Round 3 - Port Adelaide

[Cheer Squad]

This week's match against Port Adelaide is intriguing.

The Power have been written off by everyone this season; most people expect they'll finish somewhere near the bottom of the ladder. But they had a good win against St. Kilda at home in Round 1, and were competitive away against the Bombers on the weekend.

Our overall record against Port is outstanding, and at AAMI it's very, very good - 6 wins and 3 losses.

I'm expecting a real contest - if we're slightly off our game, we'll lose. If everyone contributes, we'll win.

Swans by 10.

[ShockOfHair]

Port are a much better side this year. They'll run us close.

Butcher has a hamstring injury and may not play.

[Melbourne_Blood]

Agree it will be closer than many would have predicted pre season. But we've had it over them for a while. I'd say swans by 20-30.

[wolftone57]

Swans by 40 or more don't be fooled by Port's early form they aren't that good. Bombers had three injuries during their game and the Saints are a shadow of the side they were. So the Saints beat the Suns by 90 pts, they had almost half their A side playing our reserves coming back from injury this week. The transition of the new sides from punching bag to world champs is going to be a long process. This thing about them being premiers within three is ridiculous. Top draft picks does not ensure a premiership just ask Carlton, Melbourne, Richmond & co

[Alan]

I will be at the Port game this week and am confident we will get the job done. Not sure that Hannebery is fit enough just yet following his knee surgery and I just like our forward set up when TDL is there. I watched a fair bit of him when I was living in Perth (30-40 games) and he has much more to his game than we have seen. I also witnessed Mr. Everitt take a couple of strong pack marks and kick two goals in the last qtr against Wet Toast at Subiaco so I hope those two come in.

[desredandwhite]

I would say us by about 2-3 goals. On paper, we should win easily, but matches are rarely played on paper. I would be loathe to flirt with form here - Port will be up and down this year (as opposed to down and down last year), up last week against Geelong, down this week against Essendon. If we go in less than 100% when they're up, we will probably get beat. A win around the 20 point mark away from home would be a good result.

[grarmy]

I will be at the Port game this week and am confident we will get the job done. Not sure that Hannebery is fit enough just yet following his knee surgery and I just like our forward set up when TDL is there. I watched a fair bit of him when I was living in Perth (30-40 games) and he has much more to his game than we have seen. I also witnessed Mr. Everitt take a couple of strong pack marks and kick two goals in the last qtr against Wet Toast at Subiaco so I hope those two come in.

Mr Everitt is no Mr Sheen. This is the second of his two-year contract and he is simply unable to perform at AFL standard let alone the standard of the Swans. Forget him and focus on those who demonstrate promise.

[Bloody Hell]

Mr Everitt is no Mr Sheen. This is the second of his two-year contract and he is simply unable to perform at AFL standard let alone the standard of the Swans. Forget him and focus on those who demonstrate promise.

In his post match after round 1 Horse made it exceptional clear that Everitt is a depth player only. He said things like - "If we need a role filled we know Andreas can step up and play at this level. etc". I thought it was pretty damning.

[mcs]

I think it'll be a close game - but we should simply be winning games like this if we see ourselves as a genuine shot at finishing top 4. If we play somewhere close to 4 quarters of football that resembles the first two against Freo, then we should win fairly comfortably, but Port are a lot better than they were last year, so there is no room for complacency either. Swans by a few goals.