Riley Thilthorpe celebrates a goal during Adelaide’s match simulation against Port Adelaide on February 20, 2026. Picture: AFL Photos\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
A DOMINANT display from Riley Thilthorpe propelled Adelaide to a comfortable 19-point match simulation win over Port Adelaide at Alberton Oval on Friday evening.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thilthorpe’s heroics were made all the more impressive given he spent part of the game playing in the midfield, rather than his usual position in the forward line.<\/p>\n
>> SCROLL DOWN FOR ALL THE SCORES AND GOALKICKERS<\/p>\n
The Crows were in control from the jump with plenty of avenues towards goal.<\/p>\n
Veteran Taylor Walker also impressed in front of the sticks, while plenty of other Crows flexed their muscles in a dominant outing.<\/p>\n
The Powers’ woes were compounded by star Jason Horne-Francis sitting out the second half of the match with a foot concern, after battling a foot injury during the pre-season.<\/p>\n
Second-year forward\u00a0Jack Whitlock was a bright spot for the Power, with his marking ability on full display.<\/p>\n
For the Crows,\u00a0Josh Rachele spent plenty of time in the midfield while captain\u00a0Jordan Dawson moved forward to great effect.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rookie-listed Crow Lachlan McAndrew impressed in the ruck before getting injured, while for the Power, Jase Burgoyne’s\u00a0pace and skill were on full display off half-back.<\/p>\n
Young guns
Second-year forward Jack Whitlock put his hand up for senior selection in round one, providing a reliable target up forward for the Power. For the Crows,\u00a019-year-old defender Harrison Ramm had a tough day at the office, playing on a rampant Riley Thilthorpe, while untried midfielder\/defender\u00a0Charlie Edwards\u00a0had a run through the midfield.<\/p>\n
Switching positions
Fresh off kicking his fourth goal, Riley Thilthorpe raised eyebrows when he moved to the midfield in the second quarter. Josh Rachele spent time in the midfield, freeing Jordan Dawson up to play forward. Dawson played an important hand in setting up multiple goals, giving the Crows\u2019 forward line another dimension. Todd Marshall entered the game in the second half and played in the back line.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Injury watch
After putting in a strong performance, Lachlan McAndrew\u00a0copped a knee to the ribs during a ruck contest in the final term and left the field, while Jason Horne-Francis\u00a0didn\u2019t feature in the second half, with the Power saying the former no.1 pick had reported \u201cminor awareness\u201d in his foot. Horne-Francis had foot surgery in November.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fantasy tempter
Power captain\u00a0Connor Rozee (DEF\/MID, $1,092,000) showed just why he is a popular Fantasy option this pre-season. Rozee was prolific after beginning the game at half-back, while Miles Bergman (DEF, $822,000)\u00a0and Will Brodie (MID, $457,000) got their opportunity in the middle. Crows gun Josh Rachele (FWD, $655,000)\u00a0got his chance onball, as did the untried Charlie Edwards (DEF\/MID, $230,000). Lachlan McAndrew (RUC, $286,000)\u00a0and Dante Visentini (RUC, $539,000) went head-to-head in the ruck. –\u00a0Dejan Kalinic<\/p>\n
PORT ADELAIDE \u00a0 \u00a02.4 \u00a0 \u00a0 3.7\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 6.11\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a010.15 (75)
ADELAIDE \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a04.2\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 7.8\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 11.8\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a014.10 (94)<\/p>\n
GOALS
Port Adelaide: Lukosius 2, Berry, Byrne-Jones, Evans, Whitlock, Lord, Richards, Burgoyne, Drew
Adelaide: Thilthorpe 5, Walker 2, Pedlar, Fogarty, Neal-Bullen, Keays, Rachele, Jones<\/p>\n
PORT ADELAIDE<\/p>\n
1. Connor Rozee, 3. Jackson Mead, 4. Todd Marshall, 5. Joe Berry, 6. Kane Farrell, 7. Jase Burgoyne, 8. Josh Sinn, 11. Christian Moraes, 12. Jack Lukosius, 14. Miles Bergman, 15. Jacob Wehr, 17. Jack Whitlock, 18. Jason Horne-Francis, 21. Aliir Aliir, 22. Logan Evans, 23. Will Brodie, 28. Willem Drew, 30. Ollie Lord, 32. Harrison Ramm, 33. Darcy Byrne-Jones, 34. Lachie Jones, 35. Joe Richards, 36. Will Lorenz, 38. Dante Visentini, 44. Corey Durdin<\/p>\n
Absent:\u00a0Zak Butters*, Mitch Georgiades*, Ollie Wines, Jordon Sweet, Brandon Zerk-Thatcher, Tom Cochrane, Esava Ratugolea, Tom Anastasopoulos, Ewan Mackinlay, Jack Watkins, Benny Barrett, Jacob Moss, Josh Lai, Xavier Walsh, Mani Liddy<\/p>\n
ADELAIDE<\/p>\n
1. Chayce Jones, 2. Ben Keays, 3. Sam Berry, 7. Riley Thilthorpe, 8. Josh Rachele, 9. Nick Murray, 10. Luke Pedlar, 11. Charlie Edwards, 12. Jordan Dawson, 13. Taylor Walker, 14. Jake Soligo, 15. Brayden Cook, 16. Max Michalanney, 19. Zac Taylor, 21. Hugh Bond, 24. Josh Worrell, 25. James Peatling, 26. Mitchell Marsh, 27. Luke Nankervis, 28. Alex Neal\u2011Bullen, 29. Rory Laird, 30. Wayne Milera, 31. Billy Dowling, 32. Darcy Fogarty, 35. James Borlase, 39. Toby Murray, 41. Jordon Butts, 42. Lachlan McAndrew, 43. Reilly O\u2019Brien<\/p>\n
Absent:\u00a0Callum Ah Chee*, Sid Draper, Dan Curtin, Tyler Welsh, Mitch Hinge, Oscar Ryan, Izak Rankine, Indy Cotton, Archie Ludowhyke, Finnbar Maley, Lachie Scholl, Isaac Cumming, Mark Keane<\/p>\n
* Played in AAMI AFL Origin on Saturday<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Riley Thilthorpe celebrates a goal during Adelaide’s match simulation against Port Adelaide on February 20, 2026. Picture: AFL…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":492855,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[64,63,85,83],"class_list":["post-492854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-sports","tag-text"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=492854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492854\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/492855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=492854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=492854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=492854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}