AFL live updates: Power surge against spirited Tigers in tense final quarter

CODY WEIGHTMAN FIRES:

The small forward is a remarkably reliable goalkicker in a role that can be a graveyard at times, having kicked at least one goal in 51 of his 61 matches. When he catches fire as he did in the first quarter of this must-win game for the Bulldogs he can only be described as irrepressible.

He kicked the first two goals within the first five minutes with a snap and a set shot after taking a contender for mark of the round.

He then bounced around to have five at half-time.

By then the Bulldogs had opened up a match winning lead (kicking their highest first quarter score at Mars Stadium and against the Suns, and any debates about selection or whether Aaron Naughton should be playing forward seemed less relevant for the time being.

Weightman finished with six goals, as he did last year in round 14 against the Kangaroos (when he also kicked five goals in two quarters of football).

LIBERATORE LEADS:

Emerging Suns’ midfielders Matt Rowell and Noah Anderson posed a serious threat to the Bulldogs, so they attracted the highest quality attention from the first bounce with Tom Liberatore taking on Rowell at the stoppages while Adam Treloar and Marcus Bontempelli dominated the clearances.

It took time for Rowell and Anderson to recover from ‘Libba’s’ onslaught as the Bulldogs opened up a 41-point deficit at the first break.

This Suns’ group didn’t give up though and kept coming with Liberatore needing to lift his troops again with an inspiring 10 minutes in the third quarter that led to a four goal burst (including one from Liberatore) that pushed the lead out to 46 points.

He was instrumental in driving the victory against a Suns’ team still looking for the right preparation to win away from home.

Jed Walter looked exciting on debut but their midfield were beaten when it mattered giving their key forwards little chance to have an impact.

QUESTIONS ANSWERED?:

The questions about the Bulldogs won’t go after just one performance but the response to their disappointing round one performance was encouraging.

Luke Beveridge held his nerve, giving Jackson Macrae another week in the VFL – where he gathered 47 touches – and Naughton up forward, elevating Caleb Daniel and Sam Darcy. Buku Khamis, Liam Jones and Ed Richards (before he was concussed) were excellent in defence after losing Nick Coffield to a shoulder injury in the first 10 minutes, while Weightman fed off the talls inside the forward 50.

They moved the ball off half back without the turnovers (except for a brief patch in the middle of the game) that ruined them in round one.

The Richards incident will be examined after Suns midfielder David Swallow copped him high when both were contesting the bouncing ball, but it appeared on first sight that veteran Sun had no option but to contest the ball.

Richards walked out to join his Bulldogs teammates and looks comfortable out there which is a good sign for him.

Well, those two fantastic Liam Baker goals have been cancelled out as Power goes bang, bang to start the final term.

It was Jackson Mead and Darcy Byrne-Jones with the majors and Port Adelaide have blown the margin back out to 19-points.

Liam Baker electrifies the Tigers with two excellent goals in the final minute of the third quarter – the second from beyond 50m after the siren – to slash Port Adelaide’s lead to seven points.

The Power controlled most of the term and had a run of five straight goals either side of half-time that turned into seven of the previous eight.

Richmond have doggedly hung on all day and have a decent shout at causing a boilover win today, which would be rookie coach Adem Yze’s first in his third match in charge.

Zak Butters has been outstanding for Port Adelaide, and a class above everyone else, with 29 disposals, 12 score involvements and six clearances.

It’s not the biggest crowd you’ve ever seen at the MCG but, boy, are they making themselves known.

Port Adelaide put their foot down in the third-quarter and flexed their muscles to take control on the scoreboard, led by midfielders Zak Butters and Connor Rozee.

After the Power trailed at half-time by 11-points, they had a seven-goal surge to hold a 20-point lead before two late third-quarter goals from Liam Baker cut the margin back to 7-points.

Richmond aren’t done – and they’re not going away. We’re already seen one big momentum swing this game – we could be in for another.

Baker’s back-to-back majors were right on the cusp of the siren, so they have the momentum leading into the final term.

Port Adelaide lead by 7-points at 3QT.

The match has swung again in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

Charlie Dixon, Jeremy Finlayson, the classy Dan Houston and Todd Marshall all pile on goals to fire Port Adelaide ahead by 12 points.

Essendon’s key forward Peter Wright has been sent straight to the tribunal for his high bump on Sydney’s Harry Cunningham, which occurred in the opening four minutes of their clash at the SCG on Saturday night.

The match review officer graded the incident careless conduct, severe impact and high contact, after Wright took his eye off the ball and ran towards the marking contest, crashing into the head of Cunningham, who was subbed out of the match with concussion.

Following the match, Bombers coach threw his support behind Wright and defended his side’s physicality.

“I can’t comment on issues that might be before the MRO,” Scott said.

“I’m not going to talk about the incident but the only thing I can say is Peter Wright is a well-known ball player. He always has been, since he was a kid.”

Meanwhile, Swans star Tom Papley took aim at Essendon’s approach during his half-time interview with Seven.

“They were pretty good early, their pressure is good. They’re getting after us a bit, but we’ll keep going hard at the ball,” he said.

“They’re trying to get after us, it’s all off the ball. We’re just worried about the ball, we’ll keep being hard in the contest and get the job done.”

Papley, who kicked four goals for the Swans, later said in a post-match interview on Nine Radio, that Wright was “going to have a nice holiday”.

We’re off in the second half at the MCG as Richmond hold a slim 11-point lead against Port Adelaide.

How do you see it playing out from here?

Will the Tigers continue to eat away at the scoreboard, or will the Power make a comeback to claim victory?

Richmond were fortunate to hang in the contest in the first quarter as the Power frittered away scoring chances, but they thrashed the visitors in the contest (39-24 for the second quarter) and capitalised on that dominance to open an 11-point half-time edge.

A Tom Lynch free kick to Zak Butters cost the Tigers an even bigger lead before another unnecessary score review confirmed the Port star’s accurate set shot.

This is a worrying performance from a team that is supposed to be a flag contender.

The Power conceded eight of nine inside 50s at one stage in that term, but Adem Yze will be thrilled with his players’ fightback to date.

Shai Bolton’s had six turnovers but also 15 disposals, two goals and equal-game-highs in clearances (five) and score involvements (seven) on a mixed day for him.

Well, after a long patch with not much movement on the scoreboard, Richmond kicked a run of three goals to give themselves a 17-point lead before Zak Butters cut it back to 11.

Shai Bolton was the latest of the Tiger lot, his second of the day, which followed Noah Balta and Daniel Rioli.

Butters kicked his right on the eve of the siren, after being awarded a 50m penalty and had the score review go his way. Tiger Tom Lynch wasn’t a fan, of the goal or perhaps the words from Butters after it, as the pair, a bit of a height mismatch, got stuck into each other.

Kane Farrell leads the disposal count on 20, followed by Shai Bolton, Daniel Rioli and Conor Rozee, all on 15.

Richmond lead by 11-points at HT.

It’s a low-scoring affair here at the MCG with Daniel Rioli kicking just the third goal of the quarter.

Before that, it was Darcy Byrne-Jones for Port Adelaide and Marlion Pickett for Richmond, which see-sawed the lead.

Currently, it’s back with Tigers, but at just 5-points, another Power goal could change that.

An after-the-siren Miles Bergman goal, after a neat centring pass from Jeremy Finlyason, gives Port Adelaide back the lead (3.7 to 3.2) after a quarter they dominated everywhere but the scoreboard.

Dustin Martin intervened to help create two Richmond goals that briefly gave them an against-the-flow lead, helped also by a couple of poor Aliir Aliir efforts, including a missed tackle on Shai Bolton.

Dan Houston and Connor Rozee both have a match-high nine disposals, while Kamdyn McIntosh’s eight lead the way for Richmond.

The Power are well on top in disposals (103-84) and inside 50s (18-11), but Adem Yze’s Tigers are up in clearances (8-5) and contested possessions (30-29).

That was not the highest-quality first term you will ever see.

Let’s get to the second…