It's time for Port Adelaide to release the kraken

I’m bullish, I’m up, I’m pretty much invincible, it’s February. We’re in the window, right now!

Now clearly, I am as one-eyed as they come. Anyone who’s been on here for a while knows that, I know that, so let’s just get that out of the way. I’m absolutely compromised.

That said, let’s have a look at the squad that will win this year’s cup.

We may as well call it the COVID cup because teams with the most depth are going to be hardest to beat. Some may have to swap shirts at halftime just to make games happen, primary school-style – and I’m all for it.

Scott Pendlebury can have a run around with the real Magpies in September, COVID cover for Taj Schofield or something. We’ll work it out later.

A-graders
There’s plenty, starting with the Brownlow medallist, future Port Adelaide and AFL Hall of Famer, ruiner of last year’s 8-1 Bontempelli-for-Brownlow pineapple punt (which was bittersweet to say the least), Ollie Wines, Travis Boak, Aliir Aliir, Robbie Gray, Tom Jonas, Mitch Georgiades, Scott Lycett, and Zac Butters.

Potential is a dirty word
Conner Rozee, Xavier Duursma (really bullish on this kid), Lachie Jones, Josh Sinn, Miles Bergmann, Sam Hayes, and Willem Drew .

Solid citizens
Dan Houston, Ryan Burton, Trent McKenzie, Karl Amon, Darcy Byrne-Jones, Steven Motlop, and Riley Bonner (the only player who turned up in the prelim).

Need to lift
Todd Marshall, Charlie Dixon, Dylan Williams, Sam Powell-Pepper (somuch talent), Kane Farrell, and Boyd Woodcock.

Not sure where they fit
Tom Clurey (he’s just too small to be a fullback).

Depth
Sam Mayes, Marty Frederick, Jed Mcentee, and Ollie Lord.

Yet to be seen
Jackson Mead, Jake Pasini, Dante Vincente, Hugh Jackson, Jase Burgoyne, and Taj Schofield.

The recruits
Jeremy Finlayson, Sam Skinner, and Trent Dumont.

Injured, as always
Orazio Fantasia

From that, this is the best 22. Not Ken Hinkley’s best, but the actual best.

B: DBJ, Skinner, Alir
Burton, Jonas, Bonner

C: Duursma, Wines, Amon

F: Rozee, Finlayson, Gray
Fantasia, Dixon, Georgiadis

Fo:Lycett, Boak, Butters

INT: SPP, Houston, Jones, Bergman

EMG: Drew, Motlop, Marshall, Pasini

I look at that 22 and it’s pretty powerful, pardon the pun. It would, barring injuries, be a hard team to beat, but does it have the depth?

The answer to this has at least been attempted to be answered by the recruitment team. Two names, Finlayson and Skinner, two mature recruits, both massive bodies, clearly this is a play to help Charlie at one end and Aliir at the other, and they do need help.

Sam Skinner, barring injury, could very well be the recruit of the year. It’s not been mentioned on any podcast or blog that he is 6”6’ and close to 100kgs.

His career has been plagued by injury but was a standout performer in the SANFL last year, earning the call up. If he can stay fit, he may well be the man to take on the big gorillas up forward, allowing Tom Jonas to play on the smaller key or a small forward and Aliir to intercept and go third man up. It’s something Port have been missing since Alipate Carlile way back in 2016.

Finlayson was obtained on the cheap in surprise move from the big, big sound and is a low-risk, possible high-reward recruit. He puts pressure on the underperforming key forward Todd Marshall, something that he hasn’t had in his career to date, his sternest internal opponent up until now being a second ruckman in Peter Ladhams.

It’s time this young man steps up to lead the Port forward line, and I really hope he does, but until he learns to crash a pack then for me he’s second on the list to Finlayson.

This obviously will not happen as he also happens to be a legitimate gold card best 22 member and Ken’s rumoured love child.

We’ll see. I’d be looking at 1.5 goals, a couple of contested marks a game, some crashed packs with some ruck relief as a pass mark for Finlayson. He can help to free Dixon and Georgiadis up to jump at the ball.

I’m going to let you make your own judgement on the first 22. I think it’s as good a best 22 as there is in the league with very few weaknesses across all lines.

I think most will admit that the cattle is there. I’d like to look at the squad as a whole, though. Teams may be playing with no forward line and the AFL have stated that they’re down with that, the show must go on, and begrudgingly I agree with them while shaking my fist at the COVID scourge.

Josh Sinn, Sam Powell-Pepper, Kane Farrell, Trent McKenzie, Tom Clurey, Boyd Woodcock, Dylan Williams, Sam Mayes, Marty Frederick, Jed Mcentee, Ollie Lord, Jackson Mead, Jake Pasini, Dante Vincente, Hugh Jackson, Jase Burgoyne, Taj Schofield – that’s a pretty handy and rounded list of backups if you can even call them that.

(Photo by James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Given the number of games this list is likely to play, I’d guess that almost all of these players will experience AFL action this year and it’s an interesting list when you look at the amount of mature talent the list management team has assembled in key posts as depth.

Port’s recruiting in the early part of the Hinkley tenure was scattergun, and although at the time the Watts, Rockliff and Motlop trades were criticised, Rockliff and particularly Motlop have provided valuable contributions to the Port team.

Motlop is stone cold finisher on the run, still arguably in Port’s best 22 and personally one of my favourite players. The recruitment strategy, as has been well documented, then took a strong pivot towards the draft, but less talked about was the recruitment of players like Mayes and McKenzie, both of whom are solid AFL citizens and would probably get a game at a club in a different premiership cycle.

Mayes has literally won games off his own boot at Port in the super sub role, while McKenzie is strong like an oak rock.

SPP, Farrell, Hayes, Sinn and McKenzie are the important names to note here when talking about quality backup, Clurey helps as well, although I feel he may need to reinvent himself as a rebounding defender should he want his AFL career to continue. He’s quick, good in a contest and steady by foot – there’s room for Tom Clurey in the AFL, just not as a fullback.

We now seem to have a lot of depth in backline key position players, which is a bit weird given how we’ve been for the past few years. There are question marks over our small back depth, but DBJ hasn’t missed a game since Bob Hawke was in power so it should be okay. But that haircut is stupid. Get rid of it, grow a mo like a normal bogan, mate – it’s no good.

Mid depth is looking good with SPP, Mayes and our newest first-round pick Josh Sinn behind the big two. With players like Amon, Drew, Butters and Bergman, who Port expect to spend a lot of time through the middle this year all maturing and coming into their prime.

The forward line is probably our weakest line, but with the acquisition of Finlayson and the improvement of Dylan Williams and Ollie Lord, the depth through the line and the number of players who can go through there with the likes of Gray, Orazio, Rozee and Butters is looking good. Wines and Boak are also quite handy bit part players up front on their day as well.

Dylan Williams kicked a couple of bags of five in the SANFL last year and will be needed when Orazio snaps his hamstring as per the norm, while Lord is a young key forward who has shown promising signs at lower levels. He’s behind Marshall and Finlayson at the moment but may get the CVODI call-up at some stage.

Then there’s the coaching.

Ken Hinkley (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

I don’t like Port’s game plan. The lock it in the front half game we’ve played in the past five years is somewhat effective, but it floods our forward line for large parts of the game, denying the forwards space to run and jump.

Constant triple-teaming of Dixon has become predictable and will continue as long as there are 36 players inside the 50 all day. It needs a tweak, perhaps not a complete overhaul, but an attempt at least to move that zone back towards centre so that when Jonas and co. do force the turnover, you’re not returning straight back into a flooded forward line. Hopefully there’s been plenty of emphasis on what didn’t work last year and corrections made.

Letting your big forward get jumped on by the opposition backline all game isn’t a sustainable plan, especially if you’re the poor big bastard getting jumped on for 26 weeks of the year. Give the big fella a break, Ken, let him run free up the middle of forward lines throughout the country, just in a straight line, flat out, let him steamroll backmen at will, let him fly like a big awesome peacock!

We all want that. Even Crows fans want that. It would be like demolition derby! Jeremy McGovern’s going one way, Weitering the other, DBJ just getting out of the way! Nightmares are made of Charlie Dixon at full pace, completely unable to turn or slow down. Unleash the kraken, Ken!

(Photo by Jono Searle/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)

The coaching really is key for mine. The squad is good, the tactics and game plan need to be sound, it needs to be fast footy to free up space in the front half while still protecting the turnover and Ken needs a plan B, C and D for when things do go wrong. That’s quite vague, I know, but to expand on it is a whole other article and let’s be honest, I’m not a pro footy coach, so I’d probably be wrong.

What I do know is that my man Kenneth Hinkley has three possible futures post-2022.

Firstly, we go to the promised land, he signs for four more years on a million a year, angels sing and joyous celebrations are had by the chosen people.

Secondly, he loses the prelim by a kick, or makes the grand final and scores an honourable loss. He is contracted for 2023, let’s see how we go.

Three, he finishes – heaven forbid – outside the eight, more than a kick down in a prelim or gets pumped in a grand final and I’m sorry, mate, let’s give Alastair Clarkson a call.

I love Kenny, there is a job for him in my lawn-mowing business any day of the week, but he is easily the coach under the most pressure in the AFL this year. Port just made a 4.8m profit – they can afford to pay his last contracted year out.

I look at this list and I see depth, I see a powerful best 22 with enough top end talent to take it all the way. Of course, the AFL season is a marathon and the Power will have a hard draw and all the variables and uncertainty that comes with an elite sporting competition mixed with a virulent virus.

Could they do it? Absolutely! Will they, though? Who knows? But in February, we’re as good a chance as most in what shapes to be one the most open and unpredictable seasons ever.

As I finish this article off, Port have staged a match sim. SPP was clearly best on ground and looks fit with Josh Sinn a standout. Of note was Ryan Burton running through the middle and Zak Butters playing out of the square, so perhaps our perceived midfield difficulties are becoming less difficult?

There seems to be about 15 blokes on Port’s list ready to go through the middle, but I’d prefer we stick with the big guns in Wines, Boak, SPP and Butters for the most part, with Duursma and Amon as the main secondary mids and then backed up by Rozee, Gray and Houston, but that’s just me.

For what it’s worth, it will be a Port Adelaide versus Brisbane grand final with Port getting up by 13. Put your house on it, it’s been arranged, the footy goods are on board.

C’mon the Power!