of the ground very differently. Every time Port Adelaide won a centre clearance they looked to get on the attack immediately and directly, and at no point was this more evident than in the last quarter, where I believe every single centre clearance that went their way ended in a goal. Essendon, on the other hand, had to take a more laborious approach to their scoring shots, often having to move backwards or laterally to find an opportunity to move forward. Unfortunately, this gave the Port Adelaide defensive unit ample opportunity to set up inside 50.<\/p>\n

But speaking of that defensive unit\u2026<\/p>\n

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Not A Day Out For Defenders<\/p>\n

The hallmark of a good side is a great key defender. The hallmark of a great side is a great back six. Unfortunately, neither of these sides really possesses either of these.<\/p>\n

Jaxon Prior and Zach Reid stood out for the home side, with the former rebounding effectively and the latter doing a job on Georgiades and Whitlock. If I were Essendon I\u2019d probably look at how I could use some of the draft capital they\u2019ll be expecting in the next five or so years to get experienced defenders into the club.<\/p>\n

The standout for the visitors was Lachie Jones. Lachie Jones is listed as a key defender on the AFL website despite standing a humble 186 cm tall, and he had to use every last drop of that height today as he alternately had the job on both Nate Caddy (193 cm) and Peter Wright (See nickname for height). Despite being outsized he made a good account of himself today, but he\u2019ll be looking forward to Ratugolea coming back next season to share the load.<\/p>\n

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Miscellaneous Thoughts<\/p>\n

We got to see a rare brotherly matchup in the fourth quarter between Dante and Vigo Visentini, which is always a bit of fun
\nEssendon truly should have taken the three first rounders they were offered for Merrett last trade period. The most likely outcome this year is that he leaves anyway and with him being another year older they won\u2019t be getting anywhere near as much this time around.
\nKondogiannis and Anastasopoulos were involved in a tackle in the first quarter for what may well be the most Greek contest in AFL history.
\nEssendon don\u2019t have enough players who can manage the moment. Day-Wicks had two separate instances in the first half to kick important goals from set shots leading to the break and failed to convert on both occasions.
\nI did note that Ollie Wines missed a kick and a handball in the first quarter which both led to shots on goal, but considering both ended up missing and Wines himself played a pretty good game I didn\u2019t want to harp on it.<\/p>\n

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And most importantly of all\u2026<\/p>\n

Why, oh why were both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s teams playing at the exact same time for Essendon? This was a terrible move by the AFL, who continue to pay lip service to promoting the women\u2019s game while doing things like this, which actively hamper its growth. Boo, I say. Boo.<\/p>\n

Anyway, this turned out to be a better game than I had initially suspected. Port will be better next year and Essendon have another tough decade ahead of them with Tasmania coming in to taint the draft pool over the next couple of seasons.<\/p>\n

Thank you for reading, and as always please consider subscribing to The Mongrel Punt for premium access to the main man HB\u2019s work. He\u2019s really very good.<\/p>\n

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