Dogs are heavy favourties going into this match tonight at Etihad stadium and the line currently is -18.5 but there is much more to this game than meets the eye. Port Adelaide have been playing some pretty good football so far this year and although it is still to early to judge whereabouts each team may finish when the real stuff begins the NAB cup gives fans a glimpse of the new talent and the veterans on display. The dogs won their 1st game against the lions 53-45 and then beat a very undermanned hawks team 111-54 to set up a clash against the power in tonight's semi-final.
Port Adelaide won their 1st game 123-67 against bitter rivals Adelaide and then smashed the eagles 158-80. They will bring Treadrea, Gray, Boak and Brogan all back into their lineup for this game and word coming out of Adelaide is that they may indeed be in financial trouble and to win the NAB cup would guarantee a nice chunk of cash plus some silverware even though it does not evaluate to much. The power coah Mark Williams has also stated he wants to see his side progress in order to get them fully ready for the premiership opener on March 28. I think the public may have gone Barry Hall crazy after his 6 goal debut against the Hawks but they did have a full squad (besides Johnson) and the Hawks looked underdone and very depleted. I truly believe that tonights game will be much closer than what the bookies have you believe and can see the Port Adelaide winning this game. I am going to take the points though to be on the safe side.
Pick - Port Adelaide +18.5 (ML win is paying $3.15)