WHERE & WHEN: Friday, September 17, AAMI Stadium, 7.30pm
TV & RADIO: TV: Channel 10 - Melbourne 7.30pm, Sydney 9.35pm, Brisbane 7.30pm, Adelaide 7.30pm, Perth 7.30pm. Radio: 3AW, MMM, ABC, K Rock, 5AA, NIRS
HEAD TO HEAD: Played 11. Port Adelaide 6, St Kilda 5.
FINALS HEAD TO HEAD: Yet to meet in a final.
HEAD TO HEAD AT THIS VENUE: Played 3. Port Adelaide 2, St Kilda 1.
THIS YEAR: Port Adelaide 14.9 (93) d St Kilda 7.5 (47) in round 14 at York Park, Launceston. On a chilly, clear afternoon in Tasmania, Port Adelaide recorded a 46-point win which elevated the Power to third on the ladder. The Power led at every change and kept the Saints to their lowest score for the 2004 season. All-Australian centre half-back Chad Cornes was among Port Adelaide's best, along with ruckman Dean Brogan. Domenic Cassisi kicked four goals and Josh Mahoney finished with three majors. St Kilda superstar Nick Riewoldt was his side's best performer.
LAST FINAL: Yet to meet in a final.
FORM: Port Adelaide's form in 2004 has been almost faultless, with just five losses from its 23 games and only one from its past 11, the defeat coming to Essendon at Telstra Dome in Round 18. With a question mark over their finals chances coming in after past September failures, the Power dominated against Geelong virtually from the beginning on Fathers Day and ran away to an impressive victory. St Kilda bounced back brilliantly last week after its horror trip to the Gabba the week before, recovering from the 80-point mauling from Brisbane to end Sydney's hopes in terrible conditions. Plenty had lined up ready to write the Saints off, but they made sure that all the hard work during the home-and-away season, particularly early, was not wasted.
MEDICAL ROOM: Port Adelaide will be close to full strength, with midfielder Josh Francou and skipper Matthew Primus the only players missing from the team's best 22 after suffering season-ending knee injuries in January and April respectively. Defender Jared Poulton (hamstring) would have to pass a fitness test in order to return for the grand final, if the Power get through. At Moorabbin much of the talk centres around forward Aaron Hamill (knee), who went down in the final home-and-away game against Fremantle. Hamill trained on Tuesday, and will be picked, but will have to pass a fitness test - possibly as late as Friday - if he is to play. Leigh Montagna (hamstring) could also return, but is more likely to be given one more week, in the hope of making a comeback in the premiership decider.
THE WHITEBOARD: The two biggest keys to this game appear to be key forwards Warren Tredrea and Fraser Gehrig. Tredrea has been in career-best form, with many tipping him to pick up the Brownlow Medal on Monday night, so Grant Thomas is likely to assign Matt Maguire the task of keeping him quiet. At the other end, the Power will need Darryl Wakelin to do a similar job on Fraser Gehrig, who is fresh from kicking six goals against the Swans. Each team will have to be on their guard against other big forwards though, with Chad Cornes to start on Nick Riewoldt and Luke Penny to take Brendon Lade. Byron Pickett and Stephen Milne are both fresh from four-goal hauls in their last outing too, with Aussie Jones likely to pick up Pickett and Damien Hardwick among the contenders to stand Milne. In the midfield, expect Kane Cornes to tag Lenny Hayes and Josh Carr to run with 300-gamer Robert Harvey, while the Saints will probably set Steven Baker on Jarrad Schofield.
THE VERDICT: Almost everything appears to be in Port Adelaide's favour for this game. The Power have won 10 of 11, impressively beat Geelong last start, are fresh from a week off, are playing at home, and know that St Kilda will be a little leg weary, having played an extra game in the wet last week. The Saints will probably need to lead pretty comfortably late in the third quarter to get home, as they will almost certainly tire as the game goes on. And they will also be keen to exploit any nervousness from the hosts, who have not yet completely shrugged off the finals monkey that has been on their shoulders. Thomas and his men will also no doubt want to celebrate club great Harvey's milestone game with a big win too. But most of the above factors point to a Power win. Port Adelaide by 35 points.
