We continue our countdown to the AFL season with a look at the chances of Port Adelaide Power in 2011.
Team: Port Adelaide Power
Homeground: AAMI Stadium (51,000)
Coach: Matthew Primus
Season 2010: 10th (P-22 W-10 L-12 40pts 82.38%)
2011 squad: Mitch Banner, Travis Boak, Matthew Broadbent, Dean Brogan, John Butcher, Alipate Carlile, Domenic Cassisi, Troy Chaplin, Chad Cornes, Kane Cornes, Jason Davenport, Brett Ebert, Robbie Gray, Hamish Hartlett, Cameron Hitchcock, Ben Jacobs, Matthew Lobbe, Tom Logan, Danny Meyer, Andrew Moore, Daniel Motlop, Marlon Motlop, Ben Newton, Cameron O’Shea, Danyle Pearce, Michael Pettigrew, Simon Phillips, Jasper Pittard, Jarrad Redden, David Rodan, Steven Salopek, Nick Salter, Jay Schulz, Daniel Stewart, Paul Stewart, Jacob Surjan, Matt Thomas, Jackson Trengove, Justin Westoff, Aaron Young Rookie list: Daniel Bass, Mitch Curnow, Callum Hay, Jarrad Irons, Tom Jonas, Daniel Webb.
Ins: Cameron Hitchcock (rookie elevation), Ben Jacobs (2010 AFL Draft), Danny Meyer (rookie elevation), Ben Newton (2010 AFL Draft), Cameron O’Shea (2010 AFL Draft), Simon Phillips (traded from Gold Coast), Aaron Young (2010 AFL Draft).
Outs: Josh Carr (retired), Scott Harding (delisted), Nathan Krakouer (to Gold Coast), Jay Nash (delisted), Wade Thompson (delisted), Warren Tredrea (retired), Matthew Westoff (delisted).
Season preview: The upcoming season will be a year of development for the Power under new coach Matthew Primus. The former Port skipper has been appointed for three seasons and said his main aim is to take Port back to the top four in that time.
Although they had a bad run with injury last year, there were plenty of upsides to Port’s 2010 season.
Versatile tall, Jackson Trengove impressed along with Cameron Hitchcock and Mitch Banner. In defence, Port will miss Nathan Krakouer but Alipate Carlile gave Port drive out of their backline last year while Troy Chaplin enjoyed a career-best season and finished runner-up best and fairest.
If Port can remain injury-free, and get the best out of players like Chad Cornes, Daniel Motlop and Brett Ebert, they may surprise us this season. An established midfield already exists with hungry ball-winners like Kane Cornes alongside Dominic Cassisi and Travis Boak.
And despite leading the league for the highest free-kicks against (46), ruckman Dean Brogan continues to improve.
However there was not enough consistency in the side last year which won five of it’s first seven games, lost the next nine then won five from their last six.
Contested marking and hitting targets will be high on Primus’s list of priorities with the club finishing third-last for contested marks. Despite Kane Cornes’ best efforts, the Power finished the season with the lowest number of hand-balls which may also be on the new coach’s agenda.
Brett Ebert is a star forward in the making but needs to convert more of his opportunities (30) while former Tiger Jay Schulz ended the year as the Power’s leading goalkicker (33). No doubt Primus will want Ebert and Schulz to improve on their respective number of majors but will also ask more from their small forwards.
Best first year player Cameron Hitchcock, showed some razzle-dazzle and kicked 15 goals in his first nine games but dropped off later in the year. He and Motlop should provide the spark lurking around the goal posts but it’s a matter of consistently producing and that’s what the Port Adelaide have been unable to do in the last few years. That’s why we predict the Power to slide down the ladder and finish in the bottom four.
Main man: Kane Cornes. The tenacious ball-winner had a stellar season last year which was capped by his third best and fairest at the club. He works hard around stoppages and is known for his ability to shut down opposition midfielders. The 28-year-old finished seventh in the AFL for possessions last season and is showing no signs of slowing down.
X-Factor: Daniel Motlop is still amazing in front of the big sticks. He was overcome by injury early last season and his form was patchy throughout the year. However if Motlop can rediscover some of the magic that he is capable of producing, then he will light up the Power’s forward line.
Predicted 2011 finish: 16th
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