Richmond's upset win against Hawks inspires Port ahead of trip to Geelong
FACING Geelong at Simonds Stadium is perhaps the most daunting prospect in modern football but Port Adelaide's Hamish Hartlett says Hawthorn's loss to Richmond on Saturday proves anything's possible.
The Power haven't beaten the Cats since their famous five-point win in Geelong in 2007.
It was a victory that has been followed by eight consecutive losses, the first of which was the 119-point mauling in the 2007 Grand Final.
"Every team's beatable on their day - Richmond showed that on the weekend against Hawthorn and Geelong have lost two of their last three I think," he said.
"Having said that, they beat St Kilda by 100 points a few weeks ago so it just depends which team shows up on the day.
"They're a pretty hungry group and they don't like losing too often, particularly down at [Simonds Stadium], so it's a great challenge for us as a group."
The Power celebrated their remarkable four-point Showdown win with wild jubilation and mobbed hero Chad Wingard, after he nailed a clutch last-minute match-winner.
Hartlett heaped praise on the budding star, claiming there was no ceiling to how good he could become.
"You probably wouldn't want anyone else in that situation he was in last night, he's just super cool under pressure," he said.
"He's got every attribute that can turn him into a great player.
"He's got great skill obviously, he's incredibly quick along the ground and very agile and surprisingly strong for how small he is physically.
"He's going to be a great player for us, obviously he's made a fair impact already and there's no limit to how good he can be."
While Wingard will enter Saturday's clash in inspired form, the Power will be without Paul Stewart, who broke his wrist in the opening term against Adelaide.
He was tackled from behind by Crow Jared Petrenko and landed on his left wrist before being helped from the ground.
Hartlett said Stewart was in good sprits but predicted he would miss between four to six weeks.
Harry Thring is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Harry.
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