{"id":303534,"date":"2023-06-03T08:40:35","date_gmt":"2023-06-03T08:40:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=303534"},"modified":"2023-06-03T08:58:19","modified_gmt":"2023-06-03T08:58:19","slug":"afl-records-shattered-in-mercy-rule-humiliation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=303534","title":{"rendered":"AFL records shattered in 'mercy rule' humiliation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Port Adelaide<\/a> has handed Hawthorn<\/a> a crushing 55-point defeat at Adelaide Oval, with the outcome essentially sewn up before half-time.<\/p>\n

The Power recorded their highest first half score in club history as more goals rolled in the cement their 23.13 (151) to 14.12 (96) victory on Saturday.<\/p>\n

As the Power \ufeffcarried out an unrivalled first half, several records were shattered.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Djokovic blasts 'disrespectful' Roland-Garros fans\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Aussie gun's amazing feat, champ's world record demolition\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Explosive Hawthorn twist 'cuts deep', says Lewis\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Hawthorn<\/p>\n

Firstly, the team \ufeffscored six unanswered goals to start the match before going onto to total the highest first quarter of any team so far this season with 9.3 (57).<\/p>\n

Jeremy Finlayson had a four-goal opening term to set up his side before equalling his career best with a fifth goal in the second term.<\/p>\n

By half-time, the Power had piled on a \ufeffmighty 16 goals, while only conceding three, to lead by 82 points.<\/p>\n

Combined with their score \ufeffof 16.9 (105), the total was both the club's greatest half-time margin and the largest first-half total in its history in the AFL<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Remarkably, this was also the \ufeffleague's second-highest half-time score behind St Kilda's 17.6 (108) against the Giants in round 22, 2012.<\/p>\n

It was also the first time since Richmond played Gold Coast in round 16, 2019 that an AFL team had exceeded the 100-point mark before the main break.<\/p>\n

"Is there a mercy rule?," Adelaide legend Mark Ricciuto said on Fox Footy's coverage.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/mattturner1986\/status\/1664862750777180160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a><\/p>\n

Dual All-Australian Leigh Montagna said the Hawks were helpless against the Power.<\/p>\n

"There's nothing they can do at the moment, Hawthorn. I'm not sure what they can do to stop the onslaught because Port Adelaide is ruthless," Montagna told Fox Footy.<\/p>\n

"They're not going to let up at all, they're going to continue to attack, go after the Hawks because they can sense the vulnerability."<\/p>\n

Premiership Kangaroo David King was also in awe of the control wielded by Ken Hinkley's men.<\/p>\n

"Port Adelaide players are prepared to put their nose absolutely over the ball and Hawthorn don't have that same investment," King told Fox Footy.<\/p>\n

"They're harder, tougher and lower than Hawthorn at the moment and they're making a statement. I'm enjoying this.<\/p>\n

"They're putting on a show, their clearance work has been supreme \u2026 they're making them pay here."<\/p>\n

Of the Power's 16 first-half goals, seven came from errors or turnovers in their defensive half.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/sirswampthing\/status\/1664883112885764098?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a><\/p>\n

"I've never seen a ball movement game like this from the defensive 50 \u2026 This is awful defensive play here from Hawthorn," King said.<\/p>\n

"There was always going to be days like this for the Hawks. There were going to be some beltings in their early days \u2026 but the story really is Port Adelaide and their ability to punish."<\/p>\n

Montagna added: "Hawthorn's defensive system is just non-existent in this first half. It has been really poor, allowing the Port Adelaide side to do as they please, particularly through the middle of the ground."<\/p>\n

While Hawthorn perked up in the second half, by then it was too little too late.<\/p>\n

The main consolation \ufefffor the Hawks was veteran forward Luke Breust kicking his 500th career goal.<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Port Adelaide has handed Hawthorn a crushing 55-point defeat at Adelaide Oval, with the outcome essentially sewn up before half-time. The Power recorded their highest […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":303536,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303534"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=303534"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303534\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":303537,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303534\/revisions\/303537"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/303536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=303534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=303534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=303534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}