PORT ADELAIDE coach Ken Hinkley says he has drawn a lot of optimism about the talent at his disposal after Friday’s intraclub match at Alberton Oval.
Divided into two teams with plenty of changes throughout the match, Port’s players put in an ultra-competitive showing in their first competitive hit-out for 2022.
There were strong performances from a number of players – namely Sam Powell-Pepper, Jackson Mead, Jeremy Finlayson and Josh Sinn among others – and Hinkley said it was a good hit-out.
The senior coach was particularly impressed with some of the performances of unheralded players through the midfield.
“The talent that was out there on display, you would have been really optimistic about if you tuned in and got a chance to watch it,” Hinkley said when asked about the game at the club’s Annual General Meeting on Friday night.
“You would have seen players out there in (Zak) Butters and Mead and Josh Sinn in his first year, you would have seen (Connor) Rozee go through there, Karl Amon, Xavier Duursma, you would have seen Ryan Burton at times through the midfield.
“So, you would have seen an area of the ground that was quite fresh, and quite young, and full of excitement.”
As well as the personnel, Hinkley liked some of the passages of play he saw which included slick ball movement and plenty of goal scoring opportunities.
“You would have seen at times where the ball movement was fast, it was slick, it was damaging, it was dangerous,” he explained.
“You would have also seen some mistakes, but that’s what football is, it’s made up of mistakes and then capitalising on those mistakes when you get the chance.
“You would have seen a team that is really capable and promising in terms of what it can achieve and we need to make sure we train well tomorrow so we can be that team everyone wants us to be.”
In a lengthy interview, Hinkley discussed his side’s goals and expectations for 2022 along with the review of how last season played out, and specifically the washup from the devastating Preliminary Final loss to the Western Bulldogs.
But Hinkley promised his side would focus on every session to seek every improvement possible, and he offered a glimpse into how he expected Port Adelaide to play this season.
“We all love seeing a tough contested brand of football and when we’re tough and we’re hard that’s Port Adelaide football, that’s the way we play,” he said, intimating he wanted his team to put rivals to the sword on the scoreboard.
“We’ll be a strong defensive team. We always have been in the time I’ve been at the football club.
“We’ve got great values and great culture so we value team defence but we know we play one of the most exciting brands of football when it comes to offence and people like coming to Adelaide Oval to watch Port Adelaide play and when we’re playing at our absolute best it’s slick and it’s fast and there’s scoring and it’s exciting for the members who come along and watch us play.
“We won’t change that. We’ll play an exciting brand of football and everyone should be looking forward to it.
“I can assure you that the players that are coming through and getting better daily are capable of taking that to a whole new level.”
Port Adelaide’s next chance to refine its game plan will be against the Suns on the Gold Coast on Friday afternoon.
