A GUIDE TO THE AFL PRELIMINARY FINAL BETWEEN PORT ADELAIDE AND RICHMOND:-
WHEN: Friday, 7.50pm AEDT
WHERE: Adelaide Oval
THE FORM
* Port Adelaide (H&A first, 14 wins, 3 losses). Prevailed at home over Geelong by 16 points in a qualifying final and rewarded with hosting rights for the prelim.
* Richmond (H&A third, 12 wins, 4 losses, 1 draw). Slipped to a 15-point qualifying final loss to Brisbane before slaughtering St Kilda by 31 points in a semi.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
* Overall: Port Adelaide 19 wins Richmond 13 wins 1 draw
* In Finals: Port Adelaide 0 wins Richmond 1 win
* Last time: Round 11, 2020: Port Adelaide 13.15 (93) bt Richmond 11.6 (72) at Adelaide Oval
THE COACHES
* Ken Hinkley boldly put a premiership on the agenda entering his eighth year in charge of Port. His faith was questioned, but the Power finished top and then claimed a finals win for the first time since 2014. Has coached one preliminary final for one loss.
* Damien Hardwick is chasing a third premiership in four years after successes in 2017 and last year. His game style of frenetic pressure, moving the ball forward at all costs and a water-tight zone defence is the toughest to crack in the comp. Has won two of three preliminary finals.
THE KEY DUELS
Ollie Wines (Port) v Dustin Martin (Richmond)
Port won’t deploy a hard tag on the Tiger megastar, with Wines backing his own ball-winning abilities to curb Martin’s influence around the packs. But the Brownlow medallist is just as lethal in attack where Port skipper Tom Jonas faces the nerve-jangling job.
Charlie Dixon (Port) v David Astbury (Richmond)
Port look for man-mountain Dixon at every opportunity. His sticky-fingered marking as a deep forward is renowned but he also moves up-field to provide an aerial target when the Power transition from defence. The stingy Astbury’s innate spoiling ability will be tested.
Tom Clurey (Port) v Tom Lynch (Richmond)
Lynch missed the qualifying final, the Tigers lost. He played the semi-final, had seven scoring shots, and the Tigers won. Simplistic, but Lynch’s output is vital to Richmond kicking a winning score. Clurey is an unsung hero of Port’s defence but may struggle in the air – he’s six centimetres shorter than Lynch.
THE STATS
* Port are ranked top for clearances, averaging 34.8 a game, while the Tigers are ranked last with 25.4 a game. Despite that discrepancy, Richmond average more inside 50s than any team.
THE TIP
* Richmond by 10 points
