GEELONG CATS vs PORT ADELAIDE POWER
Geelong facing Port Adelaide at Simonds Stadium was a game many would have tipped as a guaranteed victory for the Cats at the start of the season, but the result is far from certain. The Power, who finished 14th last year, are the most improved side in the competition and currently occupy eighth spot on the ladder. They are two wins clear of ninth-placed Carlton and appear destined to play finals for the first time since 2007, when they played the Cats in the Grand Final. Geelong lost in an upset to North Melbourne last week, sacrificing their position in the top two, but have responded emphatically every time they have been beaten this year. Following the loss to Adelaide, they thrashed St Kilda by 101 points, and dismantled the Dockers to win by 41 points after losing to Brisbane. The previous encounter with Port Adelaide was also preceded by a Geelong defeat. The Cats rebounded ruthlessly from their loss to Collingwood in round eight, beating the Power by 48 points in Adelaide. They will hope to bounce back just as strongly this week in front of a full house at Kardinia Park. Port Adelaide are sure to offer greater resistance than earlier in the year, having displayed an ability to come from behind and match it with the best with wins over Sydney and Collingwood since round nine. In that time Geelong have delivered brilliant performances sprinkled with uncharacteristically lacklustre football. No team can flirt with form, especially in the final month of the home and away season. The Cats maintain aspirations to finish the year in the top two, but know that the quality of football they deliver on Saturday is just as crucial as the result.

Last Time They Met
Round 9, 2013, AAMI Stadium
Geelong       18 - 8 - 116
Pt Adelaide   9 - 14 - 68

Geelong travelled to play the Power at AAMI Stadium for the first time since the opening round of 2008. Trent West, who replaced Dawson Simpson last week, celebrated his 50 game milestone with an impressive interstate victory. The Cats dominated from the opening bounce, kicking nine goals before Port scored a major. It was a day out for the big forwards. James Podsiadly kicked four goals and Tom Hawkins, in his best game for the year, booted six. Steve Johnson was the pick of the midfielders, gathering 33 disposals, while Harry Taylor dominated across half back, adding 10 marks and 29 possessions. As they have all season, the Power mounted a challenge, but a seven goal half time deficit was too much to manage. The final result was 48 points, Port Adelaide’s biggest defeat of the year.

Players to Watch
CHAD WINGARD vs COREY ENRIGHT
Chad Wingard has played a season worthy of All Australian selection and is the most exciting young talent in the Port Adelaide side. An Adelaide local, he announced himself to the wider football public with a best on ground performance last week, kicking five goals in the South Australian showdown. Wingard was taken with pick six in the 2011 draft, one of only two players in the top 10 not selected by GWS. He debuted in round one last year and played 19 games in his debut season, winning the Gavin Wanganeen medal as the best young Power player. He runs short spurts through the midfield and is a versatile half forward, equally dangerous at ground level and in the air. Yet to miss a game in 2013, Wingard averages 22 disposals and two goals a match. He has accumulated at least 20 possessions in all but three games, displaying incredible consistency for a player who just turned 20. Only once has he failed to kick a major this season, held goalless in round nine by the Cats. Geelong will endeavour to repeat this effort and champion defender Corey Enright is the man best equipped for the task. Young Cat Jackson Thurlow was given the role earlier this year, but Wingard has elevated his game to new heights since then and poses the biggest threat in the Power forward line. Enright has the aerial ability to counter Wingard and reads the play well enough to nullify any difference in foot speed. He averages 7.4 marks and almost 23 possessions a game playing across half back. Wingard has been a consistent performer through is brief career, but his opponent is Mr Consistent. Now in his 13th season with the Cats, Enright has finished in the top five in Geelong’s best and fairest seven times and was an All Australian in four successive seasons between 2008 and 2011.

JUSTIN WESTHOFF vs ANDREW MACKIE
Justin Westoff started his football career as a gangly young athlete with enormous potential, earning cult hero status when he debuted for the Power in 2007. Playing his first game in round 10, Westhoff kicked 34 goals for the year, a feat he is yet to better in seven season at the top level. Like many at Port Adelaide, Westhoff’s form dropped dramatically after the Grand Final drubbing at the hands of Geelong. The talented young prospect seemed as though he would fade into football oblivion. Ken Hinkley and the new administration at Albion have regenerated the club over the last year, and Westhoff, too, has been rejuvenated. He averages 17.7 possessions, three tackles and almost six marks per game this season. Standing at 197cm tall, he has the athleticism to play as a key defender, a marking forward, on the wing as well pinch hit in the ruck. In recent years he has struggled to settle in any one position, but is now playing with the confidence to move as required and have an impact all over the ground. Westhoff received a mark of the year nomination in round 17 for his match saving grab against a fast finishing St Kilda. He had been rotating between the ruck and half forward when, with two minutes remaining and five points the difference, Westhoff ran the length of the ground to launched himself over a pack deep in defence. This passage of play represented all of Weshoff’s strengths; the ability to read the play, a willingness to run hard to support teamates, and the talent to influence the outcome of a match. Andrew Mackie possesses all of these strengths and, at 192cm, he has the height and athleticism to match Westhoff. Mackie took nine marks against Port Adelaide in round nine, and averages six per game this season. He has experience defending against big power forwards and is most threatening when he can push up the ground and use his long kick to penetrate the forward 50. Mackie averages 20 disposals, so can negate Westhoff deep in defence and force him to defend if they both line up on the wing. Before drafting Westhoff at the end of 2006, Port Adelaide had tried to lure a young Andrew Mackie back to his home town. Since then Mackie has been a reliable component of a back line on which a successful premiership era has been built. He was the only Cat to play every game last year and is yet to miss a game this season.

Did You Know?
Chad Wingard scored the winning goal last week, his fifth for the match, with less than a minute remaining. The goal determined the outcome of the final showdown at AAMI Stadium, the only game in 35 South Australian derbies decided by less than a kick.
Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley played 121 games for the Cats and was an assistant coach at the club between 2004 and 2009. He took over from caretaker coach Gary Hocking, who remains at the Power as an assistant.

Gary Hocking was also a player, and captain at Geelong. Affectionately known as “Buddha,” Hocking was a champion midfielder who played 274 games for the Cats. He was a four time All-Australian and four time Carji Greeves medalist. Last year Hocking took  the top job at Port Adelaide on a temporary basis, following the midseason sacking of Matthew Primus.
Matthew Primus played for the Geelong under 19s before he was picked up by Port Adelaide. He went on to captain and coach the club but has historical ties to Geelong. Primus is the grandson of club legend Reg Hickey, a premiership captain and three time premiership coach.