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Well, that was satisfying. Nothing to do for the rest of the weekend but sit back and gloat.

BBB has to stay in the side, our structure held up so much better.

That was a win for the ages. To hold out Port on their home deck, with the entire crowd yelling their guts out in support, was epic. They challenged several times and we responded each time. In the last we absolutely toweled them up. Grit and heart got us that win. We looked scrappy for the first ¾ but got the result against yet another likely finals team. [censored] that was good. Shout out to Petty who played his best game for the club. Dunno about you lot but I could use a drink.

Haven’t been online much this week but I’m assuming this was the result everyone was predicting?

We're never going to beat any of the top teams kicking 4 goals 10 in the second half of a game. (Just in case dr d and osilik can't bring himself to post after a win like that)

Imagine if Goodwin played Lever down back for 4 minutes, then in the ruck, then tagging a defender then on the bench then in the ruck again for no reason at all.

We're the real deal people. Just accept it.

TMac was so clutch tonight - love seeing him up and about!

How good is the weekend when you win on a Thursday!

Petty and the port breakers.

i like Ben Brown being in the side he is not getting a lot of the ball but is sucking up a lot of attention, that gives our other forwards a chance to get into the game.

Gawn - dominated centre again Viney - tackling was dynamic Hibberd - quiet but vital May - continued his dominance Petty - career best game Rivers - tight and attacking Salem - outstanding attacking defender Lever - wonderful defensive leader Langdon - was surprisingly inefficient Brayshaw - some important intercepts Harmes - better second half Oliver - dynamic and classy Petracca - classy and dynamic Fritsch - continued quiet phase McDonald - 4 consistent quarters Brown - was pleasingly impressive Pickett - excitement returned again Spargo - possessions were impressive Jackson - a quiet achiever Jordon - some important touches Hunt - run was vital Neal-Bullen- couldn’t stop fumbling

Also forgot to mention. I'm not an umpire basher but apparently HTB doesn't exist in Adelaide and most certainly doesn't apply to Motlop.

How good it feels to get back to our best. Let's get the negative out of the way - 4.10 in the second half. Could, and should, have won by 50+. But we won four quarters. IMO we won it most in the third quarter. They lifted but despite dominating time in forward half for the first 20 minutes, we only conceded two goals, and then scored two of our own, was huge. We kept them to their second lowest score for the season, their lowest score at home, and their fewest number of scoring shots for the season. For mine, Brown made us better. Didn't kick a goal but released TMac. Small forwards lifted too - Pickett 9 tackles to go with his 3 goals, Spargo I felt played better than he had for a month. Petracca's first 5 or so kicks were turnovers but he was otherwise incredible, Oliver's first half set us up, Gawn was dominant in the ruck, and again May and Lever were superb. Shout out too to James Jordon, I really loved his game tonight. Gut running, composure, felt like he was 5 years more senior than he actually is. We're now two games and 10% clear of Port Adelaide in 5th. We've beaten everyone in the 8 except West Coast who we haven't played. Now to sit back and enjoy the (long) weekend!

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Would love to borrow Spargo’s brain occasionally to get me out of a pickle with the lovely wife. His manoeuvre in and out of about 5 Port players and kick to an open Langdon on the outer wing in the last to set up a goal was sublime.

Brown makes us significantly better. But our midfield is the key to today.

Spargo playing game 50. Langers game 100. Maxy game number 150. Coming of a loss last week. The boys will have been waiting 12 months for the chance to atone for last years smashing. Big Bad Benny Brown in with a point to prove. Perfect conditions - light winds, likely no rain, but some cloud cover to make sure it doesn't get dewy. Flew in yesterday and being a night game have the full day to cross all the Ts and dot the Is. So preparation perfect, including a run last night at Adelaide Oval to get a feel for the ground. I've tipped us. Go redlegs.

Bollocks. 33 posessions? Do you really think goody cares about those posessions when barely one hurt, bar his goal. Every touch he had was under viney pressure and that resulted in us getting our intercepts. Port totally rely on wines for their clearances. The game was won in the first half. Wines had one clearance to half time. One. And only four in the second half. I don't know how many of them were in tbe ladt, but the game was over at 3 quarter time

Harry Petty, take a bow!

Time to step up to the plate.

I flew to Adelaide today and Geeze it was worth it. What a great win!

Wines may have had 30, but every single one was under extreme pressure. I reckon Viney was very good tonight.

And how many in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th quarters?

We had 19 tackles i50 to 9 That's the game there Huge difference in intent and pressure this week

What a total disgraceful umpiring performance. Welcome to 2021.

A corky, perhaps?

It's been a normal week as an Adelaide based Dees fanatic ? Supremely confident up until game day when I no longer want to speak to anyone especially that nervous little bloke in my head who won't STFU ? I will be shoulder to shoulder with the great unwashed and would dearly love to watch them leaving halfway through the final term knowing they have just come up against THE team to beat in big games! Working from home today has been a real struggle while I wait for tonight and the frustration I feel everytime some [censored] sends me an email is making it harder to focus.... Funnily enough it's been a busy day, work wise, but I have just shut my emails down due to the fact my Inbox reached 64 unread emails! (I'll take any omen I can right now!) Let's do this Demons! Hit me up if you know any relatively cheap security guards as I may need them around 9:30pm local time as I attempt to cross Clarko's Bridge ? Dees by 5....

Everyone - Happy playing role Some roles mean you get 6 disposals and run to clog up space all day. Some mean you get 30+ and kick 3 Some take 10 intercepts, some just defend space. This is a team that understand what they do for each other. Nothing proves this better than Gus Brayshaw. Drafted as probably the second best midfielder in his year, finishes third in the brownlow playing as an inside mid. And now asked to run lanes up and down the dead wing as a defensive mid. He, or more importantly his attitude, is the reason we are winning. He should be very proud.

I thought their fans showed a good understanding of the game and were fair and unbiased in the way they welcomed us to the ground and had a few chats with our players over the fence. Was good to see that Trac returned the gesture to them after his last goal.

Maybe the best part of the win is it means Dr D is 0-3 for his predictions of how the Essendon, GWS and Port games would play out.

My work mate is Port. As per tradition, I will get in to work before him and drape a flag over his desk.

Meggs was super impressed with Harry Petty tonight, he thought it was the Number 35’s best game in the Red and Blue!

I saw a team playing premiership type football tonight.

I think Port played very well tonight and despite the score...they are a tough side. That was a big win and great to see us back to our best. Our forward line was not empty like last week Bb was a better option than two talls by far.

Viney needs to be commended for his defensive job on Wines, he was basically a non factor. Viney offence stuff will come.

This makes a difference too.

Trac a career-high 174 ranking points tonight according to Fox Footy. 33 disposals, 3 goals. :-)

Huge win. Smashed pillar to post all week, playing Port in Adelaide and we've, once again, beaten them comfortably

Prediction: Once the game starts unless Port dont score at all, this thread will be full of negative wrist cutting BS from go to whoa.

The formula is simple. Once the media starts talking about a teams finals and/or flag chances, we beat them. When a team is on a hot winning streak, we beat them. If a team is sitting in the top 8, we beat them. Don't let a recent bout of flat form make you forget about how we have delivered against the comps best consistently this year. If we win tonight, it will only solidify my thinking that we are very well placed to win games in September. When the finals start, any losses we've had to bad teams will mean absolutely nothing. Port aren't that good. We're due to bounce back from some flat form over the past month. I predict Dee's by 4 goals and collective sigh of relief among the DL faithful.

Why do people keep saying this match is season defining? What if we lose this one and win all of our other matches for the rest of the year? Is it even possible to determine which match is season-defining before there's a completed season to be defined? We've demonstrated that we have the capability to so far beat four out of five of the other flag contenders, who unlike us have all taken points off each other at various stages. All teams have form slumps over the course of a 22-round season. This is really just another match in that season. A loss to Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval on a Thursday night wont define our season, but it may confirm that our slump is performance-related or structural rather than a motivational issue.

Think it was the start of the 3rd quarter when Gawn had a few vintage hitouts out of the centre straight to Oliver and Trac, which we haven't seen for a while, and I thought 'we're on here...' Interesting post-game hearing Gawn pretty much saying they'd done some heavy training around the bye, but more importantly hearing him talk about Kozzy and how he hasn't been able to see his family at a time where it would be really important was a really telling moment of his care for the group and maybe something not many supporters have thought about when looking at his form onfield.

Also - from a Port supporting mate speaking after Kysaiah's one step goal; "Why can't we have a small forward do something like that" Absolute music to my ears. We have a ripper.

Seeing Brown with i50 tackles is fantastic.

Port's best football all year has been against bad sides. Only two wins over the top 8 - 2 points over Richmond and 10 over Sydney. In both they trailed in the fourth quarter and in neither did they dominate. (Edit: with Richmond out of the 8 they actually only have one win vs the top 8). All other games against the top 8 they've been pretty poor and haven't gotten within three goals, including home losses vs the Dogs and Geelong (their defence vs Geelong was embarrassingly bad). They are absolutely beatable if we bring anything near our best. But, if we're lax at stoppages and butcher the ball in our forward half, we'll lose. I'm of the view we lost the game last week more than GWS won it. This game tonight IMO will be dictated by us, not them.

Having my best tipping year ever (2nd outright on Demonland, 211th of 584,687 countrywide), and haven’t tipped against us all year. Tonight I make the switch. Looking forward to my wheels falling off rather than the Dees. Go Redlegs!