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Port Adelaide hosts an in-form Fremantle, who is eager to bounce back from its heart-breaking loss last weekend at Gather Round.
The Power (3-1, 147.3%) are coming off a dominant 69-point win against Essendon last Friday and will welcome back stalwarts Ollie Wines and Sam Powell-Pepper in place of Jeremy Finlayson (suspension) and Travis Boak (injured).
Their opponents, the Dockers (3-1, 129.2%), are in similar form to the Power, with their only loss coming against Carlton under controversial circumstances.
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Neil Erasmus comes in for his first game of the season, replacing the injured Michael Frederick.
Port will play its third match on the trot on home turf, with the match getting underway at 7:30pm AEST from Adelaide Oval.
Watch it live on Fox Footy (channel 504), streaming on Kayo or using Hubbl from 7:30pm AEST.
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There were no late changes for either side, with Jackson Mead (Port Adelaide) and Neil Erasmus (Fremantle) named the starting subs.
Jye Amiss snagged the game’s first goal from a set shot after a tug of war for the first 10 minutes.
The Power led by seven points at quarter-time.
“It’s been a pivotal matchup, hasn’t it?” Hawthorn legend Jason Dunstall said of the Charlie Dixon-Alex Pearce matchup.
“Alex Pearce has been absolutely brilliant, we’ve seen a number of contests one-on-one, and you can see Pearce and Dixon pushing and shoving.”
Dunstall noticed Dixon and Port coach Ken Hinkley having words at the first change.
“Maybe a few problems for Port Adelaide. At quarter-time, Charlie and Kenny, I don’t know that they’re seeing eye-to-eye,” Dunstall said.
Added Leigh Montagna: “Whatever he’s saying, Charlie Dixon doesn’t seem too pleased, so I’m not sure whether he’s saying ‘well, if you can’t win the contest, Charlie, you might need to be a decoy today’.
“I don’t think Charlie would appreciate that, so I reckon he’ll be keen to improve that one-on-one contest in the second quarter and not let Alex Pearce beat him as often as he did.
“Look, he’s fired up. That’s scary … Kenny might’ve just poked the bear.”
Said Adelaide great Mark Ricciuto: “That’s a genuine chat, that one. I haven’t seen that before between those two.”
Dixon’s response? He kicked the first goal of the second term and celebrated fiercely!
However, Fremantle quickly gained the second-quarter ascendency, with Josh Treacy booting three goals in the term alone. Dockers by seven late in the half.
In a low-scoring affair between two top-of-the-table sides, it was Fremantle that led by a straight kick at the main change.
Circling back to the Dixon-Hinkley incident, Ricciuto said it was a very rare sight to see during Hinkley’s Power tenure.
“Well, this just doesn’t happen,” he told Fox Footy at half-time.
“I have not seen it in Ken Hinkley’s reign, where these two have had a chat like this – or with anyone, to be quite honest.”
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