Rosey's 2015 AFL preview: Port Adelaide

Another good piece Cam. Can't argue with putting Port up this high, personally, outside of my own side in North, they'd be my tip to win the flag. The amount of talent on their list is very impressive - their midfield runs deep and is highly damaging, it virtually spills over and becomes half their forward line. That is a recipe for success. The only weakness for them I'd say would be their defenders. Still, I would've said the same about Hawthorn in the last two years. The reality is that if your midfield is good enough, your defenders will do fine. There's a lot of similarities between the Power and the Hawks really - both are sides built on speed and skills, and the Power have started pursuing a very Hawthorny list management policy lately. They've traded their first round picks every year under Hinkley so far which has helped them build a more and more talented team. Especially when you consider that the majority of their most important players are in the middle or early parts of their career, I think they have a real opportunity to set up a dynasty over the next few years. It would be a real surprise to me if they did not win a premiership with this group, and an underachievement I think if they did not win at least two. Ollie Wines will be considered a top 10 player in the league in a few years time and I would put money on him winning a Brownlow in his career.

A couple of things during that "losing" run was a couple of the losses were due to bad kicking for goal (just like the prelim) and also poor weather hampers our running game. If we get Ryder back by rd 6 and with the inclusion of Krackouer (top 10 draft pick who lost it between the ears but has been great this pre season) and more game time into the younger guys depth shouldn't be a problem, Cornes is the only one being affected by age at this point.

They are much like the Swans team of 05-06 in the basis of a very deep 2nd tier that TomC has identified. The Swans of that era had a few genuine superstars, thena lot of genuinally solid footballers. They play very different football to that almighty Swans team however! Port will be exceptionally hard to beat, and if they start the season well, then watch out! A real chance to go all the way I feel, as long as they get more improvement out of their list - sometimes teams can plateau before kicking on to the next level. Despite not having much time for Kochy, his football team are mighty good to watch!

It's definitely the case that Port were found wanting during the period last year when a few injuries bobbed up. Luckily, they managed to get it back together near the business end of the season, but it cost them a top 4 position - and who knows what could have happened then? As for accurate kicking from Freo in the first half of the final meaning lights out for Port, Power supporters may well argue that accurate kicking from Port in the first quarter of the prelim could have spelled lights out for Hawthorn! I'm hoping for the best, but I do acknowledge that they're first quarter of the season is incredibly tough and will make or break them.

I also wonder if they can get a decent umpire or two on prelim final day this year?

Yeah, I'm inclined to agree with you Cam. The only thing I'd add is their home ground advantage. Should they finish top 2, the prospect of 2 home finals should make it just a little bit easier to get through to the grand final. Although last years final series turned the accepted wisdom about top-4 finishes on it's head. Until last year, the genuine contenders for the flag were confined to the top 4. Come September, we'll know whether last year was an aberration or a sign that the top teams are closer than ever.

We're looking very good Rosey but I've been hurt before. Felt the same way from 2001-2003. But unlike Choco, there's something about Hinkley's rhetoric as you highlighted above that suggests to me he will not allow this team to underperform. The best part is we've only just opened our premiership window, in fact it's probably not fully open yet - and looking at the age profile of our list it will be open for a while yet. Exciting times. However, Hawthorn and Sydney will still take some beating.

It’s very true. Port Adelaide are the feelgood story of the AFL right now. What strikes me about their list profile is that while they only have a small number of genuine superstars (Boak, Gray, arguably Wingard) their second-tier bats incredibly deep – Westhoff, Schulz, Carlile, Ebert, Wines, Polec, Lobbe, Cornes, Hartlett, Trengove and now Ryder would improve any side significantly. They’re in the fortunate position of having a lot of proven ability without it being concentrated in a small number of players. So someone can get injured or fall out of form and the side just keeps going. I think I’d probably play Impey ahead of O’Shea, just because that backline looks a little one-paced. I still have a nagging feeling that there’s a few too many average ball users in this team, and that this might be more exposed this year, particularly if the likes of Gray and Polec drop away at all. But on the flip side it’s easy to see where improvement could come from in 2015 (Wines, Wingard, Impey, Ryder, Hombsch, maybe even Butcher) so this might be their year. I have the Swans fractionally ahead of them for the moment.

One of the teams that I will be making an effort to watch on a weekly (minimum fortnightly) basis - time permitting of course. They are exciting, young, fearless and have all the right structures in place off the field, which translates into confidence through the players on the field. Their midfield is so deep and the guys they have running through the middle in Boak, Harlett, Wines, Polec, Ebert, Cornes are just as damaging when resting forward because they all have goal sense but Port don’t lose anything in the middle because they can rotate Wingard, Monfries, Gray and White through there as well. How good has Schultz become at the Power? Seriously his career was just about gone when he left the Tigers but Hinkley is getting more out of this guy than any other previous coach. Ryder gives them another element in the Ruck/Forward line and their back six, although not as feted as other teams gets the job done, which is exactly what you want from the back six. They should finish top 4 and Top 2 is not out of the question. A Round 1 match up with Fremantle is a must watch – two teams with Top 4 aspirations in front of a huge crowd.

Fantastic team to watch play footy and great depth of skill in the midfield and particularly forward line. The backline shuts down on opponents but still provides fantastic rebounding, which is a quality sometimes underrated. I think the major risk for Port is their lack of depth outside their best 22. Hawks, Freo and Swans have all had good players not make their side in the past couple of years. When Port struck injury in the second-half of last season, they started to lose a few games. I hope they have really good luck with injuries in 2015 because they showcase football how it should be played. The other three sides I've mentioned here can all play ugly zone-press football at times which is frustrating to watch if you barrack for the opposition. But if you barrack for the opposition against Port, you can't help but still admire and enjoy watching them.

Such an exciting, attacking team to watch - best since Geelong in 2007. They have a very hard start to the season, and may drop some games early, which may lead to a drop off in expectation. Win those games and they'll be well set. Either way we'd expect them to be right there at the end. Injuries to key players like Boak, Trengrove, Grey and a couple of others could be the only thing stopping them - a team's team, but those guys are irreplaceable.

I am not as convinced by Port. I think they are a very good side though. However, if Freo had kicked straight in the first half of the SF last year it would have been lights out. I think their strength is their running game but other teams have picked up their fitness this year - Lyon reckons Freo has done 40% more work this pre-season (and we sure have the soft tissue issues to prove it!). Port have come home with a rush in a number of games last year which shows they are really fit but I don't know they have the flexibility in their game to deal so well when the game is going against them. There were a couple of occasions last year when their opposition got a run on and they didn't react quickly. If those opposition teams are fitter this year then perhaps Port's superior fitness won't be quite such a weapon. I also think they really had some problems when they suffered injuries in their backline - this is where their depth appears thinner (along with last year the ruck). Ryder looks a very good pick up - even though I actively dislike him for knocking out McPharlap a couple of times - and will definitely improve the team but when will he and Want Frees start their 2015 season?