Port Adelaide are terrible. There’s no passion, no effort, no skills, no fitness, I could go on for years.
Talent isn’t the issue. We’re only two years removed from Port Adelaide being one of the best midfields in the competition, and the troops haven’t really changed since then. You’d have to think that most of the guys running through that midfield are much better than they’ve shown this year.
The forward line is dangerous when healthy. A good mix of talls and smalls that were (once again) one of the best a short two years ago. You could blame it on the supply from the midfield this season, but there’s been a bad habit of overusing the ball inside 50.
In fact, I’d only put forward three or four games this season where Port’s forward line has played well.
The defence has been ravaged by injury and suspension, but they are a little threadbare back there. That may be the target for a first-round pick or a trade this offseason, in particular a tall.
The pieces are definitely there, so why are they underperforming? Why has Travis Boak suffered through the worst season of his career? Why has the scoring dried up so much this season? Why are they losing to mediocre teams by 40 at home?
Ken Hinkley.
Port Adelaide swept through the 2013 and 2014 seasons with a breathtaking style of footy. They were running teams off their feet, and then off the ground. As mentioned before, every line on the ground looked good, as they got wins in September both years.
Then teams figured them out. That’s OK, it happens. What shouldn’t happen though, is a complete unwillingness to change the game plan.
Sure, the Bulldogs and the Giants have shown a similar style of play in the last
couple of years, but they do it differently. They pick their spots to run hard, and usually choose to perfection.
Port Adelaide play on all the time, often to their own detriment. The amount of times this season where someone has taken a mark in defensive 50, only to play on into pressure, is remarkable.
It’s an energy sapping game style that, quite frankly, doesn’t work anymore. And yet Ken Hinkley continues to push it, without even considering a Plan B (or what should be a different Plan A).
He continues to want the players to bust their guts on a weekly basis. Too much focus has been put into fitness, and not enough into skills (Port are dead last in kicking efficiency).
I strongly believe that Port Adelaide can be a Top 4 (or thereabouts) team with the right coaching and game plan. I’ve heard ‘Bomber’ Thompson is available. There’s also a guy sitting out there by the name of Brett Ratten that’s had some success in the past.
If Port Adelaide are serious about contending, they’ll go after one of these guys. If they’re not, they’ll stick with the same tired game plan that the fans are getting sick of.
Yes, Hinkley was brilliant for two seasons, but this is a cut-throat business. If you don’t adapt, you die.
It was yes we Ken a couple years ago. Now, unfortunately, it’s the exact opposite.
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