There were dozens of sliding doors moments in Port Adelaide’s crushing extra-time loss to West Coast, but the Power are out of the AFL finals because they didn’t kick straight.
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That was the blunt assessment of coach Ken Hinkley after Luke Shuey’s after-the-siren goal sealed a pulsating 12.6 (78) to 10.16 (76) elimination final win over wayward Port at Adelaide Oval.
Asked if he could go back do just one thing differently, the shattered coach chose the one issue that haunted Port’s season.
“Kick straight,” Hinkley said.
“It’s been our problem for large parts of the year. We’ve worked really hard on it but we just haven’t been able to convert the way we should.
“That’s a work in progress – we understand that – but it costs and hurts tonight more than you can imagine.
“We dominated the game, there’s no doubt about that, but we didn’t dominate the scoring. We didn’t kick straight when we needed to, but the Eagles found a way to win and I give them great credit for that.”
The Power, who trailed by a game-high 31 points early in the second term, led by as much as 13 points in extra time after scores were tied at 60 points apiece at the end of regulation time.
Shuey slotted his pivotal goal from 40m out on a 45-degree angle after Jared Polec took him high – a free kick that Hinkley agreed was there.
With the dust barely settled on his side’s heartbreaking end to the season, Hinkley declared 2017 a year of great improvement for his club.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the side that we put out there and the way they went about it because not many people gave them much hope at the start of this year,” he said.
“By the end of the year … we’ve improved enormously as a football club.
“We didn’t play finals last year and we finished fifth on the ladder at the end of the home-and-away season.
“There’s significant improvement, but in a final that you lose by two points it doesn’t quite feel that way.”
Philby
Guest
Classy response by Hinkley to say all that straight after the game.
Brandon the 1st
Guest
U can put Robbie Gray on that list as well, to many easy misses. Usually Dixon is our best kick for goal, but maybe the nerves crept in, first final and all. Only 365 days till next year's finals though, so that's great!
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
But it’s not just Port, there are players across the country that need to go back and practice. Yup. So many teams, so many misses. Is it too harsh to call some of this putrid accuracy a blight on our game?
Jon Kau
Guest
Could not agree more. I'm no Port fan, but attended one of their games this year, and the kicking from Wingard, S. Gray and occasionally Dixon were poor. And we are talking 30-40m out with 30-45 degree angles. But it's not just Port, there are players across the country that need to go back and practice.