Port back in Melbourne to face Bombers
Port Adelaide returns to Melbourne this week for the first time since last year's grand final humiliation, though mercifully this time they will not be facing a rampant Geelong.
Matthew Knights' Essendon are in many ways a less polished and less successful version of the Power, with a fast, attacking and high risk game plan that has caused the Bombers untold pain on the rebound.
They were crushed by Collingwood in front of the biggest minor round audience of the year on Anzac Day last Friday, but are unlikely to revert to a more introverted structure on the fast track of the Telstra Dome this Sunday.
Power ball-winner Steven Salopek professed his admiration for the high-scoring possibilities of the dome, and said he expected the Bombers to continue to attack this week.
"It's a fantastic ground, I love playing there personally, the speed of the ground does create that type of free-flowing game and high scores are kicked there regularly," he said.
"We've been branded as playing exciting football and that's exactly what we want to do this weekend.
"I expect (Essendon) to keep doing the same thing, they played that way in the Collingwood game even when they were losing and credit to them that they're working the same way.
"It is biting them on the other way but in saying that the forward's pressure in the AFL is very important and we need to bring that as well and make them cause turnovers."
Salopek was conscious of Port's need to win a match in Melbourne to restore some of the respect lost on grand final day, though he made sure to add his name to the long list of Power players to utter the phrase: "We've moved on".
"We need to win, we love playing in Melbourne, it is the home of football apparently, we've got a lot of Victorians in the team so that's great for them to play in front of their families for the first time this year," he said.
"But the grand final is past, that's last year, we've moved on, we're six games in now and we need to build on this year and win before the break."
Chad Cornes has been officially listed as being out of action for up to four weeks with a broken right ring finger, leaving a considerable hole as both a player and a leader.
Salopek said it was now up to every other player to pick up the slack.
"He's one who gets the group up and we've got leadership groups down the lines as well and we know we need to take more responsibility on in that regard, rev the group up ourselves," he said.
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