AFL finals 2020, preliminary final: Port Adelaide v Richmond – live!

Q2: 8 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 3-3 (21) vs Richmond 3-3 (21) Goal! Speaking of unfair fights, Martin on Byrne-Jones in a 1-v-1 is nobody’s idea of a contest and Martin wins hands down – marking virtually uncontested and drilling the set shot. That’s two for Dusty. He’s carrying the Tigers tonight. All square.

Q2: 10 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 3-3 (21) vs Richmond 2-3 (15) Port get pinged for “insufficient intent” but McIntosh’s shot from the boundary is a shocker. Another long ball to Lynch fails again to work. Three on one is a tough ask in anyone’s book. Port defending stoutly on their last line.

Q2: 11 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 3-3 (21) vs Richmond 2-3 (15) Bolton’s tough, but kickable, shot on goal misses to the right. Richmond will need to be as efficient as they possibly can be on current evidence. Port remain on top in general play.

Q2: 13 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 3-3 (21) vs Richmond 2-2 (14) Goal! Port work their way through the Richmond maze and they gain territory through sheer force of will, leaving Rozse to finish the job with a glorious snap from the right pocket. Team effort capped by individual brilliance.

Q2: 15 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 2-3 (15) vs Richmond 2-2 (14) And we’re back. Amn early thrust forward for Port but Richmond insist their way forward. It’s not pretty but it’s effective and it almost works until Lynch’s shot on goal is rushed through for a behind.

A couple of early goals to Richmond but Port Adelaide asserted towards the end of the quarter and finally took the chances their territorial advantage deserved. Martin is a clear standout for the Tigers but more Power players are putting their best feet forward: Gray is having a blinder, while Powell-Pepper, Duursma and Boak are also amongst it. An inside count of 19-12 in Port’s favour tells the story, but it’s early days.

Q1: 1 min remaining: Port Adelaide 2-3 (15) vs Richmond 2-1 (13) Goal! Dixon tries to impose himself but can’t shrug off close attention. The ball spits out to Gray, who finds Duursma on the chest and the youngster finishes the job with a clean finish. Duursma has a few words to say to Lynch, and there is no shortage of teammates to join him. Port up and about now.

Q1: 2 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 1-3 (9) vs Richmond 2-1 (13) Ladhams is reported for a tummy punch on Balta as the latter tried to shepherd a path for Grimes. Looked a little low, too. Ladhams has nothing to fear. The MRO takes a week off at this time of year.

Q1: 3 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 1-2 (8) vs Richmond 2-1 (13) Goal! Gray loves a big stage and his handball inboard to Ebert was superb. Ebert’s dribble kick to goal is smothered but the ball maintains its path to goal and Rozee does the rest, soccering the ball through for Port’s first major.

Q1: 4 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 0-2 (2) vs Richmond 2-1 (13) Goal! And Jack makes no mistake, piercing the big sticks with a glorious drop punt from an angle about 35 metres from home. Richmond are really taking their chances here, Port not so.

Q1: 5 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 0-2 (2) vs Richmond 1-1 (7) Gray has a clear shot on goal but misses. At the other end, Jonas chops Riewoldt’s arms in a marking contest which sets up another shot on goal…

Q1: 7 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 0-1 (1) vs Richmond 1-1 (7) Goal! Cometh the hour, cometh the man. And that man – Dustin Martin – has been very good so far. Riewoldt does well to bring a high ball to the ground and Dusty does the rest, crumbing from the pack and snapping around his body for the first goal of the game.

Q1: 8 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 0-1 (1) vs Richmond 0-1 (1) Rozee bombs one inside-50 but the ball is intercepted by Richmond. The ball is pinging back and forth to this point, but if any team is on top it’s Port. But only just. McKenzie then gets his picket pocked but Lambert’s shot from about 325 metres dribbles just to the right.

Q1: 10 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 0-1 (1) vs Richmond 0-0 (0) Dusty goes inside to Edwards, who goes to Lynch, who goes to Riewoldt deep inside-50 and this is Richmond’s best attacking foray … but Jumpin’ Jack can’t hang onto the chance. Half-chances everywhere here.

Q1: 14 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 0-1 (1) vs Richmond 0-0 (0) Ebert finds himself with space down the right flank and the ball winds up with Marshall, who has an unopposed shot on goal but misses to the right. You can cut the atmosphere with a knife.

Q1: 15 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 0-0 (0) vs Richmond 0-0 (0) And we’re away. An early clearance for Cotchin and a few early touches for Richmond, who have an inside-50 and a stoppage near the left behind post. Port work their way out.

Richmond aren’t a big clearance team. We know that. The ball will spend time in Port’s forward half. We know that. If Richmond can intercept and pressurise, if they can turn the ball over, work their way through and find Lynch, Riewoldt et al, then Port will have issues. If the Power can lock the ball in their forward 50 and keep the ball out of Richmond’s hands, then the Tigers will have issues.

And then it comes down to personnel. Will Port need Dixon to kick a bag to win? How closely will Richmond monitor Robbie Gray? Will Richmond need Lynch to kick a few? More to the point, will Lynch keep him emotions in check?! With Richmond almost back to full strength, how much time will Dustin Martin spend in the forward line? Will Trent Cotchin spend more time in the middle? Questions galore. We’re about to get some answers.

He’s not to everyone’s tastes, but they sure do love Cotch in Tigerland. Happy 250th, skip.

G’day JfP. Best of luck. I’ve got a mate – a mad Port fan, so as a Crows supporters I’m amazed we’re friends – who treated his family to a private box for the Power’s win over Geelong. Best day of his life, I reckon.

How good is it that fans in numbers are allowed back to the footy.

No late changes to either team. A bit of weather around in Adelaide. They’ve had a few millimetres and Adelaide Oval looks a bit greasy. It’s coming down as I type.

Before we move on from Ken Hinkley, this is gold.

I could go on and on about the two men at the head of affairs tonight – Ken Hinkley and Damien Hardwick – and how they are at the vanguard of the modern-day-coach movement.

But I’ve already done that. *

* Not shameless self-promotion but an editorial requirement to promote related content.

Both teams will look to bring pressure tonight, and lots of it, but which team is under the most pressure?

You’d have to say Port. Ken Hinkley has talked up his troops since the start of the season and they’re yet to let him down. But this is uncharted territory for the Power and there is no way anyone at Alberton would accept their season finishing a week early, at home as minor premiers. This is their chance to win over the footy community. Will they take it?

The Tigers have been there, done that, having contested prelims in 2017, 2018 and 2019. They know how to handle this pressure. The only variable for them is the locale – they are used to the comforts of home at this stage of the season, not the environs of the other team.

Speaking of minor premiers, not one has gone on to win the flag since Hawthorn in 2013. Take it away, Freddie.