Full match coverage and stats<\/a><\/p>\nButters returned to the team after starring for Victoria in AAMI AFL Origin and showed he could improve even more in a contract season, racking up 36 disposals in managed minutes and using the ball superbly to kick two goals and set up several more.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
His sidekick, Connor Rozee, was also excellent in the midfield with 33 disposals and a game-high 667m gained as the Power onballers rolled up their sleeves defensively and then cashed in with the ball in hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Georgiades was the biggest beneficiary, but the Power would also have been thrilled with the presence of young tall Jack Whitlock, who booted two goals after Todd Marshall made a successful move to defence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The visitors played with intensity all day but were at their best through the third quarter, kicking a run of six unanswered goals and 11 for the term, turning a 20-point half-time lead into a 71-point margin at the last change.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
West Coast was significantly weakened in defence but was unable to handle the Power’s pressure all over the ground, with draftee Josh Lindsay (22 disposals) a standout for the rebuilding team.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Port set the standard defensively early, tackling relentlessly and kicking five unanswered goals in the first quarter to race to a 27-point lead.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Led by the slick ball-use of Rozee and Butters, who combined for 20 disposals and six score involvements in the first term, they punished the Eagles’ turnovers and went end-to-end with daring ball-use.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The silver lining for the Eagles was that they created opportunities but just weren’t able to take them, going into attack 12 times for 0.4, with Jobe Shanahan making a bright start.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Port kept the intensity up to start the second term and were out to a 45-point lead when Georgiades kicked back-to-back goals and Whitlock converted after a nice contested mark.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Eagles initial response was impressive, with wingman Hamish Davis and captain Liam Baker leading the way as Jake Waterman snapped a run of eight unanswered goals.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Small forward Jacob Newton took a pair of contested marks to kick back-to-back goals in a burst that will put him in round one contention, while Matt Owies cut the margin to 20 points at half-time with a pair of his own.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The game looked alive at half time, but the third quarter was an onslaught that will give Andrew McQualter plenty to ponder ahead of round one, with defensive reinforcements much needed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
New faces\u00a0
The biggest positive for West Coast was the performance of draftee Josh Lindsay, whose kicking was a feature from half-back before pushing forward and kicking a terrific long-range goal off a couple of steps. The left-footer was the pick of the kids, with No.1 pick Willem Duursma heavily involved in the game but letting himself down with his ball-use. Cooper Duff-Tytler took a contested mark in the third quarter for a goal, while midfielder Dev Robertson was the standout among the Eagles’ pre-season recruits. Mature-age rookie Jack Watkins played with aggression for Port and got free through the corridor to play a productive role, finishing with 20 disposals and six clearances and throwing his weight around at centre bounces. Pre-season signing Mitch Zadow came into the game late and found Jason Horne-Francis with a nice centring kick to make an immediate impact.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Round one chance
Small forward Jacob Newton looks a likely starter against Gold Coast in the season opener after playing as a deep forward and kicking two goals. Capable in the air and at ground level, Newton plays with X-factor and is just the type of player the Eagles forward line needs, albeit his involvements were limited by a lack of supply. Port tall Jack Whitlock slotted into the tall forward role vacated by defender Todd Marshall and looked at home, marking strongly and helping out in the ruck to boost his chances of facing North Melbourne in the Power’s season opener.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Medical room
Key defender Harry Edwards has entered concussion protocols after a head knock in the first quarter. He will need to progress through the mandatory checks to be available against Gold Coast in 14 days, with the Eagles not involved in Opening Round. The Eagles were missing several defenders, with captain Liam Duggan (head knock), Reuben Ginbey (toe) and Brandon Starcevich (calf) all sidelined alongside midfielders Jack Graham (hamstring) and Tim Kelly (hamstring). Port was without midfielder\/defender Miles Bergman (foot) and forward Jack Lukosius (groin) but suffered no fresh injuries.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fantasy watch
Star Power pair\u00a0Zak Butters (MID, $1,047,000)\u00a0and\u00a0Connor Rozee (DEF\/MID, $1,092,000)\u00a0didn’t need long to show just why they have been popular Fantasy options this pre-season. Butters was on 97 points at half-time and finished with\u00a0152\u00a0after gathering\u00a036 disposals and kicking two goals in just 67 per cent time on ground.\u00a0Rozee spent plenty of time in the middle and scored\u00a0149. Eagles draftee\u00a0Josh Lindsay (DEF, $278,000)\u00a0looks like a fieldable option in defence after a strong\u00a076-point performance across half-back, while\u00a0Willem Duursma (MID, $350,000)\u00a0had some nice moments and scored 69.\u00a0Tom McCarthy (DEF, $876,000)\u00a0scored\u00a051\u00a0of his\u00a077\u00a0points in the first half while playing in the middle before spending time in other positions, including forward.\u00a0Todd Marshall (FWD, $394,000)\u00a0played well in the Port defence and got involved in plenty of possession chains to post\u00a082.\u00a0Deven Robertson (FWD, $232,000)\u00a0had his chance in the middle, but needed until the final quarter to get going, with 39 of his 73 points coming in the final term, while another new Eagle in\u00a0Finlay Macrae (MID\/FWD, $293,000)\u00a0scored 69 in 66 per cent time on ground.<\/p>\n
WEST COAST\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a00.4\u00a0 \u00a0 5.7\u00a0 \u00a0 8.8\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 9.13 (67)
PORT ADELAIDE\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a05.1\u00a0 \u00a0 9.3\u00a0 \u00a0 20.7\u00a0 \u00a0 22.8 (140)\u00a0<\/p>\n
GOALS\u00a0
West Coast: Newton 2, Owies 2, Waterman 2, Duff-Tytler, Lindsay, McCarthy
Port Adelaide: Georgiades 6, Butters 2, Byrne-Jones 2, Horne-Francis 2, Whitlock 2, Berry, Burgoyne, Drew, Durdin, Lord, Richards, Visentini, Wehr\u00a0<\/p>\n
BEST
West Coast: Lindsay, Robertson, McCarthy, Davis, Waterman, Reid
Port Adelaide: Butters, Rozee, Georgiades, Drew, Watkins, Richards, Berry<\/p>\n
INJURIES
West Coast: Edwards (concussion)\u00a0
Port Adelaide: Nil<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Zak Butters celebrates a goal during the AAMI Community Series match between West Coast and Port Adelaide at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":511964,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[64,63,85,83],"class_list":["post-511963","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\/511963","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=511963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511963\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/511964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=511963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=511963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=511963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}