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Roos and Power struggling to live up to expectations in 2015

Roar Guru
14th June, 2015
7

Having reached the preliminary final stage from outside the top four last year, a lot was expected from North Melbourne and Port Adelaide in 2015, however both clubs appear to be struggling under the weight of expectations this season.

Both North and the Power sit outside the eight with five wins and six losses each, with their premiership ambitions coming into question following their poor first halves of this season.

The Power, which lost to Hawthorn by less than a kick in the preliminary final last year after finishing fifth at the end of the regular season, went down to the Geelong Cats by 23 points at home on Friday night.

After leading by a point at quarter-time, Ken Hinkley’s men were kept on the back foot for the rest of the match against a Geelong side which proved that they are not yet a spent force in the competition.

It was a match many had the Power pencilled in for the win pre-season, given they had beaten the Cats by 40 points in their previous meeting in Round 6 last year, and also entered the match in good form having won their last two matches.

However, the defeat has seen them swap places with the Cats on the ladder and their percentage drop below 100. High-profile recruit Paddy Ryder and defender Jackson Trengove missed the match due to injury.

Ryder was seen by many as the missing piece in the Power’s premiership puzzle, but has struggled since crossing from Essendon, managing no more than 14 disposals in any match this season. He did, however, record 35 hitouts as the club narrowly defeated North Melbourne by eight points in Round 3.

He has now missed the last three matches due to an Achilles injury but should be back next Saturday when the Power travel to the MCG for the only time this season to face Carlton in their last match before their Round 13 bye.

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It’s a match the Power must win if they are to attempt to resuscitate their season, especially with tough matches against the Sydney Swans (at the SCG), Collingwood and the Adelaide Crows (both at home) to come after the break.

The club’s current struggles is comparable to those faced by the Adelaide Crows several years ago, in which they made the preliminary final in 2012 under first-year coach Brenton Sanderson but have failed to make the finals since.

The Crows’ failure to perform up to the expectations brought about by their unexpected run to the final four three years ago was one of the factors that eventually resulted in Sanderson being sacked at the end of last season.

Thus, Power fans will be hoping that the club doesn’t fall in the same trap as the Crows did all those years ago and that they will finally start living up to the pre-season expectations that they would challenge the likes of Hawthorn, the Sydney Swans and Fremantle for the AFL premiership.

The Kangaroos, on the other hand, lost out to the Sydney Swans by 16 points at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night, but did produce a much better effort than last year’s preliminary final in which they copped a 71-point hiding.

Although they stayed with the second-placed Swans for most of the match, it was a five-goal-to-one second quarter for John Longmire’s men that proved to be the difference as the Roos dropped their sixth match for the season.

Caretaker coach Darren Crocker, who is filling in for Brad Scott who is sidelined due to back surgery, said the Roos “shot themselves in the foot” for not taking their chances, finishing with 25 scoring shots to the Swans’ 21.

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The club, which was seen as the leading Victorian contender to Hawthorn for the flag, remains in 12th place on the ladder with a percentage of 90.8, and with their finals ambitions quickly slipping away.

They now face a crunch match against the rapidly improving, but injury-ravaged, GWS Giants (fifth with a percentage of 107) at Spotless Stadium this Saturday afternoon. It will be their first trip to Sydney since suffering that aforementioned preliminary final defeat to the Swans next door at ANZ Stadium last September.

In fact, by the time Brad Scott returns sometime after the bye, their top four hopes could already be killed off, pending on how they fare against the Giants and Gold Coast Suns (17th, 66.2%) at Metricon Stadium on either side of the Round 13 bye.

Like the Power, the Roos picked up some experienced players during the off-season in their bid to go one better this season, with the biggest of them – Jarrad Waite – failing to live up to his value.

Apart from a seven-goal haul against the Brisbane Lions in Round 2, the ex-Carlton forward has not kicked more than three goals in any other match, and went goalless on five occasions, including in the 16-point loss to the Swans.

A lengthy injury toll also hasn’t helped the cause of the Roos, with Nick Dal Santo, Majak Daw and Daniel Wells among those currently sidelined. It is hoped that the former’s likely return against the Suns in Round 14, and that of coach Brad Scott in Round 15, could be the start of a second-half season revival for the club.

But while both North Melbourne and Port Adelaide, the two clubs many expected to contend for a top-four finish this season after reaching the preliminary final last year, are currently struggling under the weight of expectations, all hope is not lost.

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In 2008, St Kilda were tenth on the ladder with a 5-7 record after Round 12, and were not considered by many to be premiership contenders at the time, despite the club reaching a pair of preliminary finals in 2004 and 2005 under Grant Thomas.

However, under second-year coach Ross Lyon, the Saints would produce an amazing second half of the season, culminating in a 108-point victory over Essendon in the final round, to finish in the top four with a 13-9 record and reach the preliminary final, which they lost to eventual premiers Hawthorn.

They then reached consecutive grand finals in 2009 and 2010, but failed to get over the line in any of them. Still, the Saints were able to build on their strong 2008 season and keep its flag window open until Lyon left the club at the end of 2011.

Thus, one can only hope that either the Kangaroos or Power can prove their worth as serious premiership contenders with a strong second half of 2015, while their finals hopes are still alive.

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