West Coast struggled to handle Port Adelaide’s pressure in a 73-point defeat to round out 2026 preparations at Mineral Resources Park on Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Despite competing strongly in patches, and winning the inside 50 count (50-48), the Eagles weren’t as polished, accurate or efficient as Port, led by a star-studded engine room.<\/p>\n
The Power produced a ferocious pressure performance in Perth, forcing turnovers and setting them up to move the ball quickly in a powerful 22.8 (140) to 9.13 (67) win to round out the AAMI Community Series.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There were promising signs among the Eagles’ youngsters, with Harley Reid (22 disposals, five tackles) impressive, Hamish Davis (20 disposals) providing plenty of drive and Willem Duursma finding 16 touches.<\/p>\n
Cooper Duff-Tytler battled hard and finished a nice goal around the corner after taking a well-judged contested mark next to the behind post in the third quarter.<\/p>\n
Tom McCarthy also battled until the final siren to be among the Eagles’ best with 19 disposals, nine clearances and a goal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fellow 2025 mid-season draftee Jacob Newton showed exciting flashes and kicked two second-quarter goals after an ankle scare, which saw him held out of the final term as a precaution.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Zak Butters starred for the visitors, racking up 36 disposals in managed minutes and using the ball superbly to kick two goals and set up several more, with Mitch Georgiades (six goals) the biggest beneficiary.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His sidekick,\u00a0Connor 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
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\u00a0Josh Lindsay\u00a0(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\u00a0Jobe Shanahan\u00a0making 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\u00a0Hamish Davis\u00a0and captain\u00a0Liam Baker\u00a0leading the way as\u00a0Jake Waterman\u00a0snapped a run of eight unanswered goals.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u00a0cut 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\u00a0Josh 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\u00a0Willem Duursma\u00a0heavily involved in the game but letting himself down with his ball-use.\u00a0Cooper Duff-Tytler\u00a0took a contested mark in the third quarter for a goal, while midfielder\u00a0Dev Robertson\u00a0was the standout among the Eagles’ pre-season recruits. Mature-age rookie\u00a0Jack Watkins\u00a0played 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\u00a0Mitch Zadow\u00a0came into the game late and found\u00a0Jason Horne-Francis\u00a0with a nice centring kick to make an immediate impact.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Round one chance
Small forward\u00a0Jacob Newton\u00a0looks 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\u00a0Jack Whitlock\u00a0slotted 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\u00a0Harry Edwards\u00a0has 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\u00a0Liam Duggan\u00a0(head knock),\u00a0Reuben Ginbey (toe) and\u00a0Brandon Starcevich\u00a0(calf) all sidelined alongside midfielders\u00a0Jack Graham\u00a0(hamstring) and\u00a0Tim Kelly (hamstring). Port was without midfielder\/defender\u00a0Miles Bergman\u00a0(foot) and forward\u00a0Jack Lukosius\u00a0(groin) but suffered no fresh injuries.\u00a0\u00a0<\/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:\u00a0Newton 2, Owies 2, Waterman 2, Duff-Tytler, Lindsay, McCarthy
Port Adelaide:\u00a0Georgiades 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: H.Reid, McCarthy, Davis, Baker, Lindsay, Robertson
Port Adelaide:\u00a0Butters, Rozee, Georgiades, Drew, Watkins, Richards, Berry<\/p>\n
INJURIES
West Coast:\u00a0Edwards (concussion)\u00a0
Port Adelaide:\u00a0Nil<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"West Coast struggled to handle Port Adelaide’s pressure in a 73-point defeat to round out 2026 preparations at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":512084,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85,83],"class_list":["post-512083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports","tag-text"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512083","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=512083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512083\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/512084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=512083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=512083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=512083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}