Port stun Hawks in Gather Round grudge game upset
The unfancied Power raced to a 71-point lead in the second term in their 18.13 (121) to 14.7 (91) victory on Sunday night at Adelaide Oval.
Hawthorn crashed to their first defeat of the season as Port's Zak Butters (33 disposals, eight clearances) and Connor Rozee (28, two goals) ran amok.
Port's first-half onslaught created an astonishing 12.7 to 1.2 scoreline before a 47,671-strong crowd for the clash of the new-found fierce foes.
Port coach Ken Hinkley fanned the rivalry flames last May in celebrating the Power's greatest escape, when Darcy Byrne-Jones soccered the winning goal with two seconds remaining.
The fire escaped containment lines after their semi-final in Adelaide when the Power pipped the Hawks by three points.
Hinkley taunted Hawthorn players post-game and was fined $20,000 by the AFL - a sanction which still has the Power privately fuming.
WHAT IS HAPPENING AT ADELAIDE OVAL?!Rozee makes it SEVEN in a row for the Power 🤯#AFLPowerHawks pic.twitter.com/vgy9f4mDRV
— AFL (@AFL) April 13, 2025
The AFL grabbed the grudge and made it the Sunday night finale to another wildly successful Gather Round in Adelaide and surrounds.
And the on-field theatre began with a Port bang: six goals to one in the first quarter.
The Power's dual All Australian Butters - the AFL's most fined player - sparked a small melee and the pro-Power crowd repeatedly jeered Hawk captain James Sicily, who was central to last year's finals stoush with Hinkley.
With ex-Magpie Jack Richards slotting two goals and setting up Mitch Georgiades for another, Port were slick in their 6.3 to 1.2 opening.
But that proved a mere entree to Port's main course: a match-defining second-term feast of six consecutive goals.
Power skipper Rozee, revelling in a new halfback role, twice drifted up-field to goal.
And his teammates Sam Powell-Pepper and Willem Drew scored with remarkable snaps in Port's party which created a 71-point lead, 12.7 to 1.2.
The hapless Hawks mustered two late goals to reduce their deficit to 59 points at halftime and were 47 down at the last change.
Hawthorn made a belated five-goal charge to sneak within 22 points with eight minutes remaining.
But Powell Pepper soon snapped accurately again and the fixture finished with a flashpoint.
Port's Willie Rioli, running into an open goal, showed the ball to Hawthorn's Changkuoth Jiath before scoring.
The Hawk promptly pushed Rioli over, triggering another melee - and a free kick to the Power forward who converted from the goal square.
A late double goal for Willie Rioli as tensions rise once again.#AFLPowerHawks pic.twitter.com/Nqgkfy1x4K
— AFL (@AFL) April 13, 2025
Port, now with a 2-3 win-loss record, were brilliantly led by Butters and Rozee, who starred with a strong support cast featuring Jason Horne-Francis (29 possessions), Drew (26, one goal) and Ollie Wines (26).
And the Power attack fully exploited their plentiful supply, with Georgiades (three goals), Rioli (three), Powell-Pepper (two) Rozee, Richards and Jackson Mead (two goals) multiple scorers.
Hawk midfielder Jai Newcombe (29 disposals, one goal) and skipper Sicily battled against the flow, while veteran Jack Gunston kicked six goals and ruckman Lloyd Meek scored two.
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