Fire and spice: Tempers flare as Port stuns Hawks in grudge match (2025)

THIS wasn't in the script.

A week ago, Port Adelaide was on the mat, waiting for a knockout blow, and Hawthorn was the team ready to deliver it. But fortunately, all scripts are thrown out upon the bounce of the footy.

POWER v HAWKS Full match coverage and stats

Closing out the 2025 edition of Gather Round, Port Adelaide stunned Hawthorn on the Adelaide Oval deck to run out 18.13 (121) to 14.7 (91) victors in a rare Sunday evening fixture.

It was high octane footy from the off, with both teams no doubt aware of the fog lingering from last year's semi-final fixture. But it was the Power that switched on the high beams first to make a statement on the scoreboard.

For the first time this year, Hawthorn conceded six goals in a quarter. Notably, it did so in each of the first to terms to trail by 59 points at the half.

But Sam Mitchell's charges threw off the shackles in the second half to send a scare through the home crowd, as Jack Gunston (six goals) and James Sicily (two goals) started to get the better of defensive duo Aliir Aliir and Esava Ratugolea.

It wasn't to be, however, as the early damage meant the deficit was simply unsurmountable.

Zak Butters (33 disposals, eight clearances, four goal assists) was everything Port Adelaide fans have been desperate for this year, and more. Dynamic through the middle of the ground, his deft touch going forward set up his side's 79-point first half. Meanwhile captain Connor Rozee's (28 disposals, two goals) shift to half back was an effective one, as he exploited Hawthorn's forwards as they were caught ball watching.

The Power's ability to flick the ball around congestion to find a teammate on the outside was unperturbed by Hawthorn's attempts to pressure. Consistent work rate and chemistry across the side created such opportunities, and a sense of calm in the face of Hawks numbers.

Mitch Georgiades often found himself the beneficiary of that movement higher up the field. As the Hawks' defensive unit was abnormally disorganised, Georgiades enjoyed plenty of space inside 50, and cashed in with three goals and six marks for the game.

Hawthorn struggled to find any semblance of control in the opening half. Not on the scoreboard and uncharacteristically, not even with periods of possession with short kicks to uncontested options.

Four consecutive goals either side of the main break quietened the packed stands, but certainly didn't silence them.

The Hawks were starved of the opportunity to switch the ball to space on the open side, and were repeatedly lured to take a long option into the corridor, only for someone in teal to chop it off and generate another attacking foray. So, the shift had to come at the contest, and it was exactly that which allowed them some genuine looks at goal to open the second half.

Jai Newcombe (29 disposals, one goal) and Lloyd Meek (30 hitouts, two goals) were the architects of that midfield fightback, with Josh Weddle (18 disposals, five intercepts) providing support from behind.

But outside of their purple patch to open the third quarter, any sense of a challenge from the Hawks came with a lack of surety. Unsteady on their feet, the Hawks tried to match the breakneck speed that Port Adelaide established, but were often their own worst enemies.

New role, old Rozee
Port Adelaide captain Connor Rozee found himself lining up at half-back as coach Ken Hinkley searched for answers to his midfield's struggle early in the season. It proved to be a stroke of genius, as the No.1 played the aggressive rebounding role recently vacated by Dan Houston, and asked plenty of questions of Hawthorn's small forwards. He was dangerous in launching quick transition from defence, and continued to press high and hit the scoreboard. Rozee looked like a man reborn as he led his side to what could be a season-defining victory.

Boiling point
After a controversial post-match interaction between Power coach Ken Hinkley and Hawthorn goalsneak Jack Ginnivan following last year's semi-final, there was always going to be tension bubbling away under the surface all night. Spotfires sparked in different matchups all night, and the physicality extended from plays on the ball to words uttered behind the play. It all culminated in a double goal from Willie Rioli with eight minutes left on the clock. Rioli the antagonist showed the ball to Changkuoth Jiath before kicking a settler from the goalsquare, only for the Hawk to fell Rioli and hand the forward another shot on goal from the easiest of positions. With that, the game was over.

A picture of experience
Where Hawthorn struggled to string together dangerous chains of possession and couldn't move the ball effectively into attack, 263-gamer Jack Gunston relieved some of the pressure. His combination of intelligence and skill meant that even as the Power's defenders felt like world-beaters, he still broke through for an equal-career high six goals, propping up the Hawks' forward line all night.

PORT ADELAIDE 6.3 12.7 14.10 18.13 (121)
HAWTHORN 1.2 3.2 7.5 14.7 (91)

GOALS
Port Adelaide:Georgiades 3, Rioli 3, Richards 2, Rozee 2, Mead 2, Powell-Pepper 2, Bergman, Drew, Lord, Cochrane
Hawthorn:Gunston 6, Meek 2, Sicily 2, Newcombe, Chol, Worpel, Breust

BEST
Port Adelaide:Butters, Rozee, Horne-Francis, Georgiades, Jones, Richards
Hawthorn:Gunston, Newcombe, Meek, Worpel, Moore

INJURIES
Port Adelaide: Bergman (left knee)
Hawthorn:Nash (left wrist/hand)

SUBSTITUTES
Port Adelaide:Joe Berry (replaced Miles Bergman in the third quarter)
Hawthorn:Luke Breust (replaced Conor Nash at half time)

Crowd:47,671 at Adelaide Oval