Port heads north to Central Oval this coming Saturday to take on South Augusta.

South lost to West in the first round by 44 points. The following week they were well in front of Central at three quarter time but went down by six points, then last week had a 20 point win over the Lions.

Port and South have had some good battles over the years. The last time they met was in the second semi final here at Port Pirie last year.

On that occasion Port was able to hold on and win by five points and gained a berth in the grand final. South will still be hurting from that game and will be out to knock off the 2007 SGL premiers.

The Port Bulldogs will be going to Port Augusta without at least three of their players from last weekend’s game against Solomontown.

Jack Clarke and Vance Remphrey are out suspended, Chad Parrish is unavailable and Tom Clarke is under an injury cloud.

But Port has the depth in the seconds to cover these players with Adam Wilson kicking 12 goals for his first game for the season, Jamie McNamara who also played well for his first game this season, along with Ben Simpson, Jamie Dunkley and Lex Williams who missed last week with concussion.

South, on the other hand, have the dangerous Bradley Amos coming back into form kicking four goals against the Lions last week, and no doubt Port’s Chris Stevens will again be given the job of containing Amos.

South also have big Ian Brown and the dashing Trevor Hannes who has been dangerous in front of goal and has the ability to help South kick a winning score.

Port also has good firepower up forward with Adam Wilson and Brodie Mudge giving the green and whites targets, while crumbing players Jordan Coombe, Greg Phillips and Andrew Waters all love to kick a goal or two.

The return of Michael Burford last week was a welcome inclusion for the Port club and he will ensure that the green and whites Norm Wombat and Andrew Fleming, who is in great form, get first use of the ball out of the centre and around the ground. South also have good talent in the centre of the ground with Brock Laube in ruck and on ball players Ryan Struck, Adam Grantham and Daniel Dohnt.

This game is sure to be a close encounter, but going on the results of the past two rounds, Port handled the Lions with ease, while South by the scoreboard seemed to struggle. Therefore on this occasion I am selecting Port by 20-30 points.