It will certainly be a dark Friday the 13th for one of these two teams as Geelong and Port face off in the first of two elimination games this weekend.

Last week, at home, Geelong was expected to handle the consistent Fremantle Dockers and earn themselves a week off.

All was going to plan with the Cats leading by 20 points early in the second quarter before Fremantle kicked the next five goals straight and led at the half-time break.

Hard matches against Sydney and a narrow victory over Brisbane the week before, began to tell on Geelong who were struggling to keep pace with the fresher legs of Fremantle.

Geelong went out in the first week of finals last year and after finishing inside the top four, will be dreading not winning a finals match from their past three attempts.

This is one of the biggest test this champion side has faced and they’ll need to be at their best against Port who have been thriving on a must win mentality for the past month.

Port had the better of their opponents last week – Collingwood up until the third quarter when, for the first time since the opening five minutes, Collingwood regained the lead.

It appeared the tide had turned and with the momentum behind them, Collingwood were set to increase their margin and close out the game but, as Port have shown all year, they have a steely resolve this year and have produced several remarkable efforts throughout the course of the season to claim victory.

And they added Collingwood to the list. Port kick the last five goals straight to win by 14 points.

Head to head, the Cat hold a massive advantage of Port, having won the last nine games straight against them. Port’s last win, their only in the past fourteen encounters between the two clubs, came way back in round 21 2007.

They’ve met twice this year with the Cats winning by 48 and 33 points.

Geelong need to string four quarters together. Should Port get any sniff of a possible win, they’ll hold onto it for dear life.

If you’re not a Geelong supporter, you’ll be barracking for Port but they’ll need more than support to overcome Geelong who will not miss at taking the second bite of the finals cherry.

TIP: GEELONG 1 – 39.

Odds comparison by AFL Odds:

Geelong Cats	1.25	1.23	1.20	1.23	1.25	1.24
Port Adelaide Power	4.00	4.20	4.50	4.20	4.00	3.95

Teams:

Geelong Cats:
B: Jared Rivers, Tom Lonergan, Josh Hunt
HB: Cam Guthrie, Andrew Mackie, Jimmy Bartel
C: Steve Johnson, Joel Selwood, Allen Christensen
HF: Mitch Duncan, Harry Taylor, Steven Motlop
F: James Podsiadly, Tom Hawkins, Travis Varcoe
FOLL: Nathan Vardy, James Kelly, Mathew Stokes
I/C: Mark Blicavs, Paul Chapman, Joel Corey, Taylor Hunt
EMG: Jordan Murdoch, Jake Stringer, Trent West
IN: Josh Hunt, Taylor Hunt, Tom Hawkins
OUT: Trent West, Corey Enright (suspension), Josh Caddy (ankle)

Port Adelaide Power:
B: Cameron O’Shea, Alipate Carlile, Tom Logan
HB: Matthew Broadbent, Jackson Trengove, Tom Jonas
C: Brad Ebert, Travis Boak, Kane Cornes
HF: Robbie Gray, Justin Westhoff, Dom Cassisi
F: Chad Wingard, Jay Schulz, Angus Monfries
FOLL: Matthew Lobbe, Hamish Hartlett, Oliver Wines
I/C: Andrew Moore, Jasper Pittard, Sam Colquhoun, Aaron Young
EMG: Paul Stewart, Jake Neade, Jack Hombsch
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