Live: Power looking for revenge against Swans, star Bomber to have surgery

The siren goes, and that has been a disappointing quarter for the home side.

They have not looked on their game at all so far.

On the other hand Port Adelaide are not quite doing as they please, but they are finding their way inside 50 way too easily.

Mitch Georgiades and others are cutting the Swans defence apart, and it’s hard to see where the Swans get back into this if they can’t hit some targets.

Most stat categories are either level or a few favouring Sydney.

The standout though is marks inside 50.

Port Adelaide have taken seven grabs inside the arc to just one from Sydney.

This is beginning to look a bit deja vu from last Sunday evening.

The Power have jumped the Swans here like they did the Hawks in Gather Round.

They get the ball inside 50, it comes back to Jason Horne-Francis, who stands and powers out of a tackle before chipping inbound to Connor Rozee.

There’s the mark, and there’s a fourth goal for the quarter. The Swans trail by 18 points, and they are lucky it’s not more.

As we noted before the game, Port Adelaide are number one in the AFL for handballs, and they just turned quick ball movement into another goal.

They had the ball in the centre, and a series of quick hands got the ball clear, before a chip to the hotspot found Ollie Lord, who marked and kicked the goal.

The visitors now lead by 12.

It’s not the news Essendon fans want to hear.

The Bombers have confirmed ruck Sam Draper has ruptured an Achilles tendon and will need surgery.

Draper suffered the injury during the final quarter of the Bombers’ two-point win over the Eagles in Perth on Good Friday.

He’ll have surgery early next week.

Via a statement, the Bombers’ general manager of AFL Daniel McPherson had this to say.

We’re absolutely devastated for ‘Drapes’, who has had a terrific start to the year.

He’s worked so hard over the course of the preseason and had started the season really strongly.

Sam’s obviously an important player for us but he’s also such a beloved member of this group by players, staff and fans alike.

We’ll support him through his rehab.

This is looking like a certified tactic for Port Adelaide.

They are hammering that right forward pocket, trying to put pressure on the Sydney defence.

They hit up Jason Horne-Francis – that’s their sixth mark inside 50 already – but his kick missed everything.

Sydney will have to do something about this though, or the score could get ugly.

Port Adelaide have been targetting the right forward pocket (which is in shadow on this Sunday afternoon).

It paid off that time, with the Power going long to a lead from Mitch Georgiades deep in the pocket.

He took the mark and then lined up from a nasty angle – and that is a GREAT kick, bending back like a banana to go through!

The Power lead by 7 points halfway through the quarter.

Neither side are looking really fluent as yet.

Port Adelaide were given a free deep in the right pocket to Ollie Wines, but his kick went well wide.

The visitors lead by a point.

That was frustrating from a Sydney perspective.

Isaac Heeney handballed into space for Nick Blakey, who kicked forward – target was missed, but the ball fell for James Jordon, who snapped as he was grabbed and the shot went well wide.

Scores are level, 13 minutes left in the quarter.

What a cracking move by the Swans!

They had been struggling to make inroads, playing the ball way too slow. But that time they had a kick to the contest in the right forward pocket – the ball spilled to Isaac Heeney, who snapped a beauty of a kick that bisected the posts from a difficult angle.

That should lift the home side!

Well that was a sequence of events!

The Swans were going downfield trying to set up a forward entry – but the move broke down and the Power just RACED through the corridor at top speed.

Willie Rioli chipped to Mitch Georgiades inside 50, and then he gave a Joe the Goose to Sam Powell-Pepper on the goal line.

There’s the first goal of the day to the Power!

After a tight start, the first clearance goes to Port Adelaide, with Connor Rozee finding Kane Farrell, who goes long to the hotspot and its ends up with a rushed behind. Port get the opening point.

Here we go!

Can the Swans have a quick start, or will Port Adelaide do what they did to Hawthorn last week and dominate the opening exchanges?

We’re about to find out.

Sydney are sending James Jordon to Connor Rozee!

• Rozee rebounding: Coach Ken Hinkley’s inspired move to put Connor Rozee at half-back paid huge dividends against the Hawks. The Power skipper has the vision, the engine and the distribution to make things work in the back six. If he can engineer more of those breaks out of defensive 50, the visitors will be well on the way to victory.

• Handball-happy Power: Today’s game will bring a clash of styles between Sydney and Port Adelaide. The Power are a clear number one in the league for using handball, with an average of 176 passes a game. It doesn’t work all the time, but when it does they can cut opposition defences up with quick movement. If they can turn their possessions into a repeat of last week’s score of 121 points against the Swans, you suspect they will come away with the win.

• Find a way to goal: The Swans are averaging 84 points a game in attack, ahead of only Richmond, Melbourne and West Coast. Goals are at a premium — and that is not being helped with injuries to the likes of Errol Gulden, Tom Papley and Joel Amartey. Logan McDonald is underdone, which leaves a lot on the shoulders of Hayden McLean in the forward line.

• Make turnovers pay: Last year’s prelim saw the Swans take care of Port Adelaide, largely off the back of turnover. They scored 76 points on the counter, compared to just four goals’ worth from the Power. A repeat is unlikely, but they need to keep the ledger on Sydney’s side if they want to win one for coach Dean Cox.

• PF, 2024: Sydney by 36 (SCG)

• Rd 22, 2024: Port Adelaide by 112 (Adelaide Oval)

• Rd 4, 2023: Port Adelaide by 2 (SCG)

• Rd 14, 2022: Port Adelaide by 23 (Adelaide Oval)

• Rd 15, 2021: Port Adelaide by 10 (Adelaide Oval)

• Rd 14, 2020: Port Adelaide by 26 (Adelaide Oval)

An interesting matchup, this one. Last September, the Swans were too strong in the prelim at the SCG, winning by six goals. However before that, the Power had the wood on Sydney, stringing together eight straight victories, capped by the 112-point thumping at Adelaide Oval a month before the prelim.

Before that run, Sydney had five straight wins — so was the prelim an outlier, or are the Swans ready to put another run together?

Port Adelaide has shared footage of Rory Atkins receiving his Power guernsey from Hamish Hartlett. This will be Atkins’ third team debut, after 97 games for the Adelaide Crows and 41 games for the Gold Coast Suns.

Good luck to Rory for this afternoon.

It’s been an interesting round so far, with plenty of upsets.

The Lions, Suns and Giants all lost, allowing Collingwood to leapfrog all of them into top spot — at least for 24 hours.

The Crows have consolidated a spot in the eight, but a St Kilda win tonight will see the Dockers drop out. And tomorrow’s Easter Monday blockbuster will decide top spot — a Hawks win will see Sam Mitchell’s men overtake the Pies, while a Geelong victory could see the Hawks drop to seventh.

How has YOUR side gone this weekend, and what do you think about the top four as it stands? Let us know in the comments.