POWER STAR TO RESCUE
Port Adelaide’s doubters were preparing to re-engage at half-time, when they stumbled to an 11-point deficit to a Richmond side widely tipped to finish in the bottom four.
After wasting their opening quarter dominance with woeful inaccuracy in front of goal, the Power suddenly found themselves chasing tail as the Tigers kicked into gear in the second term.
Enter Zak Butters, Port Adelaide’s reigning club champion who was also a deserved All-Australian after an outstanding 2023 season.
The 23-year-old stepped up in a big way in timely fashion to rack up 14 disposals, four clearances - three out of the centre - four inside 50s and one goal in the third quarter to spare Port from embarrassment.
Zak Butters.Credit: Getty
Butters finished with 34 disposals, 14 contested possessions and 13 score involvements as a four-goal blitz to start the final term set up a 30-point victory at the MCG ahead of a home clash with Melbourne next week.
Sydney’s Isaac Heeney, Giant Tom Green and Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli have all lit up the competition this year, but Butters is playing almost as well as anyone.
SCORE REVIEW SCRUTINY
Richmond defender Jayden Short insisted he touched Jackson Mead’s goal to start the final term, which was the beginning of the end of the Tigers’ chances.Back-to-back brilliant Liam Baker goals in the final minute of the third term - the second from beyond 50 metres after the siren - slashed Port Adelaide’s lead to seven points.But Mead’s goal was the first of four in eight minutes that blew the Power’s advantage out to 31 points and ended Richmond’s winning hopes.There was no score review on this occasion despite the umpires using an abundance of caution to double-check straightforward goals to Darcy Byrne-Jones and Zak Butters earlier in the contest.The trend this season is to go that way, but Short’s pleas went unanswered. We can only assume it was ticked off silently in the ARC as the Sherrin returned to the centre.
MIXED BAG FOR BOLTON
Shai Bolton was a big part of the highs and lows of a challenging afternoon for his Tigers.
The livewire did plenty of eye-catching things and was particularly prominent in the second-quarter comeback with 10 of his 22 disposals and a series of dashes that created yellow-and-black scoring chances.
Shai Bolton of the Tigers.Credit: Getty
Bolton ended the game with two goals, eight score involvements, seven inside 50s, five clearances and more than 600 metres gained - but also seven turnovers, including six to half-time.
Turnovers have been an unfortunate theme of Richmond’s start to the season, particularly their opener against Gold Coast, so Bolton and co. will look to tidy things up quickly.
There was plenty to like about the form of Liam Baker (23 disposals, three goals), Dan Rioli (21) and Jack Ross (26), while Dustin Martin (16) did some nice things without winning a stack of the ball.
