PORT ADELAIDE ruckman Paddy Ryder has warned the Power still has a lot of room to improve, despite recording four wins in a row.
The Power beat bottom-placed Carlton by 21 points at the MCG on Saturday, to spoil Carlton defender Kade Simpson’s 300th game celebration.
Ryder told Melbourne radio station SEN his side didn’t play all that well against the Blues but the result was important.
“They were awesome,” Ryder said.
“People look at the game and reviewed it as Carlton being bottom of the ladder but from playing them out there, they were a big club wanting to get up for one of their
“They had some stars over the ground and luckily for us, we probably had a bit more class.”
The win was Port Adelaide’s sixth win in seven games.
Its only loss in that time was by three points to Hawthorn in Tasmania.
“We’re going pretty well,” Ryder said.
“I think we’ve still got a lot of upside in our team and we’re focussing on trying to play our style of footy for as long as we can in games.
“We feel like if we play out style of footy for longer in the game we’ll come away with the win.”
Ryder, the 2017 All-Australian ruckman, has showcased his importance to the Power line-up after sitting out five matches with an Achilles injury which flared up in round one.
He said he was enjoying seeing the multitude of quality ruckmen in the competition this season.
“Every ruckman I’ve come up against this year has been a real battle for me,” Ryder said.
“There’s been guys that have improved on last season and then there are guys who are good ruckmen who have really cemented themselves as real top ruckmen.
“It’s good for the game.”
The Power currently sits fifth on the ladder, only percentage behind second-placed Collingwood, and gets a chance to continue its winning run against St Kilda at Adelaide Oval on Saturday afternoon.
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