Port Adelaide vs Melbourne

Port Adelaide's season has gone from bad to worse after an absolute thrashing at the hands of defending premiers Melbourne at Adelaide Oval, including the ...

Fallout from 25-year worst hits 'lost' Power; Dees issue another brutal warning: 3-2-1.

“Clearly it was a different plan to how Port Adelaide have played in the first three weeks,” Leigh Montagna said at half-time after the Power had been condemned to their lowest-ever first half score. Even in the first quarter, despite playing with one less player at stoppage in order to consolidate the backline, Melbourne smashed Port Adelaide in contested possessions. At the other end, the Dees continued to add to the pain, with two goals coming in the first half of the term. Not many expected Port Adelaide to win, but the side had to show something in order to keep the critics at bay. A goal with eight minutes remaining in the final term saved the Power from their worst-ever score, but they still had their lowest-ever halftime score and the first time in their AFL history they‘ve ever been goalless at half-time. The Power fans cheered and stood in response to the goal. Georgiades was streaming towards goal and took a couple of bounces, weaved past a player to get to the goal square but then had his attempt at goal smothered before a shot shortly after was touched for a behind. Melbourne would soon have six goals on the board and the Power, despite regaining Lycett, were condemned to their lowest-ever halftime score and were left goalless for the first time in their history. Despite generally playing with one less player at stoppage in order to shore up their defence, the Dees thrashed their opponents in the contested possession count in the first term, winning it 43-26. Port Adelaide is 0-4 for the first time in 14 years and records tumbled for all the wrong reasons after a heavy loss to Melbourne at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday night, 10.8 (68) to 4.12 (36). Trent McKenzie was a late withdrawal for the Power with a knee injury, replaced in the side by Miles Bergman and bringing former North Melbourne player Trent Dumont into the side as substitute. The side rebounded late, but it was yet another Demons masterclass in prime time as the side moved to 4-0 for the second straight year.

McKenzie's absence further dents a Port Adelaide backline group that is already missing both Aliir Aliir and Sam Skinner to ankle injuries. Tom Clurey had ...

Veteran forward Robbie Gray is another star who won't be playing, with the club believing it is too soon for him to be named after coming out of the AFL's health and safety protocols only this morning. He replaces Joel Smith, who has entered the AFL's health and safety protocols. Tom Clurey had already been rushed back into the team from knee surgery ahead of this week.

The Power were given little chance of triumphing over the reigning premiers from the outset, but put in an insipid, uninspiring performance that laid to ...

The Demons kicked the first eight goals of the game and held Port Adelaide to their first-ever goalless half in the AFL, as Melbourne kept a team goalless at halftime for the first time since 1994. The result saw the Power slump to 0-4 - their worst start to a season since 2008 - and Hinkley has now lost five games in a row for the first time as Power coach. They had no confidence. 'Today they looked lost. Hinkley's side made an unwanted piece of history on Thursday too, failing to score in the first half for the first time ever in a new low for the club. - Port made history by failing to register a first half goal for the first time ever

The winless Power are on the brink of crisis, and face a tough task against the reigning champion Demons. Could this be the night to turn things around?

The Demons kicked the first eight goals of the game and held Port Adelaide to their first-ever goalless half in the AFL, as Melbourne kept a team goalless at half-time for the first time since 1994. The result saw the Power slump to 0-4, their worst start to a season since 2008, and Hinkley has now lost five games in a row for the first time as Power coach. Port Adelaide fail to kick a goal in the first half as their horrible start to the season is made worse by a powerful Melbourne performance.

Port Adelaide has failed to kick a goal in a first half for the first time in the AFL as the Power's horror 2022 sank to an unwanted low.

Port Adelaide's season has gone from bad to worse after an absolute thrashing at the hands of defending premiers Melbourne at Adelaide Oval, including the ...

One of the two and I don’t think Kenny’s lost the plot. We shouldn’t really forget this game for a long time. “Just when we thought it couldn’t get worse for Port Adelaide, it actually did right on the siren,” Jordan Lewis said. “Either that or Kenny’s lost the plot. The game got even crueller in the second half when Port looked to have kicked its first goal but it was touched as the Power just couldn’t get a clean kick away. Let the blood letting begin.” Port’s lowest ever score in a first half was 1.2 (8) vs Collingwood in Round 20 2011, the same match the side had its lowest ever score of 3.3 (21). It’s the first time in the club’s history Port Adelaide have not kicked a goal in the first half of a match. “They didn’t get a chance to get a goal in that first half and it almost looked like Melbourne were half-laughing at what Port Adelaide dished up in this first half. It meant the free kick was reversed and the last chance to score a goal in the first half was gone. It was 1.3 (9) to 0.3 (3) at the end of the first quarter and it got so much worse in the second quarter as Melbourne kicked away to a 6.6 (42) to 0.5 (5) lead. It was never going to get easier against the Demons but the first half in particular was horrific for the Power.

Port Adelaide was dreadful in a loss to the Melbourne Demons and its woes were summed up perfectly by a but...

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here! The 27-year-old kicked the ball through the sticks, but a desperate James Jordan claimed to have touched the footy and was proven correct by a video review. Port Adelaide scored just five points in the opening half to register its lowest-ever half-time total, while it was the first time in its history it had failed to kick a goal in the first half.

Follow along for all the major moments in our live blog as Melbourne and Port Adelaide face off in Adelaide.

For me, it is really about our identity as a team and continuing to embrace and recognise that and love it for what it is and not trying to be perfect, just trying to do our job and be the best we can in that phase of the game and tonight I couldn’t have been prouder of the group. Clearly, they were taking a lot of marks and it was part of the way they were going to play the game. All we do is come in and respect our opposition and we know they’re a strong footy club. They’re a great combination and they’ve spoken with each other about how they will continue to feel what the game needs from each other. He enables me and Clayton Oliver and Jack Viney to do our thing. We won a lot of contested footy in the first half, defended strongly and when we got the opportunity we were able to break the game open. They are two completely different players but I thought tonight that duo was a stand-out for us. They were really strong in that phase of the game and got the result. One thing we maintained throughout the whole season was the ability to win contests and win defensively and that’s been our identity as a footy team for the last 18 months. I think that’s great learning for us, difficult as that is to hear, it’s learning for us and is going to help our players in taking a bigger responsibility. I think we are looking for different ways to try and get a score. This week we’re against the best defensive game in the competition, we found it hard to get a score.