By JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
THE MARGINS between them are perhaps the closest of any two sides to meet so far this season.
Port Adelaide is ninth, Geelong is 10th, both at five wins and separated by less than two per cent on the AFL ladder.
Both have met top eight sides six times in the 10 rounds so far, winning two and losing four each.
In fact, the sides share a host of similar statistics going into their Friday night clash at Adelaide Oval.
Even their points for and against are within cooee of each other.
It’s another eight-point game for Geelong, which is often the case for teams just outside the top eight.
Cats coach Chris Scott believes the ladder position reflects Geelong’s season so far but not necessarily that of the Power.
He said Port Adelaide was similar to Geelong in playing some pretty good sides at the top end of the ladder, “so I don’t think you can really look to the ladder to get a fair gauge on how they’re playing”.
“The fixture means the ladder is probably a bit distorted. It might not be but I think that’s the case.
“Even by their own admission they would say they haven’t quite hit their peak so far and we’d expect they will at some stage this season.
“We’ve just got to make sure it’s not against us.”
When Port Adelaide has been beaten this season its opponents have used similar strategies based around cutting the Power run.
“When you’re a well-performed side the opposition tends to look at you a little more closely. Port would have been one of the teams last years that a lot of teams had a close look at,” Scott said, including himself in his observation.
“But I think they’re more than just a one-trick pony. They’ve got some weapons and they play really well as a team when they’re going well.
“They don’t have one particular style, they’re more than happy to change things up and adapt to the way the game’s being played.
As always when we play Port, it’s a challenge for the coaching group because we know we’re not going to just roll out one thing and have it play out for 100 per cent of the game.
“We plan for them to play their best footy.”
