PORT Adelaide will host Adelaide Oval’s first AFL game on Anzac Day — and the Power has scored a blockbuster that could rewrite attendance records at the venue from the duel with AFL premier Hawthorn.

The game — a rematch of the epic preliminary final won by the Hawks by three points at the MCG — will be played as a Saturday night event with a 7.10 start.

Port Adelaide made an Anzac Round clash at home its major request for the AFL fixture that will be released on Thursday. To score the AFL premier with the Saturday night timeslot reflects the new power Port Adelaide has at the AFL planning table where league executive Simon Lethlean is rewarding the Power for drawing crowds at the Oval and generating impressiveDay will be on Saturday, April 25 with no public holiday in SA on the Monday.

Port Adelaide’s opening month in the AFL premiership season will be commercially attractive but challenging for Ken Hinkley’s team with matches against Fremantle, Sydney, Adelaide and Hawthorn.

ANZAC TRADITION

SINCE joining the AFL in 1997, Port Adelaide has played at home during the Anzac Round in every season but 1998, 1999 and 2001.

The Power has

HOSTED 12 Anzac clashes — five against St Kilda, two against Geelong and one against each of Adelaide, Brisbane, Gold Coast, West Coast and the Western Bulldogs.

PLAYED in three Showdowns with the Crows as the “away” team — 2002, 2003 and 2012.

Only one game has fallen on Anzac Day, April 25 — against the Western Bulldogs in 2004.

The biggest crowd to