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Port Adelaide coach Mark Williams admits the retirement of Brendon Lade means the club’s midfield must now rely on sharking taps from opposition ruckmen to break even at the clearances.
The Power impressed in their 78-point NAB Cup quarter-final triumph over West Coast on Saturday night but were comprehensively beaten 41-10 in the hit-outs with big man Dean Brogan rested.
But despite the dominance of Eagles ruck duo Nic Naitanui and Dean Cox, Port still won the clearances 41-27.
Williams later revealed his side has implemented new strategies at the stoppages based around losing the ruck tap but winning the clearance.
“It was more likely we were going to lose a tap and for quite a bit of the year that will happen,” Williams said.
“We’ve set up for years planning on winning.
“We’ve spent a lot of time over the summer considering the alternative of losing and trying to do OK.
“Today it went OK but they had a heap of their best on-ballers out (in Daniel Kerr, Matt Priddis and Andrew Embley).”
Eagles coach John Worsfold said he would be ready for such tactics by the time the season proper rolled around, with West Coast and Port Adelaide to meet in round two.
“We’ll be aware of that and we’ll be ready for it,” Worsfold said.
“We’ve got all confidence that our strategies will be able to cope with different scenarios.”
The Eagles trailed by just 19 points at half-time but were blitzed 13 goals to four after the long break as the Power secured a semi-final showdown with the Bulldogs.
Worsfold remained unfazed despite the size of the loss.
“No (it’s not time to panic), I think it’s still February,” he said.
“I might be panicking if we are one game out of the eight with one game to go.”
The Power were missing star players Warren Tredrea, Brogan, Daniel Motlop, Robbie Gray and Travis Boak but had plenty of players step up in their absence, with Justin Westhoff (23 possessions, two goals) and 19-year-old rookie Cameron Hitchcock (four goals) particularly impressive.
“Cameron Hitchcock for me, he hardly touched the ball at half-time and I was really considering it was a poor choice of selection,” Williams said.
“But we actually talked to him and gave him a bit of a challenge at half-time and it was outstanding to see how he came back.
“I thought Scott Harding (16 possessions, two goals) showed some good stuff as well which is great for him because he struggled a little bit with confidence and where he fits in.
“It’s been a long pre-season coming back from injury so it was good for him.”
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