AFL Tipping
Round 2 Published Thursday 19 March 2026, 3:31 PM AWST

Round 2

Port Adelaide 16th • 0-1
vs
Essendon 17th • 0-1

Adelaide Oval  ·  Sun 22 Mar, 3:15 PM

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Recommendation

Port Adelaide  73%

High

Margin: ~17 pts (1–50)

Port Adelaide Essendon
73%
27%

Port Adelaide are strong favorites at Adelaide Oval, where they've been virtually untouchable against Essendon — winning all five previous meetings at the venue. The Power are in better recent form with a +22.8 margin differential, and they'll be bolstered by home-ground advantage in pleasant conditions that suit their style of play. Essendon's injury list is significantly longer with four key outs including key defender Ridley, while Port will manage without Soldo and Powell-Pepper. The Bombers face the added challenge of traveling interstate, which typically counts against them in this matchup, and Port's 7-1 record in the last eight meetings tells you everything about the competitive edge at this venue.

Match summary

Form · Rub of the green · Venue · Travel / turnaround

Form PORT · big edge
PORT Recent margin form is running 22.8 pts better. ESS
Rub of the green PORT · big edge
PORT Port Adelaide +5.6 pts PORT +0.1 · ESS -5.5 ESS
Venue PORT · big edge
PORT true home ground, fortress edge ESS
Travel / turnaround PORT · solid edge
PORT interstate travel, rest differential ESS
Head to head PORT · small edge
PORT Recent meetings lean this matchup. ESS

Umpire Crew

How this crew has historically impacted each side

Rub of the green PORT +0.1 · ESS -5.5

Crew lean: Port Adelaide +5.6 pts

Port Adelaide Essendon

127 combined team-specific lined samples

Nathan Toner Nathan Toner No. 25 Port Adelaide +0.5 pts 6 matches Essendon -12.3 pts 15 matches Curtis Deboy Curtis Deboy No. 11 Port Adelaide -4.9 pts 35 matches Essendon -9.3 pts 17 matches Leigh Fisher Leigh Fisher No. 3 Port Adelaide +6.7 pts 26 matches Essendon +0.5 pts 28 matches Joseph O'Brien Joseph O'Brien No. 44 Port Adelaide 0.0 pts No history Essendon 0.0 pts No history

Context

Weather ☀ Hot (29.0°C) · forecast Sun 22 Mar
Odds Port Adelaide: $1.37  ·  Essendon: $3.11
Market line -18.5
Recent H2H Port Adelaide lead the last 8 meetings 7-1 (Adelaide Oval: 5-0)

Injury / Availability

Availability impact looks balanced this week

Port Adelaide 3 out · 1 test
Minor impact
Key absences
Unavailable
Ivan Soldo
Out
Sam Powell-Pepper
Out
Tom Cochrane
Tests / watchlist
Test Mani Liddy
Essendon 8 out
Minor impact
Key absences
Unavailable
Nic Martin
Out
Lewis Hayes
Out
Jordan Ridley
Tests / watchlist

No tests listed.

Injury list
Port Adelaide
Unavailable
Ivan Soldo season
Out
Sam Powell-Pepper 2 weeks
Out
Tom Cochrane 1-2 weeks
Test
Mani Liddy Test / uncertain
Essendon
Unavailable
Nic Martin season
Out
Lewis Hayes 2 weeks
Out
Jordan Ridley 1 week
Out
Tom Edwards 1 week
Out
Angus Clarke 3+ weeks
Out
Cillian Bourke 3+ weeks
Out
Nick Bryan 3+ weeks
Out
Will Setterfield 3+ weeks

Performance snapshot

Venue edge plus recent form and season-to-date situational rates.

Venue performance

Adelaide Oval

Port Adelaide Based on 137 completed games at Adelaide Oval
Win rate 61%
Avg margin +11
Essendon Based on 15 completed games at Adelaide Oval
Win rate 47%
Avg margin -18

Season performance

Port Adelaide
Record 0-1
Avg margin -46
Upset win % —
Win % vs top 8 0%
Home win % vs interstate —
Road win % vs interstate 0%
Essendon
Record 0-1
Avg margin -62
Upset win % 0%
Win % vs top 8 0%
Home win % vs interstate —
Road win % vs interstate —

Last 5 this season

Port Adelaide
L
vs North Melbourne -46 · Round 1
Essendon
L
vs Hawthorn -62 · Round 1

Team selection

Official AFL team sheet · updated Thursday Mar 19, 2026

Port Adelaide

Essendon

Selected team
FB [7] Jase Burgoyne, [27] Esava Ratugolea, [4] Todd Marshall
HB [14] Miles Bergman, [21] Aliir Aliir, [6] Kane Farrell
C [22] Logan Evans, [1] Connor Rozee, [15] Jacob Wehr
HF [18] Jason Horne-Francis, [19] Mitch Georgiades, [5] Joe Berry
FF [33] Darcy Byrne-Jones, [17] Jack Whitlock, [35] Joe Richards
FOL [24] Jordon Sweet, [9] Zak Butters, [28] Willem Drew
IC [44] Corey Durdin, [31] Ewan Mackinlay, [43] Josh Lai, [38] Dante Visentini, [23] Will Brodie, [37] Jack Watkins, [3] Jackson Mead, [12] Jack Lukosius
Selected team
FB [25] Jaxon Prior, [32] Ben McKay, [31] Zach Reid
HB [21] Archie Roberts, [27] Mason Redman, [1] Andrew McGrath
C [28] Xavier Duursma, [6] Jye Caldwell, [8] Brayden Fiorini
HF [22] Sam Durham, [30] Nate Caddy, [16] Archie Perkins
FF [10] Isaac Kako, [20] Peter Wright, [4] Kyle Langford
FOL [46] Lachlan Blakiston, [3] Darcy Parish, [7] Zach Merrett
IC [11] Jade Gresham, [15] Dyson Sharp, [26] Archer May, [29] Max Kondogiannis, [33] Hussien El Achkar, [40] Zak Johnson, [41] Saad El-Hawli, [42] Jayden Nguyen
Ins
[24] Jordon Sweet, [43] Josh Lai, [23] Will Brodie, [3] Jackson Mead, [12] Jack Lukosius
Ins
[10] Isaac Kako, [11] Jade Gresham, [41] Saad El-Hawli
Outs
Lachie Jones - Injured, Ollie Lord - Omitted
Outs
None listed
Milestones
[43] Josh Lai - Debut game
Milestones
None listed