We are minutes from the bounce now and the preliminaries of the preliminary final are upon us. Uncle Lloyd Walker, former Wallabies star and possessor of two of the most magic hands ever to grace a football field, is welcoming us to Gadigal land.
Before tonight’s action gets under way, a quick moment of pause for one of the great gentleman of the Australian media, legendary Melbourne photographer Terry Phelan, who woke from the dream of life yesterday surrounded by family.
Aside from his magnificent eye for an image and instincts for a story, Terry was an empath, a man deeply attuned to the energies and emotions of the public he served so wonderfully over four decades in journalism. As a mate of his son Matt, I was honoured to challenge his inate humility on a few occasions and, weirdly, the story I most remember of Terry’s was one he told me of a shot he missed: that of a Tasmanian Tiger captured in the glare of his car headlights on a bush road late one night.
There was not a tremor of disappointment in Terry that he had missed what might’ve been one of the shots of the century, an image that might’ve graced front pages around the world. Instead I got the feeling he was happy to have saved the supposedly extinct thylacine the frenzy of media that mwould surely have followed. That was Terry Phelan – aside from the million of photos he captured, even the moments he missed were epic. Vale Tezza.
The first bounce for this first preliminary final is minutes away now. It’s been a beautiful sunny scorcher of a Spring day here in Sydney but the temperature is slowly dropping. At the SCG, the floodlights are on and the trickle of red and white has become a torrent as Swans faithful pour in from the posh pubs of Paddington, the reduxed Bloodhouses in Surry Hills and the swank swillhouses of the CBD and eastern suburbs.
And a good whack of them are here to cheer a blond kid from Newcastle, two hours north, who tonight plays his 200th game…
Geelong have steamrolled their way to another prelim despite the absence of their goal glutton and games record holder, 36-year-old full forward Tom Hawkins. “The Tomahawk” has been rehabbing a foot injury since mid-season and has already announced that 2024 will be his last season. Although the big fella had a run in the VFL 10 days ago, the dream of another flag hangs on tonight’s game.
But as Jack Snape says, the facts the Cats are here again means the future looks rosy post-Tom anyway:
There are AFL clubs that invest thousands of hours into reviewing high school talent, hoping they can recruit the kind of players who can some day kick three goals in a high-pressure final. The Geelong Cats just went to Werribee.
Whoever wins tonight’s preliminary final will face the winner of Brisbane v Geelong in the big dance next Saturday. Jonathan Howcroft reckons the oft-maligned Lions’ talisman might yet prove the difference…
At face value, Joe Daniher is straight off the footballing peg. He’s 201cm, an excellent mark, a thumping kick and moves like a gazelle. If he was a yearling at the sales, they’d have taken one look at his bloodlines and his physical scope, and paid record prices for him.
How did Port amass so awesome a winning record over the minor premiers? Well, in their last eight clashes Port has done it chiefly by dominating contested possession and bossing the clearances. More significantly, they find a way to nullify Sydney’s stars.
The records of both small forward sparkplug Tom Papley, gun wing Errol Gulden, running halfback Nick Blakey and midfield maestro Chad Warner all bottom out when they play the Power where all four register their lowest disposal numbers.
The Giants seemed to have purloined a copy of the Ken Hinkley blueprint a fortnight back and for most of the game it worked a charm. But slowly yet surely Sydney’s fab four broke loose late in the game and made their crosstown rivals pay…
Our own Martin Pegan ran the rule over both teams and, noting Port’s 8-0 record over the Bloods but also the heavy weight of history the visitors will carry into this match…
Port have not lost to the Swans since 2016, winning all eight matches since then by an average 34 points, but will arrive at the SCG with their own history to rewrite. This will be Port’s fourth preliminary final in 12 seasons under Hinkley; they are still hoping to reach a first grand final since 2007, let alone end the club’s now 20-year wait for a second flag.
Here’s how the two sides line up this evening…
SWANS
B: D.Rampe – C, T.McCartin, N.Blakey
HB: M.Roberts, H.Cunningham, L.Melican
C: J.Lloyd, Ch.Warner, O.Florent
HF: L.Parker, L.McDonald, E.Gulden
F: T.Papley, J.Amartey, W.Hayward
FOLL: B.Grundy, I.Heeney, J.Rowbottom
I/C: J.Jordon, B.Campbell, R.Fox, J.McInerney, H.McLean
EMG: A.Francis, C.Cleary, P.Ladhams
The injury-plagued season of Sydney’s captain Callum Mills has continued with his hamstring twinge at training this week. In a bit of a surprise, 31-year-old defender Robbie Fox, who has appeared in 16 games in 2024, will replace Mills NOT Taylor Adams, the former Pie who has played 19 fine games in his first season in red and white. It makes two straight years Adams has watched September football from the dugout, with the former Collingwood star missing their 2023 Grand Final victory with injury.
POWER
B: La.Jones, B.Zerk-Thatcher, M.Bergman
HB: J.Sinn, A.Aliir, L.Evans
C: J.Burgoyne, O.Wines, W.Drew
HF: D.Byrne-Jones, E.Ratugolea, W.Rioli
F: M.Georgiades, C.Dixon, C.Rozee – C
FOLL: J.Sweet, J.Horne-Francis, Z.Butters
I/C: T.Boak, Q.Narkle, J.Mead, F.Evans, R.Burton
EMG: W.Lorenz, D.Visentini, O.Lord
Port Adelaide’s Todd Marshall remains under concussion protocols so Charlie Dixon comes into the side following his late scratching from last week’s game due to illness. That’s a huge addition for the Power. Ryan Burton is back in the side for Will Lorenz.
Here we go, footy fans. Welcome to the Sydney Cricket Ground for the first preliminary final of 2024: Sydney v Port Adelaide. Swans v Power. Tonight’s winner will face either Geelong or Brisbane in the AFL Grand Final on Saturday September 28.
These sides finished one and two in the regular season but have taken very different paths to this date with destiny. The minor-premiers Swans are here after squeaking past the Giants in a comeback for the ages a fortnight back. They’ve had the week off and are on their home ground, the grand old arena of the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Port Adelaide took a longer, lower road to this match. They dropped their bundle in week one, walloped to the tune of 84-points by Geelong in the qualifying final. But after a week under intense pressure, they found a way to derail the Hawthorn juggernaut with a three-point victory Power coach Ken Hinkley enjoyed a touch too much.
But here’s where things get weird… Sydney start favourites tonight despite losing their last clash with Port Adelaide by 112-points. At one stage in that game it was 71-0! Moreover their record against the Power is abysmal. The Swans haven’t beaten them since 2017. In the last eight years it’s been Port by an average margin of 34 points.
Not only do Sydney have to overturn that 0-8 record, they need to make history as the first team in VFL /AFL history to lose a game by 100+ points and then make the Grand Final. (Carlton’s 1945 team lost one by exactly 100 points but went on to win the flag). Can they do it? When Isaac Heeney is out there, anything is possible…
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